The best of the black & white motion pictures?

[Naphtali]

The best of the black & white motion pictures -- not noire, not any specific genre, just the best. I'll start with no-brainers in no particular order.

1. "The Third Man" (UK version 1949) Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles.

2. "His Girl Friday" (1940) Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy - is a significantly improved version of "The Front Page."

3. "The Train" (1965) Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield. Perhaps the most compelling World War II drama I've seen.

4. "Red River" (1948) John Wayne, Montgomery Clift - was Howard Hawks' first Western as well as Clift's first starring role. Wayne's best or second best performance, the other being in "The Searchers."

5. "The Search" (1948) Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl. Although Clift's second starring role, this motion picture reached audiences before "Red River." This is a wonderful story of human beings at their worst, and their best.

6. "The Lady Eve" (1941) Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda - was Preston Stuges' best effort and an excellent comedy.

7. "The Maltese Flacon" (1941) Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor.

8. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston. Greed destroys good people.

9. Casablanca (1942) Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman.

 

[vitanola]

King Vidor's "The Big Parade" (1925) should be on the list. it is to this day considered to be one of the best of the war pictures.
As far as war pictures are concerned, John Ford's magnificent "Four Sons" (1928) belongs on the list, along with Milestone's "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930). Howard Hawks' "The Dawn Patrol" (1930) and Howard Hughes' "Hell's Angels" (1930) is also a fine war picture

Paj Feros' "Lonesome" 1928) is not to be missed. For the lovers of good old "meller's', Griffith's "Way Down East" is a real treat. "Stella Dallas" (1925) is a tit-top weeper, and "The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg" (1926) is the best (although, alas, not the only) silent version of an operetta ever filmed.

 

[KY Gentleman]

I liked "Petrified Forest" with Bogart and Bette Davis.
"Night of the Hunter" has got to be on the list, too.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

I can't Imagine Sunset Boulevarde in anything else but glorious Black and white

 

[jack miranda]

Black and white? Oh, let's see:

"Island of Lost Souls" w/Charles Laughton & Bela Lugosi
"Treasure of Sierra Madre" w/Walter Houston, Tim Holt, Humphrey Bogart
"Wages of Fear" w/?
"Sahara" w/Bogart"
"The Thing"/ORIGINAL, Howard Hawks directed or produced
"Viva Villa!" w/Wallace Beery

There. That'll keep you watching for a bit.

 

[Lady Day]

I tried to name films I thought made use of the grey scale.

M (or would you call that more 'noir'?)
Ed Wood
400 Blows (I Love that film)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Psycho
Wings of Desire (LOVE that film)

Do shorts count?

LD

 

[Dixon Cannon]

'Swell Hogan' (1926)

They just don't make 'em like that one any more!

-dixon cannon

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

I tried to name films I thought made use of the grey scale.

M (or would you call that more 'noir'?)
Ed Wood
400 Blows (I Love that film)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Psycho
Wings of Desire (LOVE that film)

LD

You have awesome taste. WofD was the first foreign film I ever saw, and it is something I still watch regularly.
I'd like to put Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast on the list. For my money, it's the most beautiful B&W film I've ever seen.

 

[TopSpin]

You can't forget Bicycle Thieves!

I've only cried during a handful of movies, and this wasn't one of them, but it left me with a distinct feeling of hopelessness and empathy for the movie's characters. Very moving, and a must-see for black-and-white aficionados.