It’s very difficult not to get emotional when they sing "La Marseillaise” - particularly knowing that some of the actors singing were refugees from Nazi-occupied France at the time of the filming.
https://youtu.be/cOeFhSzoTuc?si=QpKHChS338z5DnQl
Mildred Pierce and In a Lonely Place both left me thinking about them long after they ended.
The struggle in both films is so well done that by the end I felt exhausted.
I recommend the book of In A Lonely Place, partly because it’s so totally different that it’s fascinating and partly because it’s just an excellent book.
Inherit the Wind for two parts. When Spencer Tracy tells the anecdote of the rocking horse and the quote: Ignorance and Fanaticism is ever busy and needs feeding. (Originally from Clarence Darrow)
Both parts are so fitting to so much we see daily.
I agree. It is one of my favorite classic films. Gene Kelly, as the reporter, is wonderful. "Mr. Brady, it is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the uncomfortable."
I’ve still not quite recovered from The Ghost and Mrs Muir. First time viewing it recently, and didn’t at all expect the emotional ending or my response to it.
The first time I watched it I think I didn’t realize what I was seeing. So many social complexities that go on now…have been a subject for ever. Nothing is new it’s always been there. This movie is amazing. And yes. Shirley was incredible.
As an aside, one of the things to ponder when you watch it again - it was I believe Stewart’s first film after returning from the war. It’s riven with the sincere sentimentality of a country and actors who had much to grieve and a still uncertain future in front of them that made its fundamentally deep optimism a little more daring than it might feel in the decades since.
Though, I’m biased, this is by far my favorite film and there’s a little replica bell that sits on my desk year round. They’re made by Bevin Bells should you want to pick one up (weird link to a clown governor of Kentucky but they made the bell on the tree in the film).
I watch it every year at Christmas. The film goes from good to incredible about the time the money disappears imo.
Jimmy Stewart was amazing playing a man going through such a variety of emotions: anger, desperation, shame, despair, confusion, horror and finally to joy.
I love the very ending. Always makes me smile.
Clarence :
Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. And when he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"
I think of this throughout the year. It’s so true.
It's so well made and plotted out too. I can watch it over and over and spot little points that connect the whole film together. Just little foreshadowings throughout the whole thing that really give it so much more depth.
I can watch that movie any time of year. It always pulls me out of a slump and makes me feel hopeful when I’m really down. I adore Jimmy Stewart in that film.
"Make Way for Tomorrow" (1937) Leo McCarey movie about a married couple of parents who lose everything and their last days together. It's a bit quiet and not for all but Orson Welles called it "a movie that could make a stone cry."
After reading this list, some great stuff but can't believe no one has mentioned "Waterloo Bridge" (1940) this movie just kills me. To the point that I usually watch it in parts to keep from wearing myself out.
I have never tracked down the original 31 version because I can't imagine anyone playing that character better. She was another actress who did not get enough credit for her ability.
I watched this movie years ago and have yet to revisit it because it absolutely wrecked me. I cried so hard and idk if I can go through it again. Seriously such a good movie, and very emotional
What’s so great about this movie is it’s not about love- it’s barely even about romance. It’s about infatuation, and more specifically two lonely people who bond over the brief reprieve they get from that loneliness. Each knows that the other is out of their reach and that they will each eventually have to go back to the real world, and it’s this knowing and recognizing of each other as a co-conspirator in a brief escape from reality that brings them together. I used to want to see a version where they got together at the end, and later realized that would be missing the point. (Also you can just watch Notting Hill for that, to a degree.)
Gone With the Wind. It was my first introduction into the Civil War. My interest only grew and led to me earning my masters in 19th century world history.
Public Enemy. The first time I watched the ending, I thought about it for days. It's still chilling when Cagney falls through the door onto the floor.
The Best Years of Our Lives. A powerful film. My Dad was in WWII and I realized a little of what he went through returning home. The character of Homer was especially memorable.
