Classic Movies.. & what makes them a classic?

[ozark hen]

Classic = Quality for a lifetime. They just don't make movies like they use to.
To Kill A Mockingbird is by far my very favorite, I could list many but will stick with just this one. I have seen it many times, have several editions of the books that are read about once a year.
I also have it on VHS and DVD.

 

[popcornpuppy]

I would have to say, without a doubt that my favorite movie of all time is Singin' in the Rain.
Gene Kelly leaning off the lamp post is a movie scene that everyone knows whether they have seen the movie or not. It is a classic because it was original and well done.

 

[b.hromada]

Quote:
Ditto!!

 

[gaberdeen]

Loved The Sound of music.
Jaws is my all time favorite (loved the interaction of Brody, Quint and Hooper.)
The Sting is also one of my favorites.

 

[chickinlickin]

I love old movies..."To Kill a Mockingbird" is probably my favorite, too....

What about "Casablanca"... "The Grapes of Wrath" ...."It's a Wonderful Life"...."Sargent York" is another good one...

Hitchcock's "North by Northwest"..."Rear Window" ..."Notorious"..."Dial M for Murder" (I love Hitchcock!)

What about westerns?..True Grit, The Searchers.....well just about any that John Wayne made.

I could go on and on....

I agree with ozark hen: Classic = Quality for a lifetime.

 

[WriterofWords]

Separate But Equal, Thurgood Marshal fighting Clarendon County in SC, becoming the first African American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
It broke my heart the first time I saw that movie and showed the scene where the child psychologist was asking the little black children which doll they wanted to play with the white doll or the black doll and they all chose the white doll because it was "better." I teach that movie every year around Constitution Day.
Classics have meaning, they are enjoyable but you learn something from them. Whether it is learning what a lack of character can do to a person like Rhett Butler, or the love of life from Gene Kelly, or the sadness of the human race from a little child.

 

[kuntrygirl]

My favorite movie is "A Christmas Story" and my favorite line from this movie is..... "You'll shoot your eye out." He just had to have that Daisy Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas. lol

 

[michickenwrangler]

Even some of the old horror movies. More people know the Frankenstein movie than the novel. I prefer Tod Browning's Dracula.

What about some good old war films, The Great Escape? Patton? Platoon? (for a newer one)

My litmus test for classics is "If it cannot be remade as well as the original in terms of casting, script, emotion, cinematography (fx don't count) ... then it is a classic."

 

[TMNTCkins]

My fav's are:

National Velvet
Littlest Dachshund
Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit
and anything Disney

 

[Slinkytoys]

.....aaannnd (for the younger generation) "Young Frankenstein" "Blazing Saddles" "Animal House" "Grease" "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" "Jaws"

Carrie