Movies don't get more classic than this. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the greatest movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
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00:00-"Rosebud."
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the greatest movies from Hollywood's golden age.
00:12This means that we'll be limiting our picks to movies released prior to 1960.
00:17-"Just play it cool, boy. Real cool."
00:23Number 20, Rebel Without a Cause.
00:26If there's an image synonymous with Hollywood stardom, it's James Dean in a red jacket and cuffed jeans.
00:32But the eternal allure of Rebel Without a Cause lay in the complex emotions the late actor keeps bottled up until he can't any longer.
00:39-"You're tearing me apart!"
00:42-"What?"
00:43-"You, you say one thing, he says another, and everybody changes back again!"
00:47In his signature role, Dean plays Jim Stark, a repressed teenager who runs afoul of the law and his domineering parents.
00:54Jim's tragic struggle to find comfort in an uncaring world helps set the bar for subsequent portrayals of teenage angst,
01:00and undoubtedly speaks to anyone who's ever felt the same.
01:04-"Every time you can't face yourself, you blame it on me!"
01:06-"That is not true!"
01:08-"You say it's because of me, you say it's because of the neighborhood!"
01:11-"No!"
01:11-"You use every other phony excuse!"
01:14-"Mom, I just once, I want to do something right!"
01:17Although Dean's untimely passing meant that he never saw the impact of his work,
01:21his deeply empathetic performance is a testament to everything this movie still offers in his place.
01:28Another quintessential star for her time, Betty Davis led this ensemble drama all the way to six Oscar wins,
01:34including the award for Best Picture, well over seven decades later.
01:39Her paranoid and chaotic performance has helped All About Eve remain one of the more thematically innovative films of the classic Hollywood era.
01:46Davis stars as Margot Channing, a Broadway veteran stalked and eventually usurped by Eve Harrington,
01:51a calculating fan who aspires to fame at any cost.
01:55-"Do you want someday to have an award like that of your own?"
01:59-"More than anything else in the world."
02:02-"Then you must ask Miss Harrington how to get one.
02:06Miss Harrington knows all about it."
02:08Pitch-perfect casting and a lavish production design would have allowed the film to get by as a one-note exercise in star power.
02:15But make no mistake, this is a meditative and ruthless takedown of fame, vanity and the entertainment industry that packs a finely crafted punch.
02:23-"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."
02:29At a time when moviegoers needed escapist entertainment, this landmark creature feature provided the biggest escape of them all.
02:36-"And now ladies and gentlemen, before I tell you any more, I'm going to show you the greatest thing your eyes have ever beheld."
02:42An unprecedented accomplishment for special effects, our introduction to the giant ape from Skull Island helped codify several genres at once,
02:50including fantasy, horror and even romance, and it's not hard to see how either.
02:55It's a sweeping adventure packed with iconic imagery, an unforgettably tense climax and characters we cannot help but fall in love with.
03:04The dimensions King Kong provides to its titular antagonist and the questions it asks about what makes a monster
03:10have had a ripple effect that most movies can only dream of.
03:13-"Well, Denim, the airplanes got him."
03:18-"Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast."
03:24Beauty may have killed the beast, but Kong's place in film history more than lives on.
03:32Drama takes on many forms.
03:34While some movies find the dramatic tension within an epic story,
03:3712 Angry Men is an enduring reminder of the unbearable intensity you can wring out of a single location.
03:43-"Do you think he could have heard it?"
03:44-"He said he yelled at the top of his voice. That's good enough for me."
03:47-"Even if he heard something, he still couldn't have identified the voice with the yell roaring behind him?"
03:50-"You're talking about a matter of seconds. Nobody can be that accurate."
03:53-"Well, I think testimony that could put a boy into the electric chair should be that accurate."
03:57With a young man on trial for murder, the film follows a headstrong juror as he attempts to convince the remaining 11
04:03that there's more to the case than meets the eye.
04:05As his character encourages the others to look past their own prejudices,
04:09Henry Fonda lays bare the objectivity and logic required to execute the law.
04:13-"I just think he's guilty. I thought it was obvious from the word go. I mean, nobody proved otherwise."
04:20-"Nobody has to prove otherwise. The burden of proof's on the prosecution."