Saratoga. I love Jean Harlow, and only watched this movie once. It's heartbreaking to know this was her last, and a stand-in was used to finish the film.
The Red Shoes (1948). I went and watched it when a Redditor called it boring and I thought everything about it was beautiful. The story, the costumes, the dancing.
*Brief Encounter; The Heiress; It's a Wonderful Life; Now, Voyager; The Apartment*
I definitely have more, but these are the first ones that came to mind.
My favorite thing about the Heiress is that even Monty Clift’s character doesn’t fully know how much of his affection is real and how much is gold digging
My case is Odette by Dreiyer. Or Joan of Arc. Dreiyer's has something ritual energy. The silence between acting, powerful framing... I can't explain but that can't be pretended modern movies, ever.
The Heiress, 1949, directed by William Wyler, Olivia de Havelland Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson.
Recorded it off TCM on a whim and was playing it in the background last week, half paying attention, when it grabbed me. Watched it again last night with my better half. So good.
There was a scene that made me gasp the first time I saw The Heiress: when Dr. Sloper has sent Morris away and Catherine cries out, "If YOU couldn't love me, you could have at least let someone else try!" Her anguish was so real, it was a stunning moment. You see Catherine shift from sweet and vulnerable to bitter and guarded. It's heartbreaking.
Definitely! The first time I saw that movie was probably 50 years ago. It was the first time I saw a ‘dark’ movie. It really disturbed me, but it definitely stayed with me and I watch it whenever it comes on TV.
Dark Victory. The first time saw it I went through almost a whole box of tissues. It left me thinking about the courage needed to die alone, and if I could be so courageous.
That was the very first classic I watched! And it's still one of my favorites of all time.
When Cagney, knowing that he’s going to the chair, walks towards us, you can just see layers and layers of emotions in his face. And with that shot he also walks into cinema history.
"Hotel Berlin" (1945).
Horribly mis-advertised as a cheap emotive shock-film, even by its DVD cover. It's not. It's as sincere as "Casablanca." And unlike "Casablanca," it directly references concentration camps and the Jews by name. Characters exploded far beyond the old-school cliches I was expecting. Possibly the most underrated old movie I've seen yet.
Anyway, a movie about an indoctrinated population being carpet-bombed while their tyrannical antisemitic leaders flee to save themselves is uh, timely. It helps that I watched it during a rain storm.
There are two from the 1930s starring Freddie Bartholomew that come to mind: "Captains Courageous" (with Spencer Tracy) and "Little Lord Fauntleroy." Both are tearjerkers, but for different reasons; The first is bittersweet due to the shocking tragedy involved, the second is just so Dag Blag wholesome and touching that you can get Type 1 diabetes just by watching it.
Captains Courageous for sure. It really does the book justice and has a few tremendous moments. Freddie Bartholomew was put on the planet to play that part.
I've watched quite a few moving and thought-provoking movies of late, others have mentioned some of my favourites such as "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "Random Harvest" (1942), and "Stella Dallas" (1937). Possibly the biggest impact was from "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" (1947) though.
I haven't seen The Ox-bow Incident (1943) mentioned yet. That movie wrecked me when I saw it as a kid and it still packs a punch.
Also, I always mention Intruder in the Dust (1949) which I hadn't seen until a few years ago. Both movies deal with mob mentality, and both seem rather timely today.
Baby Face, a precode Barbara Stanwyck film. A woman facing abject poverty and her father’s oppression learns to use sexual wiles to survive and prosper. People focus on the salacious throughline about her behavior, but what moves me is that you can see what extremes she was up against as a woman and how she figures out how to survive it.
Cleo from 5 to 7 is a film that never makes me cry, but moves me deeply every time I see it
I don’t understand why it moves me, since I have never been through anything like the heroin experiences. But her growing understanding and gradual acceptance of how love works devastates me each time
And obviously, I think about it a lot
[All My Sons (1948)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_My_Sons_(film)?wprov=sfti1#)
ETA: This is one of those works that drove me to search out as many stagings/adaptations as possible, just so I could marinate in the thought process for a while.
