What is a truly great Black & White movie?

Quote: Lemieux66

Agreed.

Just saw a Rifleman show entitled A Matter Of Faith made in 1959. The actor Bing Russell was in it. He was the actor who was in The Magnificent Seven one year later. In that movie he plays the part of the man who thought he could draw his gun faster than James Coburn could draw his knife. Lucas McCain had to shoot him in this episode, so he died in both shows. Edit: My mistake. The actor who drew against James Coburn was Robert J. Wilke. Bing Russell was in The Magnificent Seven but in a different role.

Rashomon.
A fascinating movie I saw in my college film class.
A samurai is killed by a bandit and his wife is raped.
But what really happened.
The movie shows the same incident from different perspectives, The Samurai, the wife, the bandit, a witness.
Different perspectives mean different stories concerning the same incident.

The Forbidden Zone

A Touch of Evil and To Kill a Mockingbird. Can't
imagine these in color. Reason being, the scenery
in both is bleak and lends well to B/W. Especially
ATOE. Big fat Orson and his black coat and pasty
white face, and the barren Mexican countryside.

Quote: Evenbob

A Touch of Evil and To Kill a Mockingbird. Can't
imagine these in color. Reason being, the scenery
in both is bleak and lends well to B/W. Especially
ATOE. Big fat Orson and his black coat and pasty
white face, and the barren Mexican countryside.

I watched about 15 minutes of ATOE once and didn't find it in very interesting.

Quote: Greasyjohn

I watched about 15 minutes of ATOE once and didn't find it in very interesting.

I've seen it a dozen times at least, a film noir
classic. Orson only did it because he owed the
studio one more pic. Probably his best overall,
the story, acting and way it's filmed are superb.
This movie is taught in college film classes.

Wells wrote, directed and starred, it gets an 8.2
on IMDB. This sums it up:

"The movie is about two things : film-making, and character. Every shot worth remembering (and there are few that aren't) is an exercise in the possibilities of film, particularly black and white film. Woody Allen makes movies in black and white that are all conversation. Welles made movies in black and white because that's where the colors of the characters, the location and ultimately the meaning of the movie are possible. Black and white film is about the infinite possibilities of shadow. Touch of Evil is about the infinite possibilities of human nature."

It really is a masterpiece, give it another chance.
Right down to Marlene Dietrich's last line:

"What does it matter what you say about people?"

Rotten Tomato's gives it a 95% rating.

"Perhaps the most surprising thing about Orson Welles' 1958 "Touch of Evil" is the way it continues to surprise. No amount of repeated viewings can dull the edge of its sinister ambience or soften the visual excitement Welles brought to this quintessentially cinematic film... Expressionistic in the extreme, filled with shadows, angles and cinematic flourishes, the film raises the usual brooding nightmare ambience of film noir to a level few other pictures have attempted."

Quote: Evenbob

re ATOE

so, you kinda liked it?

btw has anyone else noticed some people are citing films that were done in color? [but not ATOE, and I prefer not to cite the guys who did this]

Quote: odiousgambit

so, you kinda liked it?

Ever see Be Cool with Travolta? ATOE is the
movie he goes to see by himself and he
knows every line in it. It's a film lovers film.

Wells had two weeks of rehearsal before they
started shooting, which is never done for a
movie. It was a collaborative effort, they
changed lines and scenes until they all liked
it. Wells thought this would be his next Citizen
Kane, but it took years before it was recognized
as the classic it is.

Quote: Evenbob

Ever see Be Cool with Travolta? ATOE is the
movie he goes to see by himself and he
knows every line in it. It's a film lovers film.

Wells had two weeks of rehearsal before they
started shooting, which is never done for a
movie. It was a collaborative effort, they
changed lines and scenes until they all liked
it. Wells thought this would be his next Citizen
Kane, but it took years before it was recognized
as the classic it is.

Went to the library yesterday. They didn't have it in their catalogue. But next time it's on TV I'll give it another try.

I read some 15 pages of Atlas Shrugged and couldn't stand it. The girl that lent me the book said you had to read 200 pages before you got into it. I like books and movies that draw me or are at least interesting from the beginning.

Viridiana. What a trip.

I agree with EB on A Touch of Evil, it is an incredible film. Much of the way we understand what we see on film today comes from the works of Orson Welles. Even if you've never seen a single frame of anything he did, the movies you see today use visual language created by him.