04:23Dripping with suspense, the film bravely approaches difficult topics
04:27through nothing more than searing yet honest conversations.
04:30In short, it should be required viewing for anyone looking to study both theater and law.
04:49Even as the advent of talking pictures took over Hollywood,
04:52Charlie Chaplin still found ways to prove he was a star like no other.
04:56His persistence in defending silent film's value is not unlike the persistence of his iconic Tramp character in this romantic dramedy.
05:02Chaplin's eye for physical comedy sets the stage for one clever gag after another,
05:07as the Tramp falls for a woman who is blind and attempts to raise money for a surgery that will help her see again.
05:12-♪♪♪
05:25For all of its humorous delights, it's also a touching story about being proud of who you are and finding beauty from within.
05:31It remains a defiant stroke of genius from Chaplin,
05:34who continued to find success in silent film with 1936's Modern Times.
05:40Alfred Hitchcock more than earned his reputation as the master of suspense
05:44with stressful yet entertaining thrillers like Rear Window and North by Northwest.
05:49But his movies also know how to make viewers think, and Vertigo is one of his most daunting challenges to date.
05:55-♪♪♪
06:07James Stewart stars as a detective whose fear of heights compromises his investigative skills,
06:12while Kim Novak plays an enigmatic woman with enough secrets to reawaken his past traumas.
06:17Blurring the line between romance, mystery, and horror,
06:21the film's exploration of themes like obsession and identity is enhanced through demanding performances
06:26and Hitchcock's innovative camera techniques.
06:28It's not the kind of film that can be understood in a single watch,
06:32but that is precisely what makes it so engrossing.
06:35-♪♪♪♪
06:48Number 14, The Philadelphia Story.
06:51-♪♪♪♪
07:04If love triangles feel tired and played out, then behold the ultimate love square.
07:10Serving up a sweet slice of wholesome pie at a time when people desperately needed it,
07:14The Philadelphia Story stars a who's who of Hollywood talent.
07:17Katherine Hepburn takes the lead as Tracy Lord,
07:20a wealthy socialite betrothed to a fellow member of the upper crust.
07:24However, Tracy soon catches the eye of a journalist played by James Stewart,
07:28while also rekindling things with her ex-husband played by Cary Grant.
07:32The three leads fire off scintillating dialogue with breakneck precision,
07:36playing off one another in ways both hilarious and swoon-worthy.
07:39-♪♪♪♪
07:49Audiences couldn't help but embrace the movie's charm,
07:51effectively relaunching Hepburn's career and winning Stewart the Oscar for Best Actor.
07:56Number 13, The Maltese Falcon.
07:59One of the most pivotal filmmakers to emerge from old Hollywood,
08:02John Huston's work behind the camera resulted in several unprecedented classics,
08:06including The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
08:09But before he provided new meaning to the Western genre,
08:12Huston practically created the film noir as we know it with The Maltese Falcon.
08:16This film school staple stars Humphrey Bogart as Detective Sam Spade,
08:19whose routine murder case quickly evolves into a complicated web of crime and deceit.
08:24-"What is your name, Wanderly or LeBlanc?"
08:27-"It's really O'Shaughnessy, Bridget O'Shaughnessy."
08:29-"We didn't exactly believe your story, Miss O'Shaughnessy, we believed your $200."
08:33-"You mean that--"
08:34-"I mean you paid us more than if you'd been telling us the truth,
08:36and enough more to make it all right."
08:38Helping to codify tropes like the hard-boiled investigator and the femme fatale,
08:42the film is taut and nerve-inducing thanks to its engrossing story,
08:46top-notch cast and dazzling cinematography.
08:48In other words, it is every bit as much of a mystery as the one Spade attempts to solve.
08:53-"Harry, what is it?"
09:01-"The, uh, stuff that dreams are made of."
09:04Number 12, Sunset Boulevard.
09:07There's no business like show business, but not all that glitters is gold.
09:11Given Hollywood's propensity to make movies about itself,
09:14this satirical film noir was truly ahead of its time in its exploration of such a devastating truth.
09:19-"Used to be in silent pictures, used to be big."
09:23-"I am big."
09:25-"It's the pictures that got small."