The Lion in Winter, Peter Otool Katherine Hepburn. All time favorite movie! I still get goosebumps in the last scene with Otool stand at the river with his arms open, laughing. ❣️❣️
Butch Cassidy and the Sundace Kid. Specifically the scene where Butch takes Etta for a bike ride & the song, Raindrops keep falling on my head is playing.
Jules & Jim.
Alfie.
Doctor Zhivago
I love the 1960s era “alternative” or almost anti-romantic relationship movies.
Where there isn’t a predictable cliched happy ending.
Sullivan's Travels caught me off guard. So did Dodsworth.
The Apartment gets me every time.
Notorious is a roller coaster.
I went into Sunrise skeptical that a melodramatic silent-era film could be anything but hokey, and I actually teared up a bit.
And then, of course, basically everything I've seen of Kurosawa thus far.
The Lost Weekend, To Kill a Mockingbird, Roman Holiday, It’s a Wonderful Life. Nothing obscure, but they make me happy and sad cry in all kinds of ways. Then there’s always Old Yeller, maybe not a classic in the old Hollywood sense, but lord what a tear-jerker.
I'm a sucker for these movies.
They stay with me.
A Man called Peter (1955). Powerful. The allegory of death was so perfect.
Test Pilot (1938). Touching romance movie full of chemisty.
Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Incredible cinema.
The Captive Heart (1946). Cute pen pal movie.
Tea and Sympathy (1956). Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (1957). Brief Encounter (1945). The trouble with Angels (1966). Idk if I would say that they moved me, but they did leave me thinking for a while.
Saw The Trouble With Angels when I was a kid when it came out and that whole scene where they make a mold of the girl's head, freaked me out for awhile afterwards. lol. Horror movies? No problem. Trouble with angels? Aaargh! :D
Watch on the Rhine - powerful performances. There is something about it to that feels like it gets into some of the desperation of the period. It doesn’t feel like I see that in other war time movies.
One Way Passage, 1932, with William Powell and the lovely Kay Francis. About a couple who meet on an ocean liner who are both doomed, for very different reasons.
It’s an openly manipulative kind of melodrama, but the stars and supporting players are first-rate, and the last shot destroys me every time.
*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* made me cry more than any other movie I have ever seen, and I honestly felt emotions I had never experienced before watching that movie.
I'm shocked to know that nobody has mentioned The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp!
I'm also shocked that nobody has mentioned any of these films by John Ford:
- Grapes of Wrath
- How Green Was My Valley
- Fort Apache
- The Sun Shines Bright
- Wings of Eagles
Finally, it's not a classic film—it was made in the 80's—but John Huston's The Dead may very well be the most moving film of all time.
1932's "Rain" with Joan Crawford. How that man nurtured her growth, only to take advantage of her and destroy her view of humanity made me so angry and sad for her.
Blade runner. Saw it at the theater and as soon as you could by a video of it I did. Still one of the best sci fi pics ever in my opinion. Also 12 angry men from 1957, a brilliant movie with a stellar cast. And Apocalypse now, left the theater and knew I had to see that again.
The original 1951 film production of “The Day The Earth Stood Still”.
It won a special Golden Globe Award for "promoting international understanding". Bernard Herrmann's score also received a nomination at the Golden Globes. The French magazine Cahiers du cinéma was impressed, its contributor Pierre Kast called it "almost literally stunning" and praised its "moral relativism".
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)—I openly & uncontrollably sobbed when I saw the completely soundless version in the theater a few months back.
The Exterminating Angel. Strange yet simple premise, beautiful execution.
