Great, Obscure Older Movies More People Should (Actually) Watch
I’d love recommendations for movies that are worth people’s time but not watched by most people for various reasons. Entertaining, innovative, thoughtful movies.
Here is one example: Metropolis. I learned about it in a film class as a German expressionist film. We had to watch The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari for the class and after that I thought, nope, that was enough for me. I kept Metropolis in mind as a “homework assignment,” but the idea of watching a 1920s silent foreign expressionist movie meant it was probably never going to happen. One day about five years ago, I happened upon it and I thought I’d turn it on for a few minutes. To my great surprise, the visuals and the story are incredibly compelling and endlessly surprising, and it became a favorite. I never would have expected that. I tell other people to watch it, but not one of those people has watched it because...yes, it’s a silent, black and white German expressionist sci-fi fantasy.
Caligari, Citizen Kane, etc. are good technical “homework” movies, but what are some other truly entertaining *and* intelligent older movies you’d recommend as must-watches?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 155 | August 19, 2018 7:24 PM
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The Lillian Gish films The Wind and Broken Blossoms. The Helen Morgan Film Applause. The Enchanted Cottage (1945).
by Anonymous | reply 1 | August 18, 2018 11:41 AM
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1927's "Sunrise" - a surreal, technically amazing F.W. Murnau film about a conflicted man who loves his wife, but who's having an affair with a wanton woman. The cinematography, especially for a movie made 92 years ago, is really spectacular. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the stunningly beautiful George O'Brien is in it, either.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 2 | August 18, 2018 11:44 AM
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Sunrise is on my top 5 list of movies. It's pure perfection...
by Anonymous | reply 3 | August 18, 2018 11:48 AM
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I never really get creeped out or scared by horror movies, but The Testament of Dr. Mabuse always sends a chill down my spine. Here's a particularly freakish moment.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 4 | August 18, 2018 11:53 AM
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It has to be viewed in context ( German Expressionism) but I wish O'Brien had been directed differently....in a more natural manor.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | August 18, 2018 11:54 AM
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Watch "Grandma's Boy" with Harold Lloyd (1922) ... it's the grand daddy of comedy films and TV sitcoms.
Also Llyod's "The Freshman" (1925). It's fresh modern and very funny.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | August 18, 2018 11:59 AM
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Metropolis obscure? It is one of the most popular silent films. One of the few to get a commercial release since 1980.
Hail The Conquering Hero--not as well known as Sturgis' other films--but really his masterpiece. Hysterically funny and deeply moving.
Cleo from 5 to 7---Thank god Madonna never did her rumored remake.
Sunrise---it is as good as everyone says. Not exactly obscure though since it shows up on most lists of film masterpieces.
Alice--Svankmajer's bizarre adaptation turns the books wordplay into visual play.
The Atomic Cafe--highly influential found footage documentary is now mostly forgotten.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | August 18, 2018 11:59 AM
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Make Way for Tomorrow--cry cry cry
by Anonymous | reply 8 | August 18, 2018 12:00 PM
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[quote] Alice--Svankmajer's bizarre adaptation turns the books wordplay into visual play.
Getting stoned and watching Svankmajer is one of my favorite joys in life.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | August 18, 2018 12:02 PM
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These type of DL threads are always a hoot, because most people obviously don't know the meaning of the word "obscure". No trully obscure movies mentioned so far (and if you consider Metropolis to be obscure you're an idiot).
by Anonymous | reply 10 | August 18, 2018 12:04 PM
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INTOLERANCE. Should not be missed. It is bigger than anything else you may have ever seen and is another testament to the talent of all those folks making film in the early days. D.W. Griffith takes on more than can be described here (seemingly all of world history and all of human nature) and delivers an epic film.
WINGS. Breathtaking. Shocking aerial photography. Male bonding. Clara Bow at her best This film is spectacular.
Both have been recently restored and are available on Blu-ray.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | August 18, 2018 12:05 PM
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Fuck you, R10. You're a pretentious hole. Obscure to a film studies major and obscure to someone just starting out exploring film are two different things entirely. Your pronouncement has no merit.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | August 18, 2018 12:09 PM
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intolerance and metropolis obscure??? LOL. millennials are the worse.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | August 18, 2018 12:09 PM
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It may be generational. There are far fewer cinemaphiles today. Few revival houses. Few television screenings.
I am around a lot of actors under the age of 30. None of them have ever heard of All About Eve. They are not quite sure which one is Cary Grant. They have seen clips of Chaplin.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | August 18, 2018 12:10 PM
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R10 I would consider "Grandma's Boy" a film not that well known considering how influential and groundbreaking it was.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | August 18, 2018 12:12 PM
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R10 is an annoying know-it-all who's alienated any friends he might have once had with his "God, you're all so stupid" approach to life. Of course, he's oblivious to all the eye rolls that greet him when he waddles into a room.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | August 18, 2018 12:13 PM
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R14 is correct. The revival houses are gone.
