More people need to see these Old Hollywood movies. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the most underseen Golden Age of Hollywood movies that you should make a priority to see.
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00:00 Now, let's take a look at the program we've worked out for you.
00:03 Welcome to Ms Mojo, and today we're looking at the most underseen golden age of
00:07 Hollywood movies that you should make a priority to see.
00:11 I'm home every evening.
00:12 Yeah, but I'm busy every evening.
00:15 Busy? So what are you trying to do, insult me?
00:17 Number 10, The Setup
00:21 Today, director Robert Wise is best known for his work in two of the most popular
00:26 musicals of all time, The Sound of Music and West Side Story.
00:30 Outside of his musical direction, Wise had a prolific film career,
00:34 including his 1949 drama, The Setup.
00:37 "Hurry it up, won't you? The first fight's on already."
00:41 "Ah, they put us back in the eighth row."
00:43 The movie is a tight film noir centered on the world of boxing.
00:47 Robert Ryan delivers a stellar performance as Bill Thompson,
00:51 a has-been boxer who refuses to give in to pressure to forfeit a match for money.
00:56 "They're building this kid up, feeding him a lot of pushovers.
01:00 If I can get over him tonight, that'll mean a rematch.
01:02 That's a semi-wind-up, 150 guarantee. Maybe a top spot even."
01:07 Wise has named the film as one of his favorites of his own movies,
01:10 and we couldn't agree more. It's a knockout you shouldn't sleep on.
01:15 "What'd I tell you? I knew I could take him. I could feel it."
01:18 "Nice going, Luke."
01:19 "Thanks."
01:19 "Well, fine, Luke."
01:20 "Hey, talker. Good luck."
01:23 9. Belle, Book, and Candle
01:28 "It's nice having you over me.
01:29 I mean, it's reassuring having a man near one. In case he's needed."
01:37 In 1958, Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart co-starred in one of the most famous films ever,
01:44 Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. That same year, they starred in another,
01:48 very different film that hasn't received nearly as much attention.
01:52 "A tune, your homie. What is that?"
01:55 "Just something I sing to Pino in it."
01:58 "Uh-huh."
01:59 Belle, Book, and Candle stars Novak as a witch who casts a spell on her neighbor,
02:04 played by Stewart, to fall in love with her. The film is billed as a romantic comedy,
02:09 and despite not being a household name, it's actually a pretty funny, campy little comedy.
02:14 It was one of Stewart's final performances as a romantic lead,
02:17 showing a different type of chemistry between him and Novak.
02:21 "Who's to say what magic is?"
02:23 8. Indiscreet
02:26 In 1946, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman starred in Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. That film is
02:34 excellent, and the level of steamy chemistry between the leads is so off the charts.
02:39 "When I don't love you, I'll let you know."
02:40 "You haven't said anything."
02:44 "Actions speak louder than words."
02:45 You'd think that Hollywood would have put them in a dozen other films together.
02:49 Unfortunately for audiences, Grant and Bergman didn't share the silver screen
02:54 again for another 12 years. Thankfully, that film was indiscreet.
02:59 "What character are you playing now?"
03:00 "Delilah."
03:01 "Delilah? From the Bible?"
03:03 "Mm-hmm."
03:03 "I don't see the parallel."
03:05 "It's my own interpretation."
03:06 "Well, if I'm going to be destroyed anyway, then..."
03:08 In this film, the pair take their sexual, mysterious chemistry from Notorious
03:14 and translate it into a quirky, hilarious romantic comedy type of chemistry.
03:18 It might not be a spiritual successor to Notorious,
03:22 but Indiscreet stands on its own thanks to the range of its leads.
03:26 "We are right for each other. We are good for each other, my darling."
03:31 "We are, we are."
03:33 Number 7. The Women
03:36 Looking back at the golden age of Hollywood, and even looking at Hollywood today,
03:40 it's difficult to find a movie without a single man in the cast.
03:43 But 1939's The Women, with its more than 130 speaking roles,
03:49 is filled with women and women only.
03:52 "Do we know how the men talk about us when we're not around?"