09:28In a brilliant bit of casting,
09:30former silent film star Gloria Swanson plays Norma Desmond,
09:33a former silent film star whose delusions of grandeur are entertained by an up-and-coming screenwriter.
09:38Their toxic relationship sets the stage for quotable dialogue
09:41and one of the most iconic endings in movie history.
09:44-"There's nothing else. Just us. And the cameras.
09:50And those wonderful people out there in the dark.
09:56All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
09:58Made all the more realistic by its inclusion of real-life Hollywood bigwigs as themselves,
10:03Sunset Boulevard's twists and gut punches make for a sobering experience.
10:08But it's undoubtedly one that's aged like fine wine.
10:11Number 11, It's a Wonderful Life.
10:14Old Hollywood is rife with its share of feel-good holiday classics.
10:17While Miracle on 34th Street remains a perennial favorite,
10:20It's a Wonderful Life is the inarguable standout of the bunch.
10:24-"What is it you want, Barry?"
10:25-"What do you want?"
10:27-"You want the moon?
10:28Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down.
10:32Hey, that's a pretty good idea.
10:34I'll give you the moon, Barry."
10:36One of the most uplifting films ever made,
10:38it centers on banker George Bailey,
10:40whose tough circumstances cause him to contemplate his existence.
10:44Luckily, an encounter with an angel named Clarence opens George's eyes
10:48to just how much better off his family and friends are with him in their lives.
10:52It makes for such optimistic storytelling
10:54that it's hard to believe the film was initially unsuccessful.
10:57We thank our lucky stars it found new life on television,
11:00as its simple yet profound message is one that can be embraced every day of the year.
11:05-"The fool flew all the way up here in a blizzard."
11:07-"Carrie, how about your banquet in New York?"
11:09-"Oh, I left right in the middle of it, as soon as I got Mary's telegram."
11:11-"Good idea, Ernie, a toast.
11:13To my big brother George, the richest man in town."
11:16Number 10, The Wizard of Oz.
11:19-"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
11:24This adaptation of L. Frank Baum's fantasy novel
11:27is one of the first movies that many of us saw as a child.
11:30And because of that, it is burned into our brains.
11:33But even without that nostalgia factor,
11:35The Wizard of Oz is still one of the best films ever made.
11:39Judy Garland's voice immediately endears us to Dorothy
11:42as she longs to get out of Kansas.
11:44-"Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue."
11:54The film is also set apart by its unforgettable switch
11:58from black and white to technicolor.
12:00The black and white palette holds a certain comfort that makes you think of home.
12:03And with the switch to color, the first time you see Oz,
12:07you're just as amazed as Dorothy.
12:09-"And I'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again,
12:12because I love you all.
12:14And, oh Annie M., there's no place like home."
12:20Number 9, Some Like It Hot.
12:22Marilyn Monroe lent her talents to several iconic comedies
12:25during her all-too-brief career,
12:27including 1953's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
12:30But her alluring image found not one, but two perfect foils
12:34in Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis for this groundbreaking farce.
12:37-"My seam's straight."
12:39-"I'll say."
12:40-"Ha ha ha.
12:42Well, see you around, girls."
12:43-"Bye, sugar."
12:45-"He he he he."
12:46-"We have been playing with the wrong band."
12:48One of the more daring films of its time,
12:50Some Like It Hot follows two Depression-era musicians
12:53who disguise themselves as women to evade a group of mobsters.
12:56Swapping out genres as quickly as the protagonists swap genders,
13:00the movie blends crime thrills with satirical jabs at gender norms
13:03to brilliant effect.
13:04With a progressive tone and ingenious performances to back it all up,
13:08the film's open disobedience towards censorship
13:11helped open the doors for new types of stories in the decades that followed.
13:14-"Everything under control?"
13:15-"Have I got things to tell you?
13:19What happened?
13:20I've engaged.
13:22Congratulations. Who's the lucky girl?"
13:25-"I am."
13:27-"Duh!"
13:28Number 8, Roman Holiday.
13:31A Vespa ride around Rome with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn?
13:34Yes, please.
13:36In Roman Holiday, Hepburn stars as Princess Anne,
13:39a royal who longs for freedom away from regal duties.
13:42-"Well, this is what is laughingly known as my apartment."
13:46-"Did you bring me here by force?"