And I just don't think young people today have the patience to sit through a Silent Film.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | August 18, 2018 12:19 PM
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Lang made many artistic and very watchable movies. M is great.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | August 18, 2018 12:21 PM
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R17, yet when young folk see silent films, they usually like them because the pace is so much faster than sound films and their amazing visual acuity pays off.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | August 18, 2018 12:23 PM
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Re Metropolis -
If something has been restored, and then released in major cities, and then released on Criterion, and then shown on TCM at least twice since the restoration, in addition to having been known by anyone with even the most primitive knowledge of film history prior to that restoration because (1) it was made by a major filmmaker (Fritz Lang), (2) remade in the early 2000s as a Japanese anime (also called Metropolis), and (3) was an influence on Madonna's Express Yourself video and even her Material Girl video (see pic below) . . .
then maybe there's another meaning to the word "obscure" that I'm not familiar with.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 20 | August 18, 2018 12:24 PM
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R12 I am certainly not knowledgeable about old movies but even I have seen Metropolis. It is just about the most famous old movie there is. It is the very opposite of obscure.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | August 18, 2018 12:25 PM
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Snow Country - Yukiguni - 1957 by Shirō Toyoda. It's reasonably obscure and older, I guess. It has very little to do with western culture and is icily melodramatic and very pretty.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | August 18, 2018 12:28 PM
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Robert Bresson is obscure (except to film buffs) and you can pick any one of them and it will be watchable and worthwhile. Nowadays I doubt very many Joe Smoes know the fabulous Max Ophüls, either.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | August 18, 2018 12:34 PM
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I saw a 1926 comedy “The Duchess of Buffalo” not too long ago. Constance Talmadge is the female lead. I thought it was tremendous fun. Really great comedic performances by the entire cast. I’d never heard of it until this year.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | August 18, 2018 12:37 PM
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Here are some great older movies that are largely forgotten:
Fährmann Maria (1936) - a horror drama. It's not a silent movie but there's very little dialogue and music in it which gives it a very eerie vibe. Starring the tragic Sybille Schmitz.
Al-mummia (1969) - another strange film with very little dialogue and an otherworldly atmosphere . Based on a real story about the discoveries of a large group of mummies in late 19th century Egypt.
In jenen Tagen (1947) - One of the first films made in post-war Germany. I'm not a huge fan of anthology films but this one was great.
4 passi fra le nuvole (1942) - one of the best romantic comedies ever made. It was remade decades later as "A Walk in the Clouds" with Keanu Reeves
Qivitoq (1956) - the story seems pedestrian a bit but the film (film entirely in Greenland) is a visual spectacle
La moglie più bella (1970) - Ornella Mutti's film debut. Morricone's score (which prominently features Jew's harp ) is really something else.
Incompreso (1967) - the only film that ever made me cry.
Ze soboty na nedeli (1931 ) - Gustav Machaty is a criminally underrated director and this was probably his best film. The only one of his films that most people actually remember is Ecstasy, and they know that one only because Hedley Lamarr showed her titties in it.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | August 18, 2018 12:41 PM
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I cannot recommend Rules of the Game and Passion of Joan of Arc here because they are not obscure.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | August 18, 2018 12:57 PM
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R7 Obscure as in most general audiences today haven’t seen it and wouldn’t watch it. Obscure, good entertainment. I didn’t mean slow-motion movies of dogs hatching out of egg backward filmed in kineoscope. Good, solid, entertaining movies that aren’t in common circulation—I did not mean to spark a competition for the most obscure avant-garde movie no one wants to watch.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | August 18, 2018 12:58 PM
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Do you mean straight general audiences? There are lots of "entertaining" great movies by certain directors that most gay men over a certain age, have all seen, and speak about with each other, but young straight people are oblivious to all this.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | August 18, 2018 1:04 PM
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I started this thread to learn about movies that might be worth watching because I know there are a lot of elderly people and people with knowledge of entertainment here. I also know there are a lot of asshole know-it-alls who can get hung up on the use of a single word and instead call people childish names and co-opt the thread to make it a battle of what *really unknown movies* they know versus good movies worth watching. I am getting tired of this site and I wish I knew how to close a thread because I would close this one. I will trust the couple of recommendations of Sunrise because EVEN IF THE MOVIE IS NOT OBSCURE ENOUGH TO BE FERMENTING IN THE BOTTOM OF AN AUTHENTIC AUSCHWITZ GARBAGE DUMP, IT IS NEW TO ME, and I appreciate that recommendation.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | August 18, 2018 1:04 PM
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Tomb Thumb starring Russ Tamblyn and featuring Peter Sellers, Alan Young (of Mr. Ed fame), and other veteran actors of the stage and screen, Charming, funny story, great George Pal animated puppetry. Tamblyn’s acting, dancing and acrobatics are impressive (as always).
Only five reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but the rating is 100%.
I have no idea why this isn’t regarded as a children’s classic.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 30 | August 18, 2018 1:06 PM
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Maybe instead of being a drama queen you should answer the questions that would help people recommend movies. Also you could be more precise in your question because you want to know movies YOU should watch not "more people". How old are you and your gender and sexual orientation might help. Any yeah, Sunrise is great picture to recommend to anyone.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | August 18, 2018 1:07 PM
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A few years ago, I ran across a film from 1931 called "Street Scene" starring Sylvia Sidney. It is wonderful, with a naturalistic acting style that wasn't seen on stage or in movies at that time.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 18, 2018 1:13 PM
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Gender and sexual orientation are irrelevant. A good film is a good film. Do you really think a gay person can’t delight in a heterosexual romance or vice versa? I’ve been specific. This is as specific as I will be: walk down the street, grab a person, and ask “Have you seen the movie ________?” If no more than two out of ten people have seen it and it is a good movie worth watching, then it is worth recommending to others and it is relatively obscure. If, like Metropolis, its description is so off putting to most average people today—“it’s a 1920s black and white sci fi movie, silent, two and a half hours long, but brilliant”—and it sounds like a movie people think they *should* watch as a matter of personal edification but most likely will not watch because it sounds more like work than something they would enjoy—but in fact, if they gave it a chance they would enjoy it immensely, then that is what I mean. I do not mean Citizen Kane, a movie that is work to watch. I do not mean Triumph of the Will, a movie that has historic value but is not good entertainment. I do not mean Frau Lichtenstein’s Last Rotten Rose, a movie that no one has ever heard of for good reason. I mean a movie that stands on its own cinematic merits to just about any audience it is shown to, regardless of the era from which they come, regardless of whether they suck dicks or not, regardless of whether or not they have a vagina, regardless of their native language.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | August 18, 2018 1:17 PM
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The early 30s had a really fascinating naturalistic acting style that ran parallel to a more artificial style--often in the same film. Ann Dvorak and Mae Clark are really great examples of this. Barbara Stanwyk got this style in the early thirties and carried it throughout her career.