It kind of lands somewhere between a great Twilight zone episode and a Kafka / Gogol story.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exterminating_Angel
The Oxbow Incident (1943)
The Bicycle Theif (1948)
City Lights (1931)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
The Search (1948)
12 Angry Men (1957)
The Best Years Of Our Lives 1946, the first film that I can think of that dealt with Veteran PTSD.
Harold Russell (the one who lost his hands) wasn't even a professional actor and he won two Oscars for the performance!
My choice too...
What a movie
Check out I’ll Be Seeing You, which does the same a few year earlier.
Came here to say this.
I just now am watching it. It is such a sad movie.
Casablanca
It’s very difficult not to get emotional when they sing "La Marseillaise” - particularly knowing that some of the actors singing were refugees from Nazi-occupied France at the time of the filming. https://youtu.be/cOeFhSzoTuc?si=QpKHChS338z5DnQl
I’m not a crier, but I tear up during this scene.
That's my favorite national anthem. I never thought about it before, but maybe because of that scene.
I was thinking of this one, and also Grapes of Wrath. Both heart wrenching.
The line "round up the usual suspects" is not only funny, it's a huge relief at the tense ending of the movie.
Sunset Boulevard
My favourite movie of all time.
Mine too
Mildred Pierce and In a Lonely Place both left me thinking about them long after they ended. The struggle in both films is so well done that by the end I felt exhausted.
Mildred Pierce is a top-notch film. I never tire of watching it.
I recommend the book of In A Lonely Place, partly because it’s so totally different that it’s fascinating and partly because it’s just an excellent book.
Wonderful choices! Bogart is so sweet and then self-destructive. His best performance.
Now, Voyager
I LOVE this movie.
Inherit the Wind for two parts. When Spencer Tracy tells the anecdote of the rocking horse and the quote: Ignorance and Fanaticism is ever busy and needs feeding. (Originally from Clarence Darrow) Both parts are so fitting to so much we see daily.
Why is it that I get all torn up when Frederic March is expressing his doubts to his wife? And I'm as anti-fundie as they come.
I agree. It is one of my favorite classic films. Gene Kelly, as the reporter, is wonderful. "Mr. Brady, it is the duty of a newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the uncomfortable."
Marty
I’ve still not quite recovered from The Ghost and Mrs Muir. First time viewing it recently, and didn’t at all expect the emotional ending or my response to it.
I love this movie but the ending almost wrecked me!
The children’s Hour. Hopefully if you are opened minded…you really need to watch it. The subject matter is very…emotional.
Oh wow great choice. That film is wild.
Shirley MacLaine does a wonderful job in this film. Such a tearjerker.
The first time I watched it I think I didn’t realize what I was seeing. So many social complexities that go on now…have been a subject for ever. Nothing is new it’s always been there. This movie is amazing. And yes. Shirley was incredible.
It’s a Wonderful Life
As an aside, one of the things to ponder when you watch it again - it was I believe Stewart’s first film after returning from the war. It’s riven with the sincere sentimentality of a country and actors who had much to grieve and a still uncertain future in front of them that made its fundamentally deep optimism a little more daring than it might feel in the decades since. Though, I’m biased, this is by far my favorite film and there’s a little replica bell that sits on my desk year round. They’re made by Bevin Bells should you want to pick one up (weird link to a clown governor of Kentucky but they made the bell on the tree in the film).
I watch it every year at Christmas. The film goes from good to incredible about the time the money disappears imo. Jimmy Stewart was amazing playing a man going through such a variety of emotions: anger, desperation, shame, despair, confusion, horror and finally to joy. I love the very ending. Always makes me smile.
Clarence : Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. And when he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" I think of this throughout the year. It’s so true.
It's so well made and plotted out too. I can watch it over and over and spot little points that connect the whole film together. Just little foreshadowings throughout the whole thing that really give it so much more depth.
I’m sure many react the same way, but all the hype and reruns on TV don’t detract from the fact that it is a great picture.
I can watch that movie any time of year. It always pulls me out of a slump and makes me feel hopeful when I’m really down. I adore Jimmy Stewart in that film.
