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5 Favorite B&W films?


James Steven Beverly

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Kinda going along with my other thread, what are your 5 favorite B&W films. MINE are (again in no particular order):

 

High Noon

The Maltese Falcon

The Grapes of Wrath

Hud

The Hustler

On the Waterfront

 

Man there are SSSOOO many more but these are the ones for today!! :D

Edited by James Steven Beverly
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Raging Bull

Schindlers List

American History X

Citizen Kane

Ed Wood

 

Love to shoot B&W myself. Best way to learn for you guys just starting out. Nothing is harder than lighting some B&W stock. What most beginners don't understand is that not only does it teach you how to light, but how to make interesting composition without the distraction of color - just a thought.

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  • 1 month later...

Picking 5 "modern" (when color was the norm)

 

Good Night and Good Luck, shot by Robert Elswit, ASC

The Man Who Wasn't There, shot by Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC

Raging Bull, shot by Michael Chapman, ASC

Schindler's List, shot by Janusz Kaminski

Young Frankenstien, shot by Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC

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Five favorite overall (as of this second, tomorrow would be different as I thought about all the movies I've seen...):

Citizen Kane

Casablanca

Seven Samurai

Dr. Strangelove

8 1/2

 

Five favorite for cinematography (again, changes by the moment):

Citizen Kane

Casablanca

Yojimbo

The Fugitive (1947)

Rumblefish

 

But I prefer not limiting myself to five. You guys have seen my big list, decade by decade, of favorite works of cinematography...

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Guest Tim Partridge

Caligari

Faust/Sunrise

Way Out West/Citizen Kane

The Knack (I put this over the Godard/Truffaut films that it is indebted to)

The Elephant Man

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These are the ones that spring to mind immediately....

 

Citizen Kane

The man that wasn't there

Casablanca

The original "Fugitive" tv series (I know its not a movie but I grew up with it and loved it so much that its worth encapsulating it to this list)

Birds

Rumble Fish

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These are the ones that spring to mind immediately....

 

Citizen Kane

The man that wasn't there

Casablanca

The original "Fugitive" tv series (I know its not a movie but I grew up with it and loved it so much that its worth encapsulating it to this list)

Birds

Rumble Fish

 

Rumble Fish. Yes, always, Rumble Fish. Overlooked and under-appreciated.

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after color stocks:

 

Raging Bull

Manhattan

Schindler's List

Dead Man

Lenny

Celebrity

 

before color stocks were popular:

 

Citizen Kane

Hud

The Sweet Smell of Success

Touch of Evil

The Third Man

 

 

honorable mentioned: Paper Moon, The Last Picture Show

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Lol. Does "Raging Bull" or "Schindler's List" really qualify with those "tacky color inserts?" ;-)

 

I'm surprised to see "Elephant Man" get only one mention here. It is one of the most beautiful of the post-color B&W films I've seen.

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Only 5? <_<

 

Well I just figured 5 would take less time to write and put less pressure on people to think of what to put on a long list, but hey, I'm easy, post more if you want to, it's not like the FBI is gonna bust into your house some night at 4 in the morning with guns drawn, stuff you into the back of a black SUV and whisk you off to Gitmo if you post 6 or....... 20. :rolleyes:

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My five have all been mentioned, but here they are, to boost their ratings :rolleyes:

 

In no special order

 

Casablanca - for the dialogue

The Third Man- for the cinematography, and the overall atmosphere

Ciizen Kane - for the story and the cinematography

The Elephant Man - all round

Dr Strangelove - for the outrageous boldness of the thing, and the imagery

 

I'd like to nominate an Australian 1919 silent film The Sentimental Bloke (admitting bias, I worked on the restoration), but like most silent films, it's disqualified because it was released with tints and tones. Otherwise, I think, for its time, it should be up there with the others.

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Ive seen so many of my favorites already mentioned. Just throwing some out there as examples of particularly good Black and White photography (and excellent films to boot)

 

The Innocents

Seconds

Good night and good luck

Down by law

 

Seconds is a film which seems very ahead of its time in style and use of location shooting. Some great hand held short focus stuff which wouldn't seem out of place in a modern thriller.

I don't know if they're my absolute favorites but I think belong on a list. As do the earlier Kubrick and Hitchcock films as well.

Edited by A. Whitehouse
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