Street Scene was an adaptation of a stage play. The style in the film WAS seen on stage and in film. Look at other movies with the same actors.
Films like Applause, Safe in Hell, Waterloo Bridge (the original) and even the original The Letter (with heroin addicted Jeanne Eagels clearly strung out). Eagels performs in the very realistic acting style with the mid-atlantic accent you associate with the artificial actors.
Sound film moved away from the realism and grittiness of silent film because it was harder to shoot on location with sound equipment,because the depression made people want escapism, and because the Hayes code made it harder to dramatize realistic situations. But for a few years in the early talkie era there was some attempt to hang on to a more realistic film style.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | August 18, 2018 1:26 PM
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An actual obscure film--
Brother Orchid-- Edward G Robinson as a gangster hiding out in a monastery who learns to be a good man and grow flowers. Terrific film.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | August 18, 2018 1:27 PM
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Zoo in Budapest with Loretta Young & Blood Money with the great Judith Anderson. Both from the 1930s and not on DVD or Blu Ray.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | August 18, 2018 1:36 PM
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Fährmann Maria sounds like a Heimat from the 1950s. I can't seem to find it, but the device of the lead knowing where firm ground is and leading someone to his death was in there.
Carl Dreyer’s Vampyr (1932) is another spooky film with very little dialogue.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | August 18, 2018 1:42 PM
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Purple Noon is a French version of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Adds a good twist to the original story.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | August 18, 2018 1:51 PM
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I concede to your observation, R34! "Street Scene" blew me away. I knew it was a stage adaptation as it looks very stage bound. I guess I don't associate its natural acting style with early sound films but you will make me take a closer look at them.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | August 18, 2018 1:56 PM
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Early sound films are fascinating because they do not know how to do anything which exposes a lot of the mechanics of screenwriting, screenacting, etc.
Most of the films are unsatisfying because the addition of sound made for a big step back technologically. They could not film the way they had -- they had to be on quiet sets with actors grouped so the camera could pick up sound. But they are still fascinating.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | August 18, 2018 2:02 PM
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Call Her Savage with its bizarre plot and gay bar scene. Clara Bow was rumored to have had sex with her dog. In this film she wrestles with a dog with prominent balls, and she has erect nipples. You got to hand it for her for guts. Would Richard Gere ever dive headlong into rumors and pull a gerbil out of his pants in a film? I think not.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | August 18, 2018 2:05 PM
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E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
by Anonymous | reply 46 | August 18, 2018 2:37 PM
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The Black Cat with Boris Karloff. The first few scenes with Karloff are obviously intended to recall his "monster" in Frankenstein, but then he does an amazing transformation in an extended scene with Bela Lugosi where he really shows what a great actor he was (and how fabulous his voice was). The music is just icing on the cake.
And agree with Sunrise although it's a problematic film because the husband was out to kill the wife so he could marry his flapper lover. I mean, he was all set to kill her then...changes his mind. The fact that he was willing to kill at all is pretty much shrugged off by the end of the film.
Also love The Body Snatchers. Again with Karloff being amazing.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | August 18, 2018 2:40 PM
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Only 22 years old, but catch "Freeway," a violent, black-comedy twist on Little Red Riding Hood. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Keifer Sutherland and Brooke Shields.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | August 18, 2018 2:46 PM
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“High Noon” with Gary Cooper & Grace Kelly...black & white...early 1950s.
An hour of its running time syncs with real time...the movie itself is a criticism of McCarthyism.
Holds up very well.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | August 18, 2018 2:51 PM
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Agreed with the recommendations for Waterloo Bridge and Enchanted Cottage, both very good and 'modern' takes on relationships. In a similar line, try Vacation from Marriage (UK title Perfect Strangers).
R48 - agreed about the Boris Karloff movies. Would add the original The Mummy, much creepier and moving than those silly modern remakes. Karloff is superb.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | August 18, 2018 2:52 PM
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re: Vampyr. Great creepy movie, but read the wiki about his lead actor. A fabulous life!
by Anonymous | reply 52 | August 18, 2018 2:59 PM
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The original Cat People with Simone Simon. I saw it on TV and was impressed with the acting, the complex psychological drama, and the subtle buildup of tension with very little need for any special effects.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | August 18, 2018 3:00 PM
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MIDNIGHT, 1939, is a delightful comedy, written by Billy Wilder, starring Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore and an altogether fabulous Mary Astor. I think it is one of the great film comedies of the 1930s, though generally not as well known as MY MAN GODFREY, BRINGING UP BABY or the classic Marx Bros. films. Features a very camp gay performance by Rex O’Malley, and a bit part by Billy Daniels, boyfriend of director Mitchell Leisen.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | August 18, 2018 3:03 PM
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R25 knows how to play the game.