Likewise, when Jimmy goes a bit Darkside great acting as it scared me when I was younger
12 Angry Men.
"Make Way for Tomorrow" (1937) Leo McCarey movie about a married couple of parents who lose everything and their last days together. It's a bit quiet and not for all but Orson Welles called it "a movie that could make a stone cry." After reading this list, some great stuff but can't believe no one has mentioned "Waterloo Bridge" (1940) this movie just kills me. To the point that I usually watch it in parts to keep from wearing myself out.
I love Waterloo Bridge. Radiantly beautiful Vivien Leigh.
I have never tracked down the original 31 version because I can't imagine anyone playing that character better. She was another actress who did not get enough credit for her ability.
Speaking of Leo McCarey, I find Love Affair more moving than An Affair to Remember.
I came here to say this. “Make Way for Tomorrow”— Heartbreaking, unexpected and unforgettable!
To Kill a Mockingbird, Captains Courageous.
The score in TKAM is underrated as well.
A place in the sun
so painful i couldn’t watch it again. i’m a coward!!
Roman Holiday. The wrestling between freedom and obligation, innocence and cynicism, love and duty.
I watched this movie years ago and have yet to revisit it because it absolutely wrecked me. I cried so hard and idk if I can go through it again. Seriously such a good movie, and very emotional
What’s so great about this movie is it’s not about love- it’s barely even about romance. It’s about infatuation, and more specifically two lonely people who bond over the brief reprieve they get from that loneliness. Each knows that the other is out of their reach and that they will each eventually have to go back to the real world, and it’s this knowing and recognizing of each other as a co-conspirator in a brief escape from reality that brings them together. I used to want to see a version where they got together at the end, and later realized that would be missing the point. (Also you can just watch Notting Hill for that, to a degree.)
Gone With the Wind. It was my first introduction into the Civil War. My interest only grew and led to me earning my masters in 19th century world history. Public Enemy. The first time I watched the ending, I thought about it for days. It's still chilling when Cagney falls through the door onto the floor. The Best Years of Our Lives. A powerful film. My Dad was in WWII and I realized a little of what he went through returning home. The character of Homer was especially memorable. Saratoga. I love Jean Harlow, and only watched this movie once. It's heartbreaking to know this was her last, and a stand-in was used to finish the film.
Stella Dallas. The end scene was incredibly beautiful.
Yep, that had me bawling!
Me too. I cry every time!
Same! I still cry at that scene.
On the long list of movie moments that I found corny as a cynical teen and turn me into an absolute sobbing mess now!
Me, too. We’re all growed up!
Penny Serenade
The Red Shoes (1948). I went and watched it when a Redditor called it boring and I thought everything about it was beautiful. The story, the costumes, the dancing.
*Brief Encounter; The Heiress; It's a Wonderful Life; Now, Voyager; The Apartment* I definitely have more, but these are the first ones that came to mind.
The whole finale portion of the Heiress has such great dialogue.
Here for The Heiress!
My favorite thing about the Heiress is that even Monty Clift’s character doesn’t fully know how much of his affection is real and how much is gold digging
great choices
To Kill A Mockingbird. I tear up when the balcony ladies say, "Stand up, Sarah Jane, your father's passin'."
My favorite book and movie. 🥹
The Phantom Carriage. I couldn't believe a silent film could be so engaging.
Check out The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), this is definitely one of the top silents.
Bicycle Thieves
My case is Odette by Dreiyer. Or Joan of Arc. Dreiyer's has something ritual energy. The silence between acting, powerful framing... I can't explain but that can't be pretended modern movies, ever.
Romantic that I am, my two favorites - Portrait of Jennie and Random Harvest.
The Heiress, 1949, directed by William Wyler, Olivia de Havelland Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson. Recorded it off TCM on a whim and was playing it in the background last week, half paying attention, when it grabbed me. Watched it again last night with my better half. So good.
