Confession Time: "As time goes by" edition.

It's so hard to pick just one special movie but I can't believe no one-especially you Jim- didn't even mention Seven Samurai and Rashomon. Both are masterfully made. If not for Bogart's long list of greats either of these could be my #1.

The best classic movie of all time has to be "The African Queen" (1951). I love the interaction between Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.

My favorite line in the movie: "I never dreamed a mere physical experience could be so stimulating."

just don't float my boat, but The Maltese Falcon is still good by any standards. Bogart to Peter Lorrie: "When I slap you, you'll take it and like it!" I also love the look of horror, anger and disgust on the female lead's face when Bogart tells her that if she catches a break, she'll be "out of Tehachapi" in twenty years or so...I lived there for a few months, and even twenty years in the town, much less the prison, is quite a sentence. Makes me laugh every time. And the final line is one of the best ever. Just as everyone realizes the statue is a fraud and asks what it really is, Bogie answers, "The stuff dreams are made of." Kick ass.
Two other favorites:
Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope." Never have so few done so much with so little in Hollywood.
And The Creature from the Black Lagoon has to be one of the most underrated horror movies of all time. Better than usual script and acting, a decent looking monster, and I love the underwater camera work.

Gets my vote, though I have a certain affinity for all the Bogart flicks. Lauren Bacall will be hot for as long as those movies last.

I too have recently hit the 50 mark. Upon reflection, I have seen Oz more often than any other movie, and it had something for me at all ages. Today, I especially enjoy the symbolism of the false god and the manipulator behind the curtain. The whole scene in the throne room where the Wizard gives out the trappings of symbol-minded society is also of great significance. It still stands as the best primer for young children as to the nature of what bullshit is deemed important. I am amazed that this movie was allowed to be made. The control-freaks in charge really missed the point.

It's a fricken Wonderful Life. I know it's only shown at Christmas time, but that's one of my all-time favorites too. I love the scene where Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed are walking back from the dance, bantering back and forth.

And hell, who knew that Lionel Barrymore had been in so many movies.

A Miracle On 34th Street comes a close second (as long as it's the original, and not the stupid remake from the 80s).

There hasn't been a single remake of either movie that's been worth a damn.

Rob Miles
--
There are only 10 types of people in the world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.

From that era, I would say The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (directed by John Huston) is my favorite; I will watch that any time I get a chance. Walter Huston gives a phenomenal performance, Bogart is at his best grungy Bogart, and plenty of quotable lines, my favorite being Walter Huston at the end, after one of the greatest cinematic laughing fits of all time: "Oh laugh, Curtin, old boy. It's a great joke played on us by the Lord, or fate, or nature, whatever you prefer. But whoever or whatever played it certainly had a sense of humor!"

The Third Man and The Maltese Falcon (Bogart and John Huston again, and what role did Walter Huston play in this one?) run close seconds; I would watch any of these in a heartbeat.

Frank Moorman, skeptic

The 1950 classic about space travel to the moon is excellent. Heinlein was the technical advisor on the screenplay and on the film set itself, and he wrote his short story "Destination Moon" based on the screenplay.

It won an Academy Award for "Best Special Effects", and Heinlein himself wrote about how he really pushed George Pal (the producer and director of the film) to be as accurate and as true-to-life as they could within the budget of the movie.

It's rumored that this actor is actually Heinlein in a cameo in one of the first scenes in the movie as a military officer announcing a countdown during a rocket test.

Destination Moon was the first film to clearly spell out the rationale for space travel, and was the first to alluded to a "space race" with an un-named enemy nation (clearly the Soviet Union, though.)

It also used Woody Woodpecker in an animated sequence that taught laymen about how space travel and astrogation actually worked in conjunction with orbital mechanics in a simplified manner. And the information was accurate, not made-up! Cool! :)

Here's the original theatrical trailer, and here's almost 10 minutes from the movie on YouTube:

So I'll take "To Have and Have Not" any day.

"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve?"

She's talking to me, you know.

THE THIRD MAN is an amazing classic film. The chase scene in the sewers will stick with you forever. Orson Wells is one of the greatest villians of all time here.

DOUBLE INDEMNITY with Fred MacMurray and Edward G Robinson is utterly fantastic as well. A MILLION quoteable lines in that one.

If you draw the line at 1958, which really means you exclude the Grand Canyon of Movie Mediocrity (approx. 1944 thru 1970, ), Casablanca is the one where everything that is America and Hollywood comes together. Bogart, Nazis, jazz (Fats Waller played the actual piano parts), loyalty, cynicism, honor, equality, racism, love, greed, sacrifice, guy bonding, murder, rescue, gambling, booze, cigarettes, guns.

"Quotable lines" is an understatement. Casablanca shaped the American dialect. People quote it without knowing they are quoting, because the phrases that appear in Casablanca became how we all speak.

Somewhat confusingly for us 1958-ers, we are getting to the point where "vintage" and "classic" includes what we know perfectly well to be "new" movies (from 1970 forward).

I love the movie 12 Angry Men. It is such a poignant display of how our prejudices manipulate us completely beyond our comprehension many times.

Henry Fonda is soooo good in this movie and the scene where EVERYONE just turns their back when the old man goes into his diatribe is just great. If more of us would have the courage to "turn our backs" to hatred. Not turn blind eyes but actively turn our backs, the world would be a better place.

Peace

I know it ain't 50 years old, but for my money there just is no better movie.

Still, there are some older movies that I like, though I don't know for sure if anyone else considers them classic. The original King Kong, for instance, and Mighty Joe Young. Yea, they were cheesy, but they went a long way to defining that genre of horror. And speaking of horror, what about just about anything with Vincent Price?

Interestingly, as a kid I really liked Gone With the Wind, but now that I'm older I can't bear to watch the whole thing; it's just too damned long. My cousin really like Citizen Kane, but I never could get into it. We both liked On the Waterfront, though (but that's not 50 years old, is it?)

Oh, I forgot the one movie that should be considered an instant classic, regardless of it's release date: Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, with The BeeGees and Peter Frampton.

Rob Miles
--
There are only 10 types of people in the world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.

Other than the Wizard Of Oz, I can't think of a single movie over 50 years old that I've seen.

That said, "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb" is one of my top five movies of all time! That will just have to suffice..!

Absolutely no question:

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL.

And I'll bet the upcoming remake will be a prize-winning suckfest.

Tight race between Dr. Zhivago and Some Like It Hot.
I go from one extreme to another.

Lawrence of Arabia. I win.

... I confess to The Sound of Music being my favorite.

It's got Nazis and a totally hot Julie Andrews. Oh, and many memorable songs. (It's a confession, right?)