Not as obscure as those, but I love this gem from Henri-Georges Clouzot -- "Le Corbeau"
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 55 | August 18, 2018 3:09 PM
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R54 Thanks! Sounds right up my alley. I hope I can find it somewhere.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | August 18, 2018 3:12 PM
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These are good suggestions. My kid's a junior in high school and he did watch a lot of silent film as a young child: he sat through all of "Man With a Movie Camera" and "The Affairs of Anatole" and Max Linder shorts (as a three year old, he walked out of a Mack Swain "Ambrose" short screened at an arthouse film. He doesn't know most of the films mentioned. He runs a film appreciation club and is the one-eyed king among blind teenagers as far as movie history knowledge goes.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | August 18, 2018 3:13 PM
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I appreciate that people dropped the juvenile debates and sniping about the word “obscure” and started posting interesting suggestions. Thank you. Good movies and literature should be shared.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | August 18, 2018 3:16 PM
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Jesus, Metropolis is not even close to being obscure. What next? The Wizard of Oz? Ben Hur? The Graduate?
by Anonymous | reply 60 | August 18, 2018 3:17 PM
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R54 - did you know that one of Rex's Broadway roles was in "Lute Song" which is known for being Nancy Davis' only Broadway appearance?
by Anonymous | reply 62 | August 18, 2018 3:20 PM
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David Holzman's Diary was probably the first bona-fide found footage movie ever made, and I'm amazed that so few people have even heard about or care about it.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | August 18, 2018 3:25 PM
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What is Frau Lichtenstein’s Last Rotten Rose about?
by Anonymous | reply 64 | August 18, 2018 3:47 PM
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Freeway is appallingly trashy. Can’t believe Reese was in that!
by Anonymous | reply 65 | August 18, 2018 3:48 PM
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R64 It’s Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily, as told 10 years before it was written by psychic emo German vegans who eat only narcotic-producing plant material and sleep on beds of jagged quartz crystals. It was filmed entirely in red and white, with the red turned black in post production to represent the decay a rose undergoes as its petals wither in a damp cellar undwr the torment of Günter‘s obsessive gaze.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | August 18, 2018 3:55 PM
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These are too obscure for me...sorry. I was thinking more along old movies that were really good but aren’t “mainstream.”
by Anonymous | reply 67 | August 18, 2018 3:56 PM
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What do you mean by "mainstream." Very few avant garde films mentioned so far. Most have been produced and/or distributed by studios.
So you are looking more for Michael Snow, Guy Madden kind of stuff?
by Anonymous | reply 68 | August 18, 2018 3:59 PM
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R68 To me, mainstream is “watched or would be watched by most people.” (I am the OP, but not R67.) That is why I mentioned Metropolis as “obscure,” as opposed to “mainstream.” If you and your friends are film connaisseurs, then OK, no, that movie is relatively mainstream as far as silent-era German expressionist movies go. As far as everyday Americans who did not study film or communications go, anything German expressionist is obscure and not mainstream. Mainstream classic movies are Thw Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, Bringing Up Baby, the Philadelphia Story. Non-mainstream classical gems are movies like Holiday, a seriously underrated and poorly known movie with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. It’s adapted from a stage play, it’s long, it’s dialogue driven and not particularly cinematic, and it’s excellent. That’s the sort of thing I am talking about, except perhaps more “obscure” in the sense that there are even lesser-known films that don’t star A-listers and therefore are not likely to be accidentally discovered by many of us without guidance and advice from knowledgeable people. It is appreciated when people who hold such knowledge are willing to share it kindly like teachers would rather than with vitriol about semantics like the haunting voice of Norman Bates’s mother would, but this is the Data Lounge, home of all the real-life gay Norman Bateses.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | August 18, 2018 4:10 PM
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R68, sorry, but I don’t know who those people are.
I’m r50. I guess “High Noon” is cliche here. Perhaps I was thinking of my personal faves that are no longer popular.
I didn’t know the definition of “obscure” was so precise, formal & technical...and triggering lol
by Anonymous | reply 71 | August 18, 2018 4:10 PM
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Another vote for APPLAUSE.....
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 72 | August 18, 2018 4:15 PM
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R70, I too consider “Metropolis” obscure...
The Smashing Pumpkins would not have borrowed its motif were the film *not* obscure. Having an “underground” following does not make a movie “mainstream.”
I would consider “Crash” mainstream. It won best picture & was popular. But it doesn’t hold up. On paper, perhaps people should watch it. But only because it won the academy award. Not because it’s good. Perhaps popular at the time, but not good.
I guess folks here don’t consider “Eraserhead” obscure ?
by Anonymous | reply 73 | August 18, 2018 4:15 PM
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“I didn’t know the definition of “obscure” was so precise, formal & technical...and triggering lol”
R71 The same thing happened in a thread someone started about “forgotten songs of the 90s.” Trolls keep posting “I REMEMBER ALL OF THESE SONGS!!!DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THE WORD FORGOTTEN MEANS??!” as if only songs that no one recalls ever existed shall be posted and, those songs having been lost to the annals of time, no songs at all therefore should be posted. No matter how—I’ll say it!—obscure the song choices on that thread, some people remain triggered because, technically, by being remembered, that song is not forgotten. I feel like some of our associates here on DL are gnarled up at home, tortured by obsessive compulsive disorder and autism and totally incapable of conversational flexibility that is part of human interaction. I worked with a guy who had autism, and he could be easily triggered into a rage by anyone violating his very narrow technical understanding of an instruction. He would literally quake and announce that he was going to “explode and I won’t be responsible for my actions.” Do you guys who are triggered by words like obscure and forgotten do that at home as you type?
by Anonymous | reply 74 | August 18, 2018 4:17 PM
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Lol r74
Your post reminds me of a co-worker, who is without question very smart...but he’s so arrogant & intolerant. His favorite saying is: “I can explain it to you but I can’t understand it for you.”