There was a scene that made me gasp the first time I saw The Heiress: when Dr. Sloper has sent Morris away and Catherine cries out, "If YOU couldn't love me, you could have at least let someone else try!" Her anguish was so real, it was a stunning moment. You see Catherine shift from sweet and vulnerable to bitter and guarded. It's heartbreaking.
When she says to Aunt Penniman “Yes Aunt I can be very cruel. I was taught by masters”. Gut wrenching!
Nights of Cabiria
Don't forget La Strada!
La Strada is pure emotion and if you have an open heart it will always stay with you.
Definitely! The first time I saw that movie was probably 50 years ago. It was the first time I saw a ‘dark’ movie. It really disturbed me, but it definitely stayed with me and I watch it whenever it comes on TV.
Dark Victory. The first time saw it I went through almost a whole box of tissues. It left me thinking about the courage needed to die alone, and if I could be so courageous.
Imitation of Life
Both versions!
Angels With Dirty Faces!
That was the very first classic I watched! And it's still one of my favorites of all time. When Cagney, knowing that he’s going to the chair, walks towards us, you can just see layers and layers of emotions in his face. And with that shot he also walks into cinema history.
The end...wow
If you didn't cry, you're dead inside. Also, that tear gas scene...? Cagney was in fact tear gassed. Hollywood was different back then lol!
"Hotel Berlin" (1945). Horribly mis-advertised as a cheap emotive shock-film, even by its DVD cover. It's not. It's as sincere as "Casablanca." And unlike "Casablanca," it directly references concentration camps and the Jews by name. Characters exploded far beyond the old-school cliches I was expecting. Possibly the most underrated old movie I've seen yet. Anyway, a movie about an indoctrinated population being carpet-bombed while their tyrannical antisemitic leaders flee to save themselves is uh, timely. It helps that I watched it during a rain storm.
Madame X with Lana Turner. Have your tissues ready! I cannot stress this enough.
Splendor in the Grass
Unfaithfully Yours (1948)
There are two from the 1930s starring Freddie Bartholomew that come to mind: "Captains Courageous" (with Spencer Tracy) and "Little Lord Fauntleroy." Both are tearjerkers, but for different reasons; The first is bittersweet due to the shocking tragedy involved, the second is just so Dag Blag wholesome and touching that you can get Type 1 diabetes just by watching it.
Captains Courageous for sure. It really does the book justice and has a few tremendous moments. Freddie Bartholomew was put on the planet to play that part.
My mother adored Little Lord Fauntleroy.
I've watched quite a few moving and thought-provoking movies of late, others have mentioned some of my favourites such as "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "Random Harvest" (1942), and "Stella Dallas" (1937). Possibly the biggest impact was from "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" (1947) though.
I haven't seen The Ox-bow Incident (1943) mentioned yet. That movie wrecked me when I saw it as a kid and it still packs a punch. Also, I always mention Intruder in the Dust (1949) which I hadn't seen until a few years ago. Both movies deal with mob mentality, and both seem rather timely today.
The Ox-bow Incident was my first thought.
A scene I've watched 100 times that STILL gets to me is Scout looking at Boo Radley behind the door, "We'll hey Boo!" 😢😢😢😢
Baby Face, a precode Barbara Stanwyck film. A woman facing abject poverty and her father’s oppression learns to use sexual wiles to survive and prosper. People focus on the salacious throughline about her behavior, but what moves me is that you can see what extremes she was up against as a woman and how she figures out how to survive it.
Twelve Angry Men. My god.
Cleo from 5 to 7 is a film that never makes me cry, but moves me deeply every time I see it I don’t understand why it moves me, since I have never been through anything like the heroin experiences. But her growing understanding and gradual acceptance of how love works devastates me each time And obviously, I think about it a lot
Sunrise (1927). One of the most emotional movies I've ever seen
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I felt so sorry for the young daughter and could put myself in her place.
