Of all the movies you have seen, which one was made the earliest? Example: Wizard of Oz (1939)?

Question

Was it worth the time spent? How would you compare it to films made today?

Answer 1

"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." German, 1920s, horror.
Yeah, it's good, a real creepfest!! Very ODD!!!

Answer 2

Gone With The Wind 1939

Answer 3

The earliest movie I've ever seen in a theater was "King Kong" (1933 version), although the then-groundbreaking special-effects look a little dated now, there's no denying that the film has a unique power all its own. Second-oldest films I've seen in a theater was "A Night At The Opera" (1935), a timeless classic which absolutely entertains today; and "Reefer Madness" (also 1935), which you had to be stoned to appreciate, which I was and did. Next would be "Modern Times" (1936), which is totally jarring - it's Charlie Chaplin making a silent movie with sound, nine years after sound was invented - the movie didn't work, but Chaplin's work was great.

Answer 4

While working on my masters degree in digital audio and video production, I studied motion picture history and viewed some very early movies, most of which today would not be considered real movies. One of the first was the "Roundhay Garden Scene" shot in 1888. You can see a 2 second remastered clip of this at:

http://www.nmpft.org.uk/insight/info/roundhay.mov

You have to consider that the very first motion pictures were astounding to the people who saw them because nothing like that has ever been done. People were mesmerized by photographs that moved and it did not take much to please them.

At first, a camera was set up and whatever happened in front of it was recorded, like one film of workers leaving a factory. Later stories were told such as George Méliès "Voyage dans la lune" (Trip to the Moon) made in 1902. You can download or stream this one at: http://www.archive.org/details/Levoyagedanslalune

Though it may seem silly, it was quite a feat for the time. Later down the road came Citizen Kane (1941), a black and white film directed by Orson Welles. For me, this is the best movie ever made. Besides the acting, it encompasses light and shadow photography in a manner not seen since then, and now that everything is in color, it can never be rivaled in that medium.

More historic movies can been streamed or downloaded at: http://www.archive.org/details/movies

Answer 5

Actually Gone with the Wind was made the same year as Wizard of Oz. Both pictures were up for the Oscars and GWTW walked away with all of them, sad isn't it. Wizard of Oz only walked away with one oscar that year and it was for makeup, go figure. Any who, I love old movies, Gretta Garbo, Humphry Bogart, Clark Gable, Arel Flynn, Betty Davis, sigh those were the movie stars guys. Those were the best movies in the world, because simply put, they cared about the art and the artwork of the picture not just the bottom line.

Answer 6

Not sure, but I do like old movies because i think the writing and acting are better than today's films. They don't have as good of scenery and special effects, of course, but I think good writing is more important. Not sure which are the oldest films I've seen, but some are "My Little Chicadee", "It's a Wonderful Life","Mrs.Miniver", "Pinky","Sabrina",and all the Shirley Temple movies made in the 30's and 40's.

Answer 7

The Birth of a Nation (1915) A B/W picture about the aftermath of the Civil War. A very good movie but obviously doesn't compare well for cinematography or how movies are made today.

Answer 8

i'm uncertain with regard to the stars yet some years in the past I met a pair of the munchkins from the 1939 action picture. So i could think of that there are some people who're nonetheless around that have been interior the action picture.

Answer 9

Probably the oldest movie I've seen is Birth of a Nation. It's depiction of racism is kinda shocking by today's standards and the story is not all the interesting but the film is interesting from a historical perspective.

Answer 10

Gone with the Wind was also released in 1939 &
won the Oscar for that year.
I've seen earlier movies, by Mae West & W.C.Fields that
are pretty funny.
An earlier movie that is a little disturbing is "Freaks".
Birth of a Nation is, unfortunetly, racism at it's finest.

Answer 11

I saw Wizard of OZ when I was 7. It was the first time it was aired on television. The very first movie I remember was "This Island Earth" followed by "I'll Cry Tomorrow." "This Island Earth" scared the sh*t out of me. The villians looked sooooo familiar.