Last week he was whining about another coworker not clearly explaining something to him. Hahaha.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | August 18, 2018 4:22 PM
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R75 Hahaha. That’s kind of hilarious.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | August 18, 2018 4:25 PM
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LOL, R74. You just described R10 perfectly.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | August 18, 2018 4:26 PM
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[quote][R70], I too consider “Metropolis” obscure...
Something that is obscure is something that practically no one--and I mean no one--has heard of or seen it. It's so unknown, in fact, that it's practically as if it never existed.
For example, before MST3K made fun of Manos: Hands of Fate, it was an obscure movie because no one even knew that this film existed other than the people who shot the film and the small handful of audiences that screened it when it first came out 40 years ago. Now, enough people know about it that it's no longer nonexistent.
Ditto Metropolis. People can't call this movie obscure if it's recognized by enough people as a sci-fi classic and there are tons of articles written about it or books that reference it.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | August 18, 2018 4:28 PM
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It is just hard to understand what is being meant when you do not use the ordinary meanings of words.
This is a great thread, but then when you use your own personal definitions of words it is hard to know what you mean. You seem to use the words "obscure" to mean films you have not heard of and "mainstream" to mean films you have. For most people obscure means something that has not been recognized or not readily available. Mainstream means something not avant garde or not niche. Why not just say you are looking for old films you have not heard of? Or neglected great films?
This is a great thread. So thank you for starting it.
It is not like any of us here are experts. I doubt anyone here has studied films. It seems that we are all people who just like watching movies.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | August 18, 2018 4:29 PM
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The Lady is Willing
I love this movie for Marlene's performance. She's a Teutonic Lombard and the writer fills her dialog with the letter R.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 80 | August 18, 2018 4:29 PM
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R78 Okay, Miss Mary, Quite Contrary. Feel better now? Feel sufficiently superior?
by Anonymous | reply 81 | August 18, 2018 4:29 PM
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[quote]The same thing happened in a thread someone started about “forgotten songs of the 90s.”
Were you the one that started that thread (or participated in it) and began posting the most famous and most recognizable songs from that period, LOL? Were you the one that posted stuff like "What if God was one of us?" or "Mmm Bop" or some other huge pop hit and then became embarrassed when called out on it? Is this why this discussion bothers you so much?
by Anonymous | reply 82 | August 18, 2018 4:32 PM
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Maybe if readers chose to interpret "obscure" with "unjustifiably forgotten" people could move on... I have some suggestions: "Champagne For Caesar", "Mon Oncle", "The Good Fairy", "The Gods Must Be Crazy."
by Anonymous | reply 83 | August 18, 2018 4:32 PM
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[quote] I do not mean Citizen Kane, a movie that is work to watch.
???
I always find Citizen Kane vastly entertaining.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | August 18, 2018 4:34 PM
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“Something that is obscure is something that practically no one--and I mean no one--has heard of or seen it. It's so unknown, in fact, that it's practically as if it never existed.”
HENCEFORTH, BY ORDER OF THE QUEEN OF DATA LOUNGE, ONLY FILMS THAT NO ONE—AND I MEAN NO ONE—KNOWS EXISTED MAY BE MENTIONED HERE. NAY!! ONLY FILMS THAT NEVER EXISTED MAY BE MENTIONED HERE!
BY ORDER OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, QUEEN MARY PRISSYPANTS
by Anonymous | reply 85 | August 18, 2018 4:34 PM
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It's not "old" in the sepia tones sense. It's not "obscure" in that its title doesn't have umlauts over it and it wasn't directed by a German expressionist, but 1978's "The Silent Partner" with Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, and a very young John Candy is a little-seen, little-known Canadian thriller that's just about perfect.
I can't recommend it enough. Just beware of the aquarium scene.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 86 | August 18, 2018 4:36 PM
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[quote][R78]Okay, Miss Mary, Quite Contrary. Feel better now? Feel sufficiently superior?
The only superior people I see around here are the ones who feel they can just throw around concepts in a confusing way, and then act indignant when people call them out on it or misinterpret what they're saying.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | August 18, 2018 4:36 PM
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R87 So your answer would be "yes?"
by Anonymous | reply 88 | August 18, 2018 4:37 PM
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R82 No, I didn’t start the 90s thread and I didn’t post those songs. I posted Counting Blue Cars, Tubthumping, etc. One of these songs triggered a beatdown on the grounds that people recall that it once existed and therefore it has not been technically forgotten. Some of the people here are so extraordinarily tightly wound that it’s truly a wonder to me. Day to day life must be so frustrating for someone who sees the world so narrowly.
by Anonymous | reply 89 | August 18, 2018 4:38 PM
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Metropolis is easily in the top 20 greatest films every made.
My gen z students would think The Last Picture Show or Mean Streets fits the bill as "old timey" and "obscure".
by Anonymous | reply 90 | August 18, 2018 4:38 PM
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'I don't know what you mean by "glory",' Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't — till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected.
