Favorite Black & White Movies

Top 10 Black and White Movies by preppy-lizzy featuring framing posters

I am a huge lover of Black and White Cinema. My parents instilled a love of them early in my life and I often find myself reaching for classic rather than a showy new movie on tv. TCM is perhaps one of my favorite channels. When I lived alone my DVR was filled with TCM movies. It was how I would spend my free time.

Because of that I wanted to share my favorite 10 black and white films. In no particular order of course, well except for maybe my favorite: Casablanca.

1. Casablanca: Can you have a better cast, or more memorable movie lines? This movie is beautifully shot, heart wrenching and humorous simultaneously, and made me dream of traveling to Casablanca. Morocco is pretty high on my travel wish list because of this movie. A classic top to bottom, it is a must watch.

2. The Philadelphia Story: Take Hepburn with Grant and Stewart and you get pure cinematic magic. Katharine Hepburn is my classic girl idol. Cool, sophisticated, feminine but one of the boys, she was pure ya. This black and white comedy is fun, silly and a staple in my house.

3. It's A Wonderful Life: The hands down best Christmas film ever made, I bawl like a baby every time I watch it. Did you know the snow is made of cornflakes and that the movie was shot in the middle of July, so all the actors are sweating bullets when it was supposed to be winter? One of my Dad's favorite movies of all time, it is perfect.

4. Dr. Strangelove: This cold war comedy is one that helps to lighten the intense fear that surrounded the atomic bomb and the cold war. Not your typical B&W.

5. Holiday Inn: More than just a Christmas movie. Holiday Inn is appropriate year round for it celebrates every holiday we know. Also Bing Crosby crooning and Fred Astaire dancing should be enough to make you watch. The Fourth of July numbers are show stealers, let me tell you. This is also the movie where the song White Christmas made its debut.

6. The Song of Bernadette. Follows the story of St. Bernadette, a young girl in France. It is a beautiful film and the acting is superb.

7. To Kill A Mockingbird. One of the few times the movie is on par with the book. Gregory Peck is a heartthrob and you are cheering for him all the way.

8. The Maltese Falcon. Boggie does it again. You want friends that will go to these lengths to help you out. Funny and quick witted, a great classic and why it is on the top of so many film fan's lists.

9. Roman Holiday. Because Audrey Hepburn, the other Hepburn and Grant are just so adorable in this movie. And if nothing else it makes you want to get a way for just a little while.

10. Pyscho. I could make a list just of Hitchcock films. The man who invented the suspense thriller in his most provocative movie he ever made, Pyscho still stands up to contemporary scary movies and wins in my book every time.