What classic movies do you feel are under appreciated these days?

To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Sir With Love

Twelve Angry Men
The African Queen

@janbb If you talk to college students and ask them their favorite classic movie, I think most of them would say 12 Angry Men

Great! I was going to ask you how you would define underrated or know what was. I would think that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is also pretty highly rated too.

@janbb, don’t get me started on 12 Angry Men, one of the best movies of all times which I could talk about for hours. I’ve watched every version many, many times – in fact, watched it again recently—including Fonda’s (the best), Lemmon’s, and the two live TV productions,—and never does it fail to hold me captive until the end, even though I know every line and every twist and turn by heart. A classic in every sense, with nary an expletive, explosion, special effect, or naked breast—just great words, great acting, one simple set, and a plot that’s as loaded and relevant today as it’s always been.

@Pachy I saw it for the first time only a few years ago and loved it.

Shane
My dad loved that movie from when he was a kid and he watched it a million times.
And I thus wound up watching it about half a million times. It is real old but a great movie.
And of course,
The Outlaw Josey Wales

Shaaaaane, come baaaaaaack, Shane. Another movie I can—an do—watch over and over. Does he or doesn’t he die at the end? I think I got into a debate about it right here on Fluther some years back.

All of them.

It’s a shame that lots of people have no idea that the great movies they watch are copies of the originals.

Le Samourai
Scarface: the Shame of the Nation
You Only Live Once (1932)
Tightrope

I’m sure there are lots, but the Maltese Falcon comes to mind.

African Queen!

^^ I named that. I adore “The African Queen.”

Ah sorry! It’s too bad that kids today just won’t watch a movie if it’s in B&W. They’re missing out on superb acting.

@Dutchess_III The African Queen was in colour, though! Great movie.

The SO and I have been culling through “Top Rated Movies” lists recently. We watch all of the ones that we can get our hands on. Afterwards, I read the movie’s reviews posted on IMDb. There are some definite patterns:

* Some movies classified as Classics just need to be retired from the title. Typically, it’s an older generation who glorifies them for sentimental reasons. The script, acting, cinematography and/or accuracy are nothing to write home about. It would be difficult to debate with someone who said that “An American in Paris”, “Roman Holiday”, and even “The Bridge on the River Kwai” were not worthy of holding the title of Classic.

* There are movies that are classics for raising the bar in the film industry. They have high ratings, but few people will watch them today. What was new and clever at the time is now old hat or has been surpassed. Orson Wells Citizen Kane and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis come to mind.

* It may be because some are in B&W, but not all. It is more likely due to a slow pace. Others are not in English and there are people who don’t want to be bothered by subtitles.

@rockfan‘s suggestion of Bicycle Thieves is a prime example. It’s an Italian movie in B&W with English subtitles. While only 93 minutes long, it moves at a slow pace. Despite that, it paints a picture of full of emotion that most viewers can understand, even if not from personal experience.

On the subject of Italian films, Fellini’s 8½ and La Strada are both brilliant.

So many great foreign films! Seven Samurai and Yojimbo by Kurosawa, Indian films by Satyajit Ray.

Ingmar Bergman’s Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries.

If you like classic film noir, check out “Gun Crazy” (1950), a low budget masterpiece about a Bonnie and Clyde-type pair.