'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'
by Anonymous | reply 91 | August 18, 2018 4:39 PM
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[quote]HENCEFORTH, BY ORDER OF THE QUEEN OF DATA LOUNGE, ONLY FILMS THAT NO ONE—AND I MEAN NO ONE—KNOWS EXISTED MAY BE MENTIONED HERE. NAY!! ONLY FILMS THAT NEVER EXISTED MAY BE MENTIONED HERE! BY ORDER OF HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, QUEEN MARY PRISSYPANTS
Okay, you mentally imbalanced nut job.
by Anonymous | reply 92 | August 18, 2018 4:40 PM
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Just drop everything and go watch " The Loved One"
by Anonymous | reply 94 | August 18, 2018 4:42 PM
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“The Cat and the Canary.” It’s a fabulous “haunted house” thriller / comedy from 1927 that I caught on TCM’s Silent Sundays. It was funny, scary, and just all-out entertaining.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 95 | August 18, 2018 4:43 PM
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See this thread, OP: They are ALL entertaining.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 96 | August 18, 2018 4:43 PM
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R91 The whole point of Alice in Wonderland is that the adult world is full of peculiar interactions and behaviors informed by nuances beyond their comprehension that the world can come across as madness to these naive little people like Alice, who are big in imagination and lacking in experience. That’s being played out quite well by petulant children here.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | August 18, 2018 4:44 PM
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R95, I love The Cat and The Canary, but I feel The Bat (AKA The Bat Whispers) deserves a mention.
by Anonymous | reply 98 | August 18, 2018 4:48 PM
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'I don't know what Alice in Wonderland means",' Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't — till I tell you..'
'But who made you the final arbiter of what a literary work means? They each contain a range of meanings. It is not like picking one vocabulary word and checking its connotations and denotation,' Alice objected.
'When I read a book,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
by Anonymous | reply 99 | August 18, 2018 4:49 PM
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We’ve got some Alices here. We’ve got some Humpys here. We’ve got way too many Queens of Hearts here and could really use a laid-back caterpillar or two.
by Anonymous | reply 100 | August 18, 2018 4:52 PM
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Fear of Fear. Not one of Fassbinder's best known films--but fantastic!
by Anonymous | reply 101 | August 18, 2018 4:54 PM
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As a teacher I can tell you "obscure" is a word beloved by young people when talking about cultureal works from earlier periods because so much is of course completely new to them; but it's a word that can makes older people angry because it can suggest what is important to themselves is trivial to young people.
OP meant well, but he worded his title in a way that unintentionally gave older people offense. Everyone on both sides should step back and chill out.
by Anonymous | reply 102 | August 18, 2018 4:54 PM
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This is why we can't have nice threads.
by Anonymous | reply 103 | August 18, 2018 4:59 PM
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I apologize!!! If there were an editing feature here, I would revise the title as per the ardent insistence of the octogenarians here: “Please Recommend Great, Non-Existent Movies That Were Never Conceived.” Because that is so very obviously what I meant to convey and it is a perfectly reasonable interpretation.
by Anonymous | reply 104 | August 18, 2018 5:00 PM
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I am 42 years old.
And no, it is not obvious what you meant to convey. If it was, no one would be discussing this.
by Anonymous | reply 105 | August 18, 2018 5:06 PM
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There are the films that were big at one time and are now almost forgotten.
Klute Atomic Cafe Duel in the Sun
by Anonymous | reply 106 | August 18, 2018 5:06 PM
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r104 no joke, I think that topic title “Please Recommend Great, Non-Existent Movies That Were Never Conceived.” could evoke some masterpieces from the DL film appreciation/creative writing emeriti.
Here's mine: "The Little Great Messiah" (1923), Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Mack Swain, Albert Austin, William Powell, Henry Bergman, Charles Riesner, Lillita McMurray, Jane Peters. The story of Jesus Christ, from his humble birth in Bethlehem to his teen mother (Lillita McMurray) the Virgin Mary and Albert Austin (Joseph) to his Crucifixion (William Powell in an early villain role) and Resurrection (Jane Peters and Edna Purviance. Henry Bergman is Joseph of Arimathea. Edna Purviance is Mary Magdalene, Jane Peters is "the other Mary" who discovers the tomb is empty. Mack Swain is Judas Iscariot. Genius moment: Chaplin pantomimes the Parables.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | August 18, 2018 5:14 PM
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R108 That does sound like an obscure movie. What’s the plot?
by Anonymous | reply 109 | August 18, 2018 5:17 PM
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[R86]
The Silent Partner is a great. I've been watching other 1970's movies that maybe aren't considered "obscure", but are lesser known. OP should try Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye", "Thieves Like Us" or "3 Women". Paul Mazursky is famous for "An Unmarried Woman", but "Blume in Love" and "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" are both very good.
If you enjoy thrillers, I recommend "Mortal Thoughts" and "Deception". "Mortal Thoughts" is directed by Robert Altman's protege, Alan Rudolph. It stars Demi Moore, Glenne Headley, and Bruce Willis. Demi gives a surprisingly good performance. "Deception" is another little seen thriller starring Goldie Hawn and John Heard.
by Anonymous | reply 110 | August 18, 2018 5:54 PM
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He Who Gets Slapped (1924) is a Lon Chaney movie film buffs might know but the not generally people. I watched it first only a year ago and was blown away by Chaney. His character betrayed by his fiancee and his best friend, he retreats into a circus to be punished and debased nightly by being slapped. He's fantastic here.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 111 | August 18, 2018 6:06 PM
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Watch out for Homosexuals.
A 1950s propaganda film on the dangers of predatory gays...
