Josh- I'm beaming from the respect and trust you've thrown to me here. I'd be honored to give you sugeestions.
So here we go:
The 5 perfect classics (according to me):
1. Casablanca- Whatever you think this is, whatever you've heard about this film, ignore it. It needs to be something that you witness, something you can see with your own eyes. To
me, Casablanca is American cinema at its finest. Not only are the performances perfect, but the entire layout is simply entrancing.
2. Vertigo- Excitement. Mystery. Hitchcock at his absolute finest. In fact, this is filmmaking at its best, period. Obsession, to me, is a very hard theme to touch upon, but Alfred gave this gem so much class and grace that it is undoubtably the best in the biz.
3. The Maltese Falcon- This one's all about the style. The use of lighting in this is unbelievable, creating a strange and very uncomfortable atmosphere, a city where crime is abundant and a man goes through a dame like pairs of socks. Humphrey Bogart teams up, once again, with Peter Lorre for a strange kind of relationship that never quite settles.
4. Cat People (1942)- Val Lewton, as you may or may not know, was a famous horror producer of the 1940s. He was remembered not only for his "never show it" style, but also for his fantastic financial skills. He was always shafted, given very small, sometimes left over budgets from Warner Bros. This didn't stop him, however, from creating one of the most stylish pieces of horror cinema in history: Cat People, of course. This one proves that money isn't everything, and Val makes his masterpiece look like a million dollar movie.
5. Arsenic and Old Lace- This Cary Grant gem is absolutely the most fun you can have in a film. It's a dark comedy, grim and glorious. The plot is magnificent: A newlywed (Grant) heads home with his fiancee to share the news of his marriage with his two aunts. Through a chain of events, he finds out his charming aunts have been happily murdering lonely men, and hiding them in the window seat of their warm home. This one also stars Peter Lorre (seeing a trend, my boy?) and a perfect supporting cast, and you can't get any more fun than this.
I also highly suggest the following:
- Psycho (1960)
- Rear Window
- To Have and Have Not
- The Philidelphia Story
- Citizen Kane
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
- The Body Snatcher
- M
- Frankenstein (1931)
- Dracula (1931)
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- King Kong (1933)
- Rope
- The Big Sleep
I wish you luck, my friend. Lemme know if you need more, or need some information on any of the above films.