BLACK & WHITE MOVIES

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The college kids I work with "love" going to the movies. Most, however, won't watch a movie flimed in black & white. They don't like them. Too old fogey, I guess. They don't know what they're missing. Below are ten of my favorite B&W movies that are in my DVD collection. Why I don't have The Third Man, Bringing Up Baby, and The Seven Samurai I don't know. I'll have to fix that. (Also I didn't include any westerns -- I could probably write a top ten with just movies directed by John Ford and Howard Hawks.)

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Casablanca -- If you only watch one b&w movie, this would be it. Bogie, Bergman, Rains, and cast are perfect in this wartime classic.

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington -- Frank Capra directs and Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, and Claude Rains (again) star in this comedy-drama. This is want we want in a politician.

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Roman Holiday -- Romantic comedy with Audrey Hepburn at her lovliest and Gregory Peck being too cool.

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The Maltese Falcon -- Bogie is detective Sam Spade in John Huston's filming of the classic hardboiled novel from Dashiell Hammett.

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Young Frankenstein -- Mel Brooks' comedy with Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle is one of the funniest movies ever. Period.

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The Mark of Zorro -- My kind of swashbuckler with Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and the great Basil Rathbone as the bad guy.

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To Kill a Mockingbird -- Gregory Peck as the American Film Institute's No. One American Hero of all time. He is. "Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."

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Angels with Dirty Faces -- okay, this is a guilty pleasure. Warner Brothers used to grind these kind of gangster movies out by the week. But this one with Cagney, Pat O'Brien, and Bogie is a favorite.

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Sahara -- Bogie again. World War Two. Bogie and his small team (a mixture of ragged Allied soldiers) protect a water well in the desert from advancing German troops.

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Psycho -- Hitchcock has made several classic movies. This one is a touchstone is the suspense genre. Over 40 years old and the shower scene still scares you.

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(Other b&w movies in my collection are: The Big Sleep, Inherit the Wind, King Kong, Teacher's Pet, Them!, and The Last Picture Show.)