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 113 | August 18, 2018 6:15 PM
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As an elder frau, I’m grateful to have lived in DC in the 1970s when I could go to the Circle Theater on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was one of the greatest repertory theaters ever, and you could go there to watch a double feature of just about any kind of movie. Japanese Samurai, Ingmar Bergman, Italian neorealism, French nouvelle vague, MGM musicals, film noir.
by Anonymous | reply 114 | August 18, 2018 6:22 PM
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R112, I love Lady of Burlesque/ AKA Gypsy Rose Lee's G-string Murders. It is fairly faithful to the book.
by Anonymous | reply 115 | August 18, 2018 6:32 PM
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"Quai des Brumes" a French film with the great Jean Gabin. When I saw it on TCM, I was just blown away. Also, one of Garbo's lesser-known films, Passion. "I'm just a nice young girl," her character says. "Maybe not so young, and not so nice." No kidding!
by Anonymous | reply 116 | August 18, 2018 6:35 PM
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OP, I tried to defend you at r102, but if you're going to continue to whine and sulk like a little bitch (as you do at r104) I have absolutely zero patience for you.
by Anonymous | reply 117 | August 18, 2018 6:41 PM
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"Gabriel Over the White House"
A political hack becomes President during the height of the Depression and undergoes a metamorphosis into an incorruptible statesman after a near-fatal accident. Wacky for its pro-fascist angle.
"Washington Merry-Go-Round" aka "Invisible Power"
Button Gwinett Brown is a freshman congressman on a mission to rid Washington of corruption. He quickly runs afoul of the powerful Senator Norton, while falling for the granddaughter of the kindly senator Wylie. He then teams up with some members of the Bonus Army to foil the villains' plans. Stars Lee Tracy.
by Anonymous | reply 118 | August 18, 2018 7:20 PM
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I used to have the book, r115. You're right, it was quite faithful to it. Well....I don't remember Dixie doing a great coffee grinder in the book.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 119 | August 18, 2018 7:27 PM
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"Haxum" a 1922 Swedish-Danish documentary-style silent horror film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. It's considered his finest work. It got acclaim in Denmark and Sweden the film was banned in the United States and heavily censored in other countries for what were considered at that time graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion. It's a bizarre and disturbing film and does feature some grotesque scenes. One of them has the devil's followers lined up to take their turn kissing his anus! Yes, it does actually depict that. It has scenes of women in sexual situations with demon or devil creatures. This was some hot stuff for 1922. It's amazing the movie, which was very expensive , ever even got made considering its subject matter.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | August 18, 2018 7:34 PM
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Yes @ R116. I saw Quai des Brumes on TCM s few years ago and loved. Jean Gabin was a babe.
by Anonymous | reply 121 | August 18, 2018 7:39 PM
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[quote] "Gabriel Over the White House" A political hack becomes President during the height of the Depression and undergoes a metamorphosis into an incorruptible statesman after a near-fatal accident. Wacky for its pro-fascist angle.
There is more to it that draws attention to this film. William Randolph Hearst was behind the film's production, intending it to be a primer for strong-man rule by FDR. Before filming, the script was sent to FDR for his review. He personally made revisions and the approved script was filmed.
Citizen Kane and FDR's fantasy of a benevolent dictatorship in America.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 122 | August 18, 2018 7:55 PM
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The original “Diabolique” from 1955 with Simone Signoret is also a great film.
by Anonymous | reply 123 | August 18, 2018 8:01 PM
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Frisco Jenny is worth a watch. Ruth Chatteron’s performance is a great example of the pre-code, more naturalistic acting style of the early ‘30s. It’s a melodrama but has a rough edge that provides some depth. And, Chatteron really is fabulous.
by Anonymous | reply 124 | August 18, 2018 8:22 PM
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[quote]We’ve got some Alices here. We’ve got some Humpys here. We’ve got way too many Queens of Hearts here and could really use a laid-back caterpillar or two.
I claim the Cheshire Cat
by Anonymous | reply 125 | August 19, 2018 2:32 AM
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A silent French film called THE LIVING DEAD MAN (aka FEU MATTHIAS PASCAL) starring the Russian actor Ivan Mozzhukhin. It’s been on TCM a few times. About a man in a bad marriage who disappears and is presumed dead but comes back. Though it runs almost 3 hours, I enjoyed it, and Mozzhukhin was wonderful in the lead.
Saw another film about Edmund Kean with the same actor and that wasn’t nearly as good.
by Anonymous | reply 126 | August 19, 2018 3:03 AM
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If you all would like to discover an entire library of great obscure movies, check out the Pizza Flix channel on YouTube. Lots of great hidden gems under the Pre-Code Hollywood playlist, crime dramas and film noirs from the 1930s and 40s.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 127 | August 19, 2018 3:09 AM
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An amazing obscure movie that's never gotten its due is Abandon Ship! (or Seven Waves Away) starring Tyrone Power. I guess it's become forgotten because most people dismiss it as a Lifeboat rip off, but I personally think it's head and shoulders above that movie and besides, Hitchcock always ripped off from others, so BFD.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 128 | August 19, 2018 3:14 AM
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One that I just watched today, which I ordered on DVD from Netflix based on a recommendation in another DL thread: ‘Fourteen Hours’ (1951). Directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Richard Basehart, Paul Douglas, and Howard DaSilva, it’s about a suicidal young man who steps out on the ledge of a New York hotel, and then spends fourteen hours paralyzed from uncertainty while a sympathetic cop tries to convince him to come off the ledge. Filmed in New York City with lots of atmosphere and full of wonderful character actors, it’s really worth watching.
by Anonymous | reply 129 | August 19, 2018 3:27 AM
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Here's my ideal triple bill if I ran a revival house:
Un Chien Andalou (Bunuel & Dali)
Freaks (Browning)
The Devils (Russell)
by Anonymous | reply 130 | August 19, 2018 3:31 AM
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There are so many, OP...