13:49-"No, no, no.
13:51Quite the contrary."
13:52While sneaking away to experience the city,
13:54she meets Peck's Joe Bradley,
13:56a journalist who doesn't realize at first who she is.
13:59While Bradley is supposed to be chasing an exclusive interview,
14:03he starts to fall in love with her instead.
14:05-"Promise not to watch me go beyond the corner.
14:09Just drive away and leave me
14:14as I leave you."
14:16Roman Holiday is overflowing with romance.
14:19The chemistry between Peck and Hepburn leaps off the screen,
14:22and the end leaves you with a sense of bittersweet yearning.
14:26-"Joe Bradley, American News Service."
14:31-"So happy, Mr. Bradley."
14:34-"Well, I'm the best judge of whether you belong here or not.
14:37Of course, if you don't love me, that's a different thing.
14:40Fine blow to my conceit, that's all."
14:42-"Oh, I do love you. I love you most dreadfully.
14:44I've been crying all morning because I thought I'd never see you again."
14:47During his lifetime,
14:48Alfred Hitchcock solidified his place in Hollywood
14:51as one of the best directors.
14:52But one of his best films came rather early on in his career.
14:56Rebecca is a psychological slow burn
14:58about the marriage between Maxim De Winter and his second wife,
15:01played by Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, respectively.
15:04-"You didn't go into the cottage, did you?"
15:06-"Yes, the door..." -"Well, don't go there again, you hear?"
15:08-"Well, why not?" -"Because I hate the place,
15:09and if you had my memories, you wouldn't go there or talk about it or even think about it."
15:12-"What's the matter? I'm sorry, please."
15:14The ghost of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca,
15:17haunts the couple's huge mansion,
15:19and the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, floats around just as eerily.
15:23Hitchcock masterfully delivers a spine-tingling story,
15:26and the performances send the film over the edge as one of the best.
15:30-"Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?"
15:32-"I don't believe it."
15:36-"Sometimes.
15:38I wonder if she doesn't come back here to Manderley,
15:41and watch you and Mr. De Winter together."
15:46When it comes to noir, this one has double the fun.
15:49Although double indemnity doesn't feature sex of any kind,
15:52the way Walter and Phyllis speak to each other could be classified as downright naughty.
15:57-"How fast was I going, officer?" -"I'd say around 90."
16:00-"Suppose you get down off your motorcycle and give me a ticket."
16:03-"Suppose I let you off with a warning this time."
16:05-"Suppose it doesn't take."
16:07-"Suppose I have to whack you over the knuckles."
16:09The noir genre ruled the 1940s,
16:12but the film's slick dialogue pushes it above the rest.
16:15Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck star as Walter and Phyllis,
16:18two lovers who conspire to kill the latter's husband for his money.
16:22-"Call me tomorrow, but not from your house, from a booth,
16:24and watch your step every single minute.
16:26This is gonna be perfect, you understand?
16:28Straight down the line."
16:30-"Straight down the line."
16:33However, it soon becomes apparent that Phyllis is not what she seems.
16:37Billy Wilder's film is one for the books,
16:40with masterful direction and a legacy that cannot be ignored.
16:43-"Don't tell me it's because you've been in love with me all this time."
16:47-"No, I never loved you, Walter, not you or anybody else.
16:51I'm rotten to the heart, I used you just as you said."
16:56-"No, I don't think I will kiss you.
16:58Although you need kissing badly.
17:00That's what's wrong with you.
17:01You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how."
17:04-"Oh, and I suppose you think you are the proper person."
17:07-"I might be."
17:08Frankly, my dear, there's no way we couldn't put this one on the list.
17:12Gone with the Wind was released to wide acclaim in 1939.
17:16The film stars Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh
17:18as two stubborn romantic leads living in the South during the Civil War.
17:22-"And if a bullet gets me, so help me, I'll laugh at myself for being an idiot.
17:26There's one thing I do know.
17:28That is that I love you, Scarlett.
17:30In spite of you and me and the whole silly world going to pieces around us, I love you."
17:34While there are certainly criticisms to be had of the film,
17:37for the most part, its cultural estimation only grew in the years after its release.
17:42When adjusted for inflation,
17:43the film is still the most financially successful film ever made in box office terms.
