“Classics” is an unfair name for a movie genre–a movie can be a comedy or a thriller but because a certain number of people like it, it falls into a genre that inevitable gets skipped over every time you log onto Netflix.
“Classic” doesn’t necessarily mean boring or the length of two whole VHS tapes (I’m looking at you, Gone With the Wind).
There are some enjoyable options available for the Netflix scrollers willing to look beyond the title of “classic”:
Crowd Pleaser:
Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo
This is an introduction to classic movies because unlike some of its relatives, this one does not need any patience to sit through. Vertigo is exciting the whole way through and will have your head spinning by the end. This movie is about an ex-cop who is hired to prevent his friend’s wife from committing suicide and how nothing he discovers is as it seems. It’s Hitchcock before his Psycho days–in other words, he utilizes the plot to grab your attention rather than the whole “man with knife” schtick.
If You Can Handle a Musical:
Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain
This one strikes the chord between heartfelt and funny- the ultimate feel-good movie. If you like musicals at all, this is an essential for your watchlist. Main characters Don and Lina have been doing silent movies together for years and then begin the transition into “talkies,” only to find that Lina’s voice is unbearable to audiences. The characters have to find a way to keep Lina on screen but have someone else’s voice playing. If you don’t watch this movie, at least watch the scene “Make ‘Em Laugh” on YouTube. For me.
Girls’ Night:
William Wyler’s Roman Holiday
If you don’t know who Gregory Peck is right now, you will love him after this movie. A princess (Audrey Hepburn, also very crush-worthy) is visiting Rome and breaks under the pressures of her royal duties. She escapes for a night of living like the Romans with newspaperman Joe Bradley (kind of like Aladdin, I guess). This movie was so good that Notting Hill took all its main plot points and just added Julia Roberts.
Watch It to Say You’ve Seen It:
Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca
This is the classic movie to end all classic movies. It is the hardest to sit through on this list as it has a lot of exposition, but the payoff in the end is so good. Humphrey Bogart (a good name to throw around if you want to sound like you know stuff about old movies) is nightclub owner Rick, and his old flame, Ilsa, comes back into his life one night, in desperate need of help fleeing the country because her husband is being chased by Nazis. Or in other words, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Chills.
Written by: Sarah Cooper
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