Too many to pick one and you've all mentioned great films. I have a soft spot in my heart for silent movies featuring Lon Chaney and Mr. Wu was wonderful. TCM is a great channel!

However, Arsenic and Old Lace is a classic and I could watch it non-stop! Cary Grant is wonderful. Such a great cast!

And Now, Voyager and Dark Victory.

This thread reminded me of the silent films with Harold Lloyd-hilarious. We just discovered him recently. I love old movies.

Casablanca

Mildred Pierce. Watch Joan Crawford tear up the screen on her way to an Oscar. An all-time favorite of mine.

Dinner at Eight (Jean Harlow and Marie Dressler!). The last lines are perfect.

I especially like 'darker' movies being filmed in black and white and prefer comedies, lighthearted movies and musicals to be in colour. Some black and white movies I loved were Wuthering Heights, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, To Kill a Mockingbird, Night of the Hunter, Sunset Boulevard and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I think the lack of colour in these films add extra drama!

Several of my favorites have already been listed. I will post another favorite that I don't believe I have seen here. I love this movie: The Letter with Bette Davis. Herbert Marshall, and James Stephenson. Wonderful movie.

Lavender Lass, thanks for the link. I guess Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was the precursor to the Home Decorating forum!

Now, Voyager starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and the Cigarettes.

Now Voyager

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, a classic, as well as Psycho, with Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. As a kid, I never looked at a motel the same!

All of the previous plus,

The Last Picture Show

Sam's Monologue (4 minutes)

I adore black and white. Other than the ones mentioned here:

For you Cary Grant fans, "Only Angels Have Wings." Also stars a gorgeous Rita Hayworth, but I love Jean Arthur in it.

Speaking of Jean, one of my all time favorites is "The More the Merrier" with an uber sexy Joel McRea and one of the sexiest on screen kisses in all of moviedom, IMHO.

And speaking of Rita Hayworth, I like "Gilda" mainly for Hayworth's bombshell rendition of "Put the Blame on Mame."

And speaking of so-so films that have wonderful musical numbers, (and great stars) I also like "Ball of Fire" which is corny as all get out, but Gene Krupa plays a drum solo with matchsticks which is practically worth the price of admission, and also Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck ooze onscreen charisma.

Watching "Witness for the Prosecution" on TCM now.

There were so many great movies made in black-and-white that I can't imagine how I could have a favorite. I adore the Thin Man movies, The Women, Holiday, Casablanca, the Marx bothers films......

One fave I don't think I saw mentioned is Abel Gance's "Napoleon". I saw the restored three screen version with live symphony orchestra accompaniment back in the eighties and it was awesome. I'd love to see it again.

Dinner at Eight is a film I will watch every time I run across it. Marie Dressler is so great. The last scene is absolutely priceless.

All That Heaven Allows

Tib I just finished watching Witness For the Prosecution on the west coast. One of my all time favs!

It's not in the romance vein, but one of my favorite movies of all time is in B&W. Beautiful cinematography and a story that is eerily timely for the state of things in 2016. It only took 60 years for life to imitate art. If you haven't seen this Elia Kazan tour de force, I highly recommend you do so. A Face in the Crowd.

Anything with Bogart and Bacall. I also love The Maltese Falcon almost as much as Casablanca. I have seen and enjoyed almost every film listed here; it's hard to say which is my favorite.

How could I forget Rebecca and Mrs. Miniver?

High Sierra. The remake with Jack Palance was on yesterday, not even close.

Too many to choose! I am officially addicted to Turner Classic Movies & have their app, along w/ IMDB on my phone, if that tells you anything. Also, FWIW, there were a lot of wonderful B&W films made in the 60s (esp. in Great Britain), when I understand color was reserved more for spectaculars & musicals, while lower budget films & serious dramas were mostly done sans color.

So many already mentioned above. What about Hard Day's Night? I absolutely love The Loved One w/ Robert Morse. Or Greed, Sunrise & The Wind - all silents. And anything by Preston Sturges - esp. Miracle of Morgan's Creek & Sullivan's Travels. I also love just about anything from the 30s; Barbara Stanwyck movies are terrific.

The Women is another I've enjoyed so many times, I know many of the lines by heart. It does have a color fashion show segment, tho - does that disqualify it?

There's a wonderful, lesser known film called Mickey One w/ Warren Beatty that's on my list too.

Oh and Busby Berkley musicals of the 30s are something I will always stop to watch.

I studied film for a time in college.

I like anything Bogart and Bacall...but one of my favorite movies is Dark Passage. Such an intriguing story and Agnes Moorehead is a tour de force!

This short trailer link is from Fox Classics....such a good movie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-kMsE1gkbQ

Great ending, too. I love the music : )

**Spoiler** Don't watch this link, if you haven't already seen the movie!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYr_Bgt7XJY

It's hard to choose, being an old movie aficionado with many favorites already mentioned above. I'm so glad others like Night of the Hunter & Mildred Pierce too.

But I'd have to pick Carol Reed's The Third Man. Great performances by all the actors, witty dialog, wonderful moody cinematography, that haunting music. The final scene where Alida Valli gives Joseph Cotton the cold shoulder moves me to tears.