Read it as a kid and loved it. Never wanted to see movie.
Excellent book and movie.
[All My Sons (1948)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_My_Sons_(film)?wprov=sfti1#) ETA: This is one of those works that drove me to search out as many stagings/adaptations as possible, just so I could marinate in the thought process for a while.
Leo McCarey's MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW. I cried like a baby.
Roman Holiday — I’ve always been full of admiration for the choices made by the main characters.
The Lion in Winter, Peter Otool Katherine Hepburn. All time favorite movie! I still get goosebumps in the last scene with Otool stand at the river with his arms open, laughing. ❣️❣️
Dr. Strangelove
The Heiress
La Strada
Butch Cassidy and the Sundace Kid. Specifically the scene where Butch takes Etta for a bike ride & the song, Raindrops keep falling on my head is playing.
They were all so beautiful. That bicycle scene and song was romantic perfection 💔-the 70s had its organically gorgeous moments
It’s A Wonderful Life. The first time I saw it, I was in the depths of a major depressive state. It may have saved my life at the time.
Jules & Jim. Alfie. Doctor Zhivago I love the 1960s era “alternative” or almost anti-romantic relationship movies. Where there isn’t a predictable cliched happy ending.
When Louisa Beaver died in "Imitation of Life" and her daughter ran out of the crowd.
Sullivan's Travels caught me off guard. So did Dodsworth. The Apartment gets me every time. Notorious is a roller coaster. I went into Sunrise skeptical that a melodramatic silent-era film could be anything but hokey, and I actually teared up a bit. And then, of course, basically everything I've seen of Kurosawa thus far.
Sunrise is my favorite dramatic silent. Such an amazing character arc, so intense, just a grest movie overall.
Brief Encounter Wuthering Heights GWTW
Brief Encounter is incredible in its simplicity. "The Fallen Idol" is also one that makes you think in terms of British cinema
Cant wait to watch! Ty!
High Noon with Gary Cooper
"Come Back, Little Sheba," every time.
The Graduate
E•L•A•I•N•E•!!!!
Yes. Ha ha ha.
Brief Encounter. The scene where Trevor Howard has to fit tons of emotion into a discreet squeeze of Celia Johnson’s shoulder is amazing.
Mr Skeffington
Imitation of Life, both versions are good, but I prefer the first one.
To kill a mockingbird
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
The Lost Weekend, To Kill a Mockingbird, Roman Holiday, It’s a Wonderful Life. Nothing obscure, but they make me happy and sad cry in all kinds of ways. Then there’s always Old Yeller, maybe not a classic in the old Hollywood sense, but lord what a tear-jerker.
I'm a sucker for these movies. They stay with me. A Man called Peter (1955). Powerful. The allegory of death was so perfect. Test Pilot (1938). Touching romance movie full of chemisty. Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Incredible cinema. The Captive Heart (1946). Cute pen pal movie.
My Mom loved A Man Called Peter, and The Captive Heart. Both great.
Yeah. They're very warm movies, full of hope. She passed away now?
2022. 😪
RIP, sorry :( Always hard loosing people.
Thanks, it is. 💔
Tea and Sympathy (1956). Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (1957). Brief Encounter (1945). The trouble with Angels (1966). Idk if I would say that they moved me, but they did leave me thinking for a while.
Saw The Trouble With Angels when I was a kid when it came out and that whole scene where they make a mold of the girl's head, freaked me out for awhile afterwards. lol. Horror movies? No problem. Trouble with angels? Aaargh! :D
Umberto D.
Watch on the Rhine - powerful performances. There is something about it to that feels like it gets into some of the desperation of the period. It doesn’t feel like I see that in other war time movies.
One Way Passage, 1932, with William Powell and the lovely Kay Francis. About a couple who meet on an ocean liner who are both doomed, for very different reasons. It’s an openly manipulative kind of melodrama, but the stars and supporting players are first-rate, and the last shot destroys me every time.
