Films in Black and White! No? Why Not?

If you're one of those who hate, or won't even view a classic B&W film, you are hereby challenged to do so, and still come away hating them in the end. This is a good place to start:

Ten Black & White Movies For People Who Won't Watch Black & White Movies
Several weeks ago, I was sitting at lunch opposite my twenty-eight year old second cousin once removed, with a host of other family members. It being a reunion of sorts, the mood was jolly.
I have always liked my cousin- she is smart, brassy, funny- extremely well spoken and well educated. The kind of person that gives you hope for the future.
The she dropped the bomb. Looking at me in a direct but decidedly matter-of-fact way, she said: “I won’t watch black and white movies.”
“Never?” I responded, thunderstruck.
“Never. And most of my friends wouldn’t either.”
She went on to explain that from what she’d seen of these dusty old cinematic relics, they were too slow and too talky. And she noted, the acting seemed fake to her.
I responded that this was a shame- that she (and her pals) were depriving themselves of some of the greatest films ever made; that movies should be judged- at least somewhat- in the context of their time; that before the advent of the “Method”, acting styles were indeed closer to the broader stage tradition; that black and white cinematography could be uniquely stunning; that many of the best older films offered something that too many new movies lack: namely, quality scripts.
To which she just smiled at me indulgently. I was getting precisely nowhere.
It is a sobering thought though- that what I lovingly term “the new generation” might totally reject any film not made in color (excepting "Schindler's List"), and in fact might be willing to go back only to the early ‘70s, thinking of that fertile time period in movie-making as ancient history.
While I may hope that their curiosity to go back further may increase with age, something tells me I shouldn’t count on it for the vast majority of twenty-somethings.
I think it’s a low-down dirty shame- only because if my pessimistic hunch gets borne out, they are really missing out.
On my own website of movie recommendations, black and white features comprise around 30 percent of the total.
But it’s the American Film Institute’s (AFI) ranking of greatest American movies that says it all…the top two picks (Citizen Kane and Casablanca) were shot in black and white. Four of the top ten titles, and by my count forty-one of the top hundred, were black and white movies.
That’s a lot of great movies to turn your backs on, kids!
So- to channel my sense of concern into something constructive, I gave myself a little exercise. If I could get all those black and white haters out there to watch just ten titles- movies that constituted absolutely essential viewing- which would they be?
I’ll just list my picks, in no particular order- and excluding those obvious top two AFI champs:
Duck Soup
Modern Times
The Grapes of Wrath
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
All About Eve
On The Waterfront
12 Angry Men
The Apartment
To Kill a Mockingbird

Go to the website to view his reasons and reviews.   And go watch a good movie.

More later.
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