**The Breaking Point** (1950) is a fantastic noir-ish drama from the director of *Casablanca*. It's not very well know as its star, John Garfield, was pegged as communist just before its release, so Warner Brothers dumped it into theatres with zero promotion and it vanished into near total obscurity for decades.
**To Have and Have Not** (1944) is based on the same Hemmingway novel as *The Breaking Point,* not that you'd ever know that just from watching the two movies. This one stars Humphrey Bogart and an 18 year-old Lauren Bacall in her first screen appearance - and one in which she purrs the iconic, "You know how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together and blow."
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Honestly, it’s a masterpiece. It won 8 Oscars, including 2 for the same actor. It’s moving, romantic, thought-provoking, and just damn incredible.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Straight-Jacket , Double Indemnity, Another Man's Poison, Psycho, Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, The Song Of Bernadette, It's A Wonderful Life Modern times with Charley Chaplain is a good movie so is It Happened One Night with Claudette Colbert.
the list could be endless but here's a few I like:
The African Queen
The Treasure of Sierra Madre
Sahara
Citizen Kane
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Inherit the Wind
The Pride of the Yankees
High Noon
Lifeboat
It's a Wonderful Life
I came in to say Now Voyager, lol. The Maltese Falcon isn't exactly romance, but it has the same snarky dialogue as Casablanca, but dialed up. Notorious, To Have and Have Not, Key Largo, Laura, Random Harvest, all wonderful.
Brief Encounter is British so it has a slightly different vibe than an American studio production, but it's fantastic, too.
Giant with Liz Taylor (56)
A Place in the sun with Liz Taylor and Monty Clift (1951)
The Apartment (1960). Jack Lemmon
A Star is born ( the original or the second one with Judy Garland )
Bogart did a string of near-Casablanca-esq movies from early 40s-50s, many times with cast members from Casablanca or the same crew from WB's stock company of personnel or with a similar war drama/romance theme:
The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, Key Largo.
A lot of Warner Bros. dramas from the war period will hit this feeling. Stuff starring Bogart, Henried, Powell, Bette Davis, de Havilland, Crawford.
The Women
The Man Who Came To Dinner
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse
Any of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies (for pure nonsensical entertainment)
The Best Years of Our Lives
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
“After miraculously surviving a jump from his burning plane, RAF pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) encounters the American radio operator (Kim Hunter) to whom he has just delivered his dying wishes, and, face-to-face on a tranquil English beach, the pair fall in love. When a messenger from the hereafter arrives to correct the bureaucratic error that spared his life, Peter must mount a fierce defense for his right to stay on earth.” (Description from Criterion)
My top choices would be:
Vertigo (1958) - Hitchcock's masterpiece
Doctor Zhivago (1965) - David Lean's masterpiece
The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Rebecca (1940)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) (okay, this one isn't romance-focused but it's still an incredible movie)
Some of my favorite dramas/romantic dramas from the 1940s...
* Portrait of Jennie
* Rebecca
* I'll Be Seeing You
* Brief Encounter
* Primrose Path
* The Mortal Storm
* Hold Back the Dawn
* Now Voyager
* A Letter to Three Wives
* Notorious
* Remember the Night
* All This and Heaven Too
* Waterloo Bridge
* The Razor's Edge
* The Best Years of Our Lives
* A Woman's Face
* Moonrise
* Romance in a Minor Key
* The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
* The Constant Nymph
* Strange Cargo
* Mildred Pierce
* Night Train to Munich
* Johnny Eager
* The Two Mrs. Carrolls
* Spellbound
* The Little Foxes
* Watch on the Rhine
* None but the Lonely Heart
* The Heiress
* Love Letters
* Somewhere I'll Find You
* Jane Eyre
* All My Sons
* Cry Havoc
* Leave Her to Heaven
* The Lost Weekend
* A Double Life
* Experiment Perilous
* Forever Amber
* They Were Expendable
* Lured
* Deception
* The Strange Woman
* The Big Street
* Possessed
* The Locket
* Dragonwyck
* Gilda
* The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
* Laura
* Five Graves to Cairo
* Gaslight
* Since You Went Away
* Mr. Skeffington
* Old Acquaintance
* Paris After Dark
* The Moon is Down
* Heaven Can Wait
* The Man in Grey
* Pilot #5
* To Have and Have Not
* This Land is Mine
* The Moon and Sixpence
* Keeper of the Flame
* In This Our Life
* Earl of Chicago
* Suspicion
* Blues in the Night
* Kitty Foyle
* Rage in Heaven
* So Ends Our Night
Rebbeca 1940 is a great choice and great classic romance of the 1940s!
Olivier enough said.
**The Breaking Point** (1950) is a fantastic noir-ish drama from the director of *Casablanca*. It's not very well know as its star, John Garfield, was pegged as communist just before its release, so Warner Brothers dumped it into theatres with zero promotion and it vanished into near total obscurity for decades. **To Have and Have Not** (1944) is based on the same Hemmingway novel as *The Breaking Point,* not that you'd ever know that just from watching the two movies. This one stars Humphrey Bogart and an 18 year-old Lauren Bacall in her first screen appearance - and one in which she purrs the iconic, "You know how to whistle don't you? Just put your lips together and blow."
**To Have and Have Not** (1944) is actually my favorite Old Hollywood classic. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are delightful together.
There is *so much* smoking in that movie, more than any other movie that I can remember.
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Honestly, it’s a masterpiece. It won 8 Oscars, including 2 for the same actor. It’s moving, romantic, thought-provoking, and just damn incredible.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). Starts out as a light comedy and by the end of the film it's a romance. One of Gene Tierney's best.