03:54 "I've heard rumors."
03:55 "Exactly. And, uh, while we're on the subject, have either of you wondered
04:00 whether the master of this maison might not be strange?"
04:03 "I haven't."
04:04 The film is a satire-offering commentary on the banality of the lives of rich,
04:09 married wives. Not only is the comedy biting, but the film is filled with a plethora of
04:14 expert comedic performances from a who's who of classic actresses.
04:19 "It's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society. Outside of a kennel."
04:24 Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Joan Fontaine, and so many other
04:30 women lend their impeccable comedic talents to this cast of many.
04:34 Even over 80 years later, it's still one of the funniest movies of all time.
04:39 "What are you going to write next, Nancy? Animal stories?"
04:42 "I wouldn't have to go to Africa for that."
04:43 "Ha ha."
04:45 Number 6. The Bigamist
04:47 "How'd you get all the way to Los Angeles?"
04:48 "Well, I wanted to see the world."
04:50 "So you started with China, huh?"
04:52 "That's right."
04:52 One might assume otherwise, but there was indeed a group of female filmmakers in
04:57 Hollywood's golden age. Ida Lupino is one of those women who took the helm.
05:02 "You look tired."
05:03 "Yeah. I didn't sleep too well last night."
05:08 With 1953's The Bigamist, she became the first woman to direct and star in an
05:13 American-made film in the sound era. The Bigamist stars Lupino as a woman who
05:18 becomes entangled in an affair with a married man, who's trying to have a baby with his wife,
05:24 played by Joan Fontaine. Lupino shows her skill as a director, producing a haunting film that
05:30 ends on a note that simply shatters the audience.
05:33 "When a man, even with the best intentions, breaks the moral laws we live by,
05:40 we really don't need man-made laws to punish him.
05:45 You'll find out that the penalty of the court is always the smallest punishment."
05:50 Number 5. Failsafe
05:52 "And the Lord said, 'Gentlemen,
05:56 he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.'"
06:00 1964 gave us two movies that criticized nuclear war through the plot point of U.S. leaders'
06:07 inability to stop a nuclear warhead that was accidentally set off. One of those movies was
06:12 Stanley Kubrick's satirical masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove. The other evokes a much more
06:18 serious tone.
06:23 "This isn't some damn football game, remember that!"
06:25 Sidney Lumet's Failsafe takes on similar themes to Kubrick's film,
06:31 but with the thriller genre in mind. The film is one of Lumet's lesser-known works,
06:36 yet it showcases what a master he always was. One can only imagine how much better the film
06:41 might have done commercially if it came out in a different year, but there's no reason
06:46 people can't catch up now.
06:48 "It's all hypothesis, of course, but fun to play around with."
06:51 4. Make Way for Tomorrow
06:54 In 1937, director Leo McCary made what he considered to be his best film. He also made
07:00 a film that received six Academy Award nominations. Funnily enough, those films are not the same.
07:06 "Why don't you go and play with the dog?"
07:08 "Why don't you go on with whatever you were doing? Don't mind me."
07:12 McCary's The Awful Truth, a screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunn,
07:18 received acclaim from the Academy. But McCary's favorite of his films
07:22 is a little drama called Make Way for Tomorrow.
07:26 "Find time to tell us."
07:27 The story is centered around an elderly couple who are forced to move apart after they lose
07:32 their house and their children will not help them. It's a much darker and more somber film
07:38 than McCary is known for today, but absolutely one of his best.
07:42 "But your father and I thought that, well, no matter what happened, that we'd always be
07:48 … oh, never mind what we thought."
07:51 3. The Gunfighter
07:54 "Don't you understand, Eddie? This is Jimmy Ringo."
07:58 "Alright, so it's Jimmy Ringo. So what's everybody supposed to do, fall on their knees?"
08:02 "Well, you can be a little polite, at least."
08:04 When people talk about the best westerns of all time, they might say The Searchers or
08:09 the man who shot Liberty Valance. They might name some of the best western stars as Jimmy
08:14 Stewart or Clint Eastwood, but people rarely talk about the 1950 undersung masterpiece
08:20 The Gunfighter, starring Gregory Peck.