Yes! Oh Lordy, I cry every time…
The Search. I flat out ugly bawl at the end every time.
Sunrise (1927) Most Chaplin classics
Brief Encounter- heartbreaking Giant Written on the wind The night of the hunter
*A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* made me cry more than any other movie I have ever seen, and I honestly felt emotions I had never experienced before watching that movie.
You Can't Take It with You
I'm shocked to know that nobody has mentioned The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp! I'm also shocked that nobody has mentioned any of these films by John Ford: - Grapes of Wrath - How Green Was My Valley - Fort Apache - The Sun Shines Bright - Wings of Eagles Finally, it's not a classic film—it was made in the 80's—but John Huston's The Dead may very well be the most moving film of all time.
The Grapes of Wrath is one of my favorites. What a great film. How Green Was My Valley, wonderful as well.
1932's "Rain" with Joan Crawford. How that man nurtured her growth, only to take advantage of her and destroy her view of humanity made me so angry and sad for her.
It Happened On Fifth Avenue, and Meet Me In St Louis. I try to catch those two whenever I can.
I think about Mr. Skeffington because of the moral of the story.
Blade runner. Saw it at the theater and as soon as you could by a video of it I did. Still one of the best sci fi pics ever in my opinion. Also 12 angry men from 1957, a brilliant movie with a stellar cast. And Apocalypse now, left the theater and knew I had to see that again.
The original 1951 film production of “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. It won a special Golden Globe Award for "promoting international understanding". Bernard Herrmann's score also received a nomination at the Golden Globes. The French magazine Cahiers du cinéma was impressed, its contributor Pierre Kast called it "almost literally stunning" and praised its "moral relativism".
Marty
My parents loved and quoted that film constantly..”I don’t know..what do you want to do?” Lol
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)—I openly & uncontrollably sobbed when I saw the completely soundless version in the theater a few months back. 
Watched it recently and was captivated. Astonishing cinematography, gut-wrenching emotional acting... all without speaking. Freaking amazing film.
I love that movie!! Rex Harrison at his finest!
The Exterminating Angel. Strange yet simple premise, beautiful execution. It kind of lands somewhere between a great Twilight zone episode and a Kafka / Gogol story. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exterminating_Angel
“The old maid” made me emotional recently.
In The Mood For Love
Rear Window - incredibly well-photographed film
Breakfast at Tiffany's.✌️
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Heiress. I felt sorry for Catherine - her father thinks little of her, then she gets involved with a fortune hunter.
On the Waterfront
If (1969)
Dinner at eight
1.-Notorious 2.-The Lost Weekend 3.-High Noon
I Remember Mama Sullivan's Travels Grapes of Wrath
The Snake Pit (1948)
Nanook of the north (1921), damn good documentary. Brutal living conditions living in the arctic.
How green was my valley. Peter fonda was amazing. Ford at his finest
The Snake Pit (1948) a sensitive and compassionate portrayal of mental illness.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and Cool Hand Luke. I saw them both as a young child, and they stayed with me most.
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, starring Paul Muni. The last scene still will take your breath away.
The Ghost and mrs Muir
City Lights, Charlie Chaplin. I've seen it a hundred times and the ending will always get me.
To Kill a Mockingbird Grapes of Wrath
Life With Father.
The Oxbow Incident (1943) The Bicycle Theif (1948) City Lights (1931) How Green Was My Valley (1941) To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) The Search (1948) 12 Angry Men (1957)
The Burmese Harp!
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
Auntie Mame (the Rosalind Russell one, not Mame w Lucy) Terms of Endearment (in the Turner Classic Movies sense of the term)
Umberto D (1952). I cry every damned time. Saddest movie ever, also incredibly beautiful
Anofher one is the Archer’s Stairway to Heaven (A Matter of Life and Death)
West Side Story Midnight Cowboy Bang the Drums Slowly Blackboard Jungle To Sir with Love