THE STUDENT PRINCE OF OLD HEIDELBERG--a Lubitsch silent, starring Ramon Novarro at his most beautiful and Norma Shearer--has one of the most heartbreaking endings in all cinema (but be sure to watch it with the modern Carl Davis score)--I don't think there's been a commercial release on DVD but it surfaces on TCM from time to time
FISTS IN HIS POCKET--a tough, gritty and stunning Italian movie
THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON"T THEY--not sure if it would be considered obscure, but a must-to-watch great film
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS--by Luchino Visconti
FREUD-by John Huston and starring Montgomery Clift--about the great psychoanalyst and his early discoveries regarding the unconscious
THE GODDESS--written by Paddy Chayefsky and starring Kim Stanley as a Marilyn Monroe-type actress seeking fame and love in Hollywood
PICKPOCKET--director Robert Bresson is an acquired taste, to be sure, but this hypnotic film (acted by amateurs) is probably his best
THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE--with two smashingly entertaining performances by a young Eric Roberts and the hilarious Geraldine Page
There are so many, many more wonderful films to be experienced....as I remember them, I'll make a note of them here...
by Anonymous | reply 131 | August 19, 2018 3:32 AM
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Dawson's One Load Weekend - He was shy yet eager and you could see the results splattered all over his smiling face.
by Anonymous | reply 132 | August 19, 2018 4:55 AM
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Only borderline obscure, but Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons," if only for Agnes Moorehead as spinster, hysterical Aunt Fanny, IMO one of the five greatest performances given on screen by an actress. The boiler room scene is in and of itself worthy of repeated, close viewing for anyone who cares about acting.
by Anonymous | reply 133 | August 19, 2018 5:09 AM
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The Hit--great Stephen Frears movie with Terrence Stamp and Tim Roth. Hit men take their target on a road trip.
Il Sorpasso---Great road movie. Sort of homoerotic. Sort of bro--early 60s italian style. Vitorio Gasman is amazingly hot. Really one of my personal faves.
by Anonymous | reply 134 | August 19, 2018 12:22 PM
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A Brief Vacation. De Sica's last film.
by Anonymous | reply 135 | August 19, 2018 1:10 PM
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LOL, "The Magnificent Andersons" is borderline obscure...LOL.
by Anonymous | reply 136 | August 19, 2018 1:18 PM
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R129, regarding Fourteen Hours, It was based on the real life suicide of John William Warde.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 137 | August 19, 2018 1:25 PM
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Most of the movies mentioned in this thread aren't "obscure."
by Anonymous | reply 138 | August 19, 2018 1:34 PM
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i sense a touch of this dynamic here
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 140 | August 19, 2018 1:54 PM
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The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 141 | August 19, 2018 2:19 PM
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" 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. " may be the first acid-trip movie. Stanley Kramer and Dr Seuss together were very sick men.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 143 | August 19, 2018 2:40 PM
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It doesn't get much weirder than the 1960 French horror film Eyes without a Face.
I love the wiki description:
"Although the film passed through the European censors, the film's release in Europe caused controversy nevertheless. Critical reaction ranged from praise to disgust."
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 144 | August 19, 2018 2:55 PM
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R136. Well, to be fair, I don't consider Ambersons obscure to anyone who cares about Film, but there are plenty of people who only know Welles for Kane and those wine commercials.
by Anonymous | reply 145 | August 19, 2018 5:32 PM
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R144, your pick just reminded me of Roger Corman's Bucket of Blood. That movie is not only funny as hell, it was ahead of its time. It completely mocked the Beatniks, who were the 1950s versions of hipsters. These two groups wound up being so much alike that most of the jokes in the movie easily apply to hipsters, especially their obsession with organic health food.
by Anonymous | reply 146 | August 19, 2018 5:37 PM
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Another great B movie horror is Homicidal. It was a Hitchcock ripoff, but I think it handled the movie much better than he did.
by Anonymous | reply 147 | August 19, 2018 5:39 PM
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The brilliant opening shot from Touch of Evil.....
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 148 | August 19, 2018 5:42 PM
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I Know Where I’m Going.
I'm a fan of the Archers but I didn’t know this film existed until I heard it mentioned in an interview with Martin Scorsese, of all people. It’s a masterpiece.
by Anonymous | reply 149 | August 19, 2018 5:44 PM
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Well it seems that any film today made before 1980 is 'obscure' including The Magnificent Ambersons.
Us eldergays when we were kids we had a whole backlog of black and white films we were happy to watch on TV. It didn't bother us at all especially because we were watching sitcoms as well in black and white.
But I'm one of those who had to pick up my jaw off the floor when the OP called Metropolis obscure. It is continually being shown and referred to as one of the cultural touchstones of the 20th Century. Maybe that's the problem. Young people today know nothing about the 20th Century. I could name many films but why bother? When I see the endless horror and exploitation shit being put out on blu ray I figure that's that.
by Anonymous | reply 151 | August 19, 2018 6:14 PM
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The Face of Another, an Amazing japanese existential thriller from the 60s. Super sleek and disturbing, i'm pretty sure it was copied to death by western directors since.
by Anonymous | reply 153 | August 19, 2018 6:29 PM
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R153, I think it was the inspiration for Face/Off.
by Anonymous | reply 154 | August 19, 2018 6:57 PM
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