I was tickled pink when my son came home from college raving about a fabulous old movie he and his friends watched one night. The dialog, he said, was great fun. It was a long time favorite of my husband's and mine, The Scarlet Pimpernel with Leslie Howard & Merle Oberon, and yes, Howard's disguise as an aristocratic fop will make you howl with laughter.

jakebedy, I was 8 or 9 when Face In The Crowd was released. My mom loved movies and she always took me with her. That movie made such an impact, that to this day I remember it (although I have seen it recently). Andy Griffith did such a great job in the role. I think that those who only know him as Sheriff Andy or Matlock would be surprised what a great dramatic actor he was.

"I am Addison DeWitt, and I am nobody's fool." Ahhh, the great George Sanders...

Jen, have you watched 'White Cliffs of Dover?" If not, you'll love it.

One of the things I so love about these old movies are the outfits...people used to dress so beautifully for everything. Now, it's jeans and t-shirts almost everywhere.

Maltese Falcon

Oh! 12 Angry Men and Susan Hayward in I Want To Live. It's really depressing that I've seen most these listed during their original release :-)

About The Scarlet Pimpernel:

Years ago, many, many years ago, we used to take out 16 mm films from the library to show on an ancient sound projector. We had friends over and would serve movie candy. One night we showed The Scarlet Pimpernel. Everyone was so quiet, we thought we must be boring our guests. Then, as 16 mm film would do, the film broke -- and everyone let out a huge gasp, then everyone burst into laughter. Each person thought that they were the only one enamored by the film. A great movie.

And remember Mae West? I always wished they had films of her burlesque shows...I bet they were something!

"Is that a gun in your pocket? Or are you just glad to see me."

I also wish they had films of Fred and his sister Adele...everyone said she was the real dancing talent...can you imagine???

Annie, I saw Mae West perform in Las Vegas when I was 8 or 9. Burlesque shows were G rated compared to TV and movies today.

DH is a fan of war flicks, so he mentioned Twelve O'Clock High...From Here to Eternity with everyone in it...Sergeant York... No one mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird. And then there was Dr. Strangelove.

marlene, my understanding is she was what led to the creation of the Hays Code.

I did not know that Annie. but am not surprised. I wonder if this is the same code that wouldn't allow Lucy and Desi to share a bed. Things have changed a bit.

I do know that what was once considered risqué 60 years ago would not even rate a blink today.

I know that I was able to see her in Las Vegas but my parents would not take me to the other burlesque shows....they probably didn't even go. Sinatra was more their style....which brings us back to black and white classics....From Here To Eternity. Another true classic.

Not just Mae West. Take a look at Baby Face with Barbara Stanwyck as the teenage daughter of a speakeasy owner who has been pimping her out since she was a child, who very overtly uses sex to make her way to money and power. It's a pretty gritty movie even today, especially with the original ending

There were a lot of early movies that were a lot more "modern" than we usually realize now.

ETA I'm sure that at the time her relationship with the character played by black actress Theresa Harris was just as shocking as the main plot. Harris pretends to be her maid, but is clearly her only friend and business partner.

No one mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird.

Annie, Pickyshopper mentioned it a few days ago. That would be my #1 choice.

Playing with my camera one night, I took a picture of Uncle Charlie giving niece Charlie the ring in Shadow of a Doubt. I can't bring myself to delete this picture!

diane_nj mentioned Key Largo. Some other great Edward G. Robinson movies: Double Indemnity (seductive Barbara Stanwyck practically sets the screen on fire), Scarlet Street, The Stranger.

Paul Muni is excellent in Scarface & I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang. I can see why he was so respected in his day.

I loved The Ghost and Mrs. Muir with Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, George Sanders, and Natalie Wood when she was a child. There was also a tv series based on the movie, but it never quite hit the mark.

Sorry Cindy...I must've missed it.

This has a lot of her good lines, but they missed the one where the hat check girl looks at her and says, "My goodness! What beautiful diamonds!" and Mae replies, "Goodness had nothing to do with it."

Or, "When I'm good, I'm very, very good, and when I'm bad, I'm better."

This thread makes me want to hole up and watch old movies for days. Some more favorites:

The Three Faces of Eve

The Best Years of Our Lives

I Remember Mama

Ditto on the costuming love! Studios had fantastic costume departments w/ designers like Adrian & Edith Head fashioning the most beautiful apparel for their stars, not to mention the amount of money lavished on the sets. The "ideal" is represented today in film & TV as well, but it rarely seems so glamorous, does it?

No, it doesn't. And the lighting! My mom was watching a B&W movie yesterday and the lighting was terrible. It was from the 1950's and it had the look of a B&W TV show.

The old movies new how to light the actors (and the sets) so they had an aura of glamour and mystery we don't see today.

I remember Edith Head winning the Oscar almost every year for her costumes. I can picture her walking up to the stage, black hair slicked back in a tight bun, bangs precisely trimmed, wearing her large round glasses. She always looked a bit odd to me.

Just watched Little Foxes last night - wow is that a dark movie and I'm not referring to the lighting!

Ah yes, Edith Head who said a woman's clothes should be tight enough to show she's a woman and loose enough to show she's a lady.

I always look to see who the costume designer was...she and Adrian were tops.