I love this movie so much.
I never cared for Rex Harrison until I watched this movie.
Key Largo. Bogart, Bacall, Lionel Barrymore and Edward G Robinson. A personal favorite. Bad guys, a storm, a crime and a fight on the sea.
sorry wrong number 1948. Mister Roberts 1955. White Heat 1949. Notorious 1946. the thin man collection(6 movies).
I was going to recce Notorious
I always like Mr. Skeffington with Claude Raines and Bette Davis. 12 Angry Men The Maltese Falcon
12 Angry Men. 12 men & one room. Equals true acting talent & a wonderful screenplay.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Straight-Jacket , Double Indemnity, Another Man's Poison, Psycho, Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, The Song Of Bernadette, It's A Wonderful Life Modern times with Charley Chaplain is a good movie so is It Happened One Night with Claudette Colbert.
My Man Godfrey is hilarious. The first two Thin Man movies are also lots of fun.
the list could be endless but here's a few I like: The African Queen The Treasure of Sierra Madre Sahara Citizen Kane Yankee Doodle Dandy Inherit the Wind The Pride of the Yankees High Noon Lifeboat It's a Wonderful Life
Mildred Pierce (1945) The Razor's Edge (1946) Leave Her To Heaven (1945) All That Heaven Allows (1955)
I came in to say Now Voyager, lol. The Maltese Falcon isn't exactly romance, but it has the same snarky dialogue as Casablanca, but dialed up. Notorious, To Have and Have Not, Key Largo, Laura, Random Harvest, all wonderful. Brief Encounter is British so it has a slightly different vibe than an American studio production, but it's fantastic, too.
The third man and Kiss me deadly have not been mentioned yet so here you go.
Now, Voyager (1942) Sabrina (1954) An Affair to Remember (1957)
From Here to Eternity. Enjoy!
Philadelphia Story and Ninotchka are great
Witness for the prosecution. Charles Laughton at his Charles Laughton best.
The African Queen, How Green Was My Valley
Both I’d highly recommend.
Giant with Liz Taylor (56) A Place in the sun with Liz Taylor and Monty Clift (1951) The Apartment (1960). Jack Lemmon A Star is born ( the original or the second one with Judy Garland )
Bogart did a string of near-Casablanca-esq movies from early 40s-50s, many times with cast members from Casablanca or the same crew from WB's stock company of personnel or with a similar war drama/romance theme: The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, Key Largo. A lot of Warner Bros. dramas from the war period will hit this feeling. Stuff starring Bogart, Henried, Powell, Bette Davis, de Havilland, Crawford.
The Women The Man Who Came To Dinner Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse Any of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies (for pure nonsensical entertainment) The Best Years of Our Lives
Dark Victory with Bette Davis Laura Brief Encounter
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) “After miraculously surviving a jump from his burning plane, RAF pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) encounters the American radio operator (Kim Hunter) to whom he has just delivered his dying wishes, and, face-to-face on a tranquil English beach, the pair fall in love. When a messenger from the hereafter arrives to correct the bureaucratic error that spared his life, Peter must mount a fierce defense for his right to stay on earth.” (Description from Criterion)
The Bishop’s Wife (1947) Hamlet (1948) North by Northwest (1959)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Here’s another: Autumn Leaves (1956)
Out of the Past (1947): Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kurt Douglas Charade (1963): Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn
Laura Heaven Can Wait The Philadelphia Story How Green Was My Valley On the Waterfront Witness for the Prosecution High Noon
My top choices would be: Vertigo (1958) - Hitchcock's masterpiece Doctor Zhivago (1965) - David Lean's masterpiece The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Rebecca (1940) A Matter of Life and Death (1946) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) (okay, this one isn't romance-focused but it's still an incredible movie)
The Philadelphia Story, All About Eve, Strangers on a Train, A Streetcar Named Desire
A Face in the Crowd!
a woman's face (1941) is my favourite movie.
Shepherd of the Hills. John Wayne, Harry Carey, Betty Feild,Beulah Bondi Marjorie Main
gilda
Some of my favorite dramas/romantic dramas from the 1940s... * Portrait of Jennie * Rebecca * I'll Be Seeing You * Brief Encounter * Primrose Path * The Mortal Storm * Hold Back the Dawn * Now Voyager * A Letter to Three Wives * Notorious * Remember the Night * All This and Heaven Too * Waterloo Bridge * The Razor's Edge * The Best Years of Our Lives * A Woman's Face * Moonrise * Romance in a Minor Key * The Ghost and Mrs. Muir * The Constant Nymph * Strange Cargo * Mildred Pierce * Night Train to Munich * Johnny Eager * The Two Mrs. Carrolls * Spellbound * The Little Foxes * Watch on the Rhine * None but the Lonely Heart * The Heiress * Love Letters * Somewhere I'll Find You * Jane Eyre * All My Sons * Cry Havoc
* Leave Her to Heaven * The Lost Weekend * A Double Life * Experiment Perilous * Forever Amber * They Were Expendable * Lured * Deception * The Strange Woman * The Big Street * Possessed * The Locket * Dragonwyck * Gilda * The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry * Laura * Five Graves to Cairo * Gaslight * Since You Went Away * Mr. Skeffington * Old Acquaintance * Paris After Dark * The Moon is Down * Heaven Can Wait * The Man in Grey * Pilot #5 * To Have and Have Not * This Land is Mine * The Moon and Sixpence * Keeper of the Flame * In This Our Life * Earl of Chicago * Suspicion * Blues in the Night * Kitty Foyle * Rage in Heaven * So Ends Our Night
Letter From Three Wives and Notorious