17:49Released in 1939 and still with that kind of impact?
17:53Now that is something to be impressed about.
17:57-"Red, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?"
18:02-"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
18:08-"By a strange coincidence, I was thinking of you."
18:12-"Really?"
18:13-"Yeah. I was just wondering what makes dames like you so dizzy."
18:19You know all those romantic comedies you love?
18:21Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally and the like?
18:24Well, you have It Happened One Night to thank.
18:27The 1934 pre-code masterpiece is widely regarded as one of the best films ever,
18:32and has pretty much every rom-com trope you know and love.
18:36-"I wish you'd stop being playful."
18:37-"Oh, so sorry, sorry.
18:40You know, this is the first time in years I've ridden piggyback."
18:43-"This isn't piggyback."
18:45-"Of course it is."
18:45-"You're crazy."
18:46Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert are endlessly charming as two hapless people
18:51who meet on the road and strike up a relationship.
18:53Hijinks, room-sharing, negging, and so, so much flirting ensue.
18:58Gable and Colbert definitely contribute to the film's whimsical slapsticky charm,
19:02but it's also got a great script to match.
19:05-"Aren't you going to give me a little credit?"
19:08-"What for?"
19:10-"Well, I've proved once and for all that the limb is mightier than the thumb."
19:26When it comes to movie musicals, you can't do much better than singing in the rain.
19:30Gene Kelly almost single-handedly changed the game for movie musicals,
19:34expanding the imagination of what they could do.
19:37His innovative ideas hit a fever pitch in 1952's Singing in the Rain.
19:41-"You mean it's going to say up on the screen that I don't talk and sing for myself?"
19:45-"Of course, what do you think?"
19:47-"Well, because they can't do that!"
19:49-"It's already done, and there's a whole publicity campaign being planned."
19:52The movie isn't just a happy-go-lucky musical,
19:55it is a hysterical examination of the change from silent films to talkies,
19:59and a delightfully satirical take on moviemaking.
20:03But of course, because it's Gene Kelly,
20:05it also has musical sequences that will make your jaw drop.
20:08-"Everyone from the place, come on with the rain, I have a smile on my face."
20:21-"On the other hand, I am the publisher of the Enquirer.
20:24As such, it's my duty, and I'll let you in on a little secret.
20:26It's also my pleasure to see to it the decent, hard-working people in this community
20:31aren't robbed blind by a pack of money-mad pirates."
20:34Sometimes when everyone says something is great, it's because it really is great.
20:38But the thing that's truly incredible about Orson Welles' Citizen Kane
20:41is that Welles' first film was his masterpiece.
20:44That's right, Citizen Kane was Welles' feature directorial debut.
20:48Ironically, Welles' naivety on set is part of what makes the film so amazing.
20:53-"I made no campaign promises,
20:58because until a few weeks ago, I had no hope of being elected."
21:04Welles would ask his cinematographer, Greg Toland,
21:07to do things that a more experienced director might have deemed impossible from the get-go.
21:11But Toland tried out some of Welles' ideas, and wouldn't you know it, they worked.
21:16And we got one of the most innovative films in history.
21:19-"From now on, everything will be exactly the way you want it to be.
21:23Not the way I think you want it, but your way."
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21:44Number 1. Casablanca
21:46-"If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it.
21:49Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
21:54-"But what about us?"
21:56-"We'll always have Paris."
21:57We all go to the cinemas looking for magic.
22:00Every once in a while, a movie comes along that gives you that magical feeling and then some.
22:06Casablanca hit theaters in 1942, and funnily enough,
22:10wasn't a massive runaway hit upon its release.
22:13The movie did well initially and was respected enough to win Best Picture at the Oscars that year,
22:18but as the years have gone by, critical and popular esteem has grown in spades for this World War II romance.
22:24-"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."
22:31Maybe it's the iconic lines of dialogue.
22:33Maybe it's the remarkable romantic chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
22:37Whatever it is, it's definitely magic.
22:40-"Someday you'll understand that."
22:43-"I know."
22:47-"He's looking at you, kid."
22:50Is there a classic movie you think we forgot about? Let us know in the comments.
22:54-"But what's the first thing an actor learns? The show must go on!"
22:57Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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