08:23 "You don't look so tough to me."
08:25 "Well, if he ain't so tough, there's been an awful lot of sudden natural deaths in his
08:30 vicinity."
08:30 Peck stars as an aging gunfighter who has a reputation to uphold, and delivers one of
08:36 the staunchly solid performances he's become known for. The Gunfighter is one of many collaborations
08:42 between Peck and director Henry King, but never gets the reverence it deserves in the
08:47 western canon.
08:48 "How much you get paid for this job?"
08:50 "60 a month, why?"
08:51 "It ain't enough."
08:52 2. The Learning Tree
08:54 Gordon Parks is an important name when it comes to Black people's contributions to cinema
08:59 in the 20th century. But even to this day, many people haven't seen the film that put
09:03 him in the history books.
09:05 "I ain't afraid, Mama.
09:11 I ain't afraid anymore."
09:12 1969's The Learning Tree was the first major studio film to be directed by a Black person.
09:19 To this day, the lessons put forth in The Learning Tree hold up.
09:23 "It's being able to love when you feel like hatin'. To tell the truth when you feel like
09:29 lyin'."
09:30 The story follows a teenager named Newt Winger, whose life is marked by tragedy.
09:36 Park depicts opposing versions of what it means to be a Black man living in America
09:40 at that time, and his knack for visuals shines through.
09:44 "I see blue and green and yellow, coming and going in all directions."
09:50 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:54 Panic in the Streets
09:56 One of Elia Kazan's lesser-known works.
09:59 "What's the matter? Are they afraid of a little needle? They've been wandering."
10:02 "Roll up your sleeve."
10:06 "What do you mean? What do you think you're gonna do?"
10:07 "Roll up your sleeve."
10:08 "Why should I take one of those things?"
10:10 "Because the commissioner said so, and I told the commissioner. Roll it up."
10:15 Key Largo
10:17 The Bogie and Bacall collaboration that's missing from your film knowledge.
10:21 "I'd be proud to have you regard us as your family."
10:24 "Maybe that isn't what Frank wants."
10:28 "Oh, I don't mean to set on you, son. Think it over. Don't give your answer right away."
10:33 In a Lonely Place
10:36 A noir that deserves more accolades than it gets.
10:39 "Were you interested in Mr. Steele because he's a celebrity?"
10:42 "No, not at all. I noticed him because he looked interesting. I like his face."
10:48 She'd Done Him Wrong
10:49 Mae West shines in this pre-code comedy.
10:52 "You know, I always did like a man in a uniform. That one fits you grand.
10:57 I was a pop sometimes, see me?"
11:00 Charade
11:01 Stanley Donen proves he can direct a Hitchcock homage with a little more humor.
11:07 "Now hold it. I've waited long enough. What happened back there?"
11:10 "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you or not."
11:14 "What does that mean?"
11:15 "He said if I told anybody, it could prove fatal for them as well as for me."
11:19 "Who said?"
11:20 "That's what I'm not supposed to say."
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11:39 Number 1. Seconds
11:42 "I want to go back."
11:44 "Of course, sir."
11:45 "No, I don't mean California. To the company. Start again. All over."
11:55 Throughout his career, Rock Hudson was known for his strapping good looks
12:00 and became one of the preeminent heartthrobs of Hollywood's Golden Age.
12:04 But one of his best performances came when he played against type in 1966's Seconds.
12:10 "The thing about doing it on my own, you see, it's so important. Choice. You gotta change."
12:18 Hudson stars as the main character, renamed Tony Wilson,
12:22 after he undergoes plastic surgery to look younger.
12:25 The film is a science fiction thriller, and not at all what audiences at the time expected from
12:30 Hudson. It flopped when it first came out, but since has been reappraised and rightly recognized
12:37 as one of Hudson's most interesting roles.
12:40 "You don't have to prove anything anymore. You are accepted. You will be in your own new dimension."
12:52 What's your favorite underrated classic? Spread the word in the comments.
12:57 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
13:00 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
13:05 [Music]