5 Classic Films I Haven’t Seen

Last weekend was the 90th Academy Awards. And during the ceremony they showed clips of previous Academy Award winners, some of which I didn’t recognize. Which started a my thought process on classic films, especially the ones everyone has seen and loves. Or at least pretends to have seen and love because they feel obligated to since, “it’s a classic.”

Through this train of thought, I realized there are some very classic films I haven’t seen. Now I’m no scrub here, I’ve seen my fair share of movies considered classics, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Sound of Music, The Godfather. So it’s not like older films are foreign to me. I just haven’t made a huge effort to really delve into them. Since these five seem to be the most recommended, I’m curious what I might be missing.

Casablanca (1942)
Now because this is so highly quoted, I’m familiar with “Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.” But that’s where my knowledge of this story ends. Everything else I know is that people loved Bogart and Bergman. I do actually want to watch this, I just never have enough of a desire to push it in front of other movies.

West Side Story (1961)
This is actually the film that started my whole thought process for this post. I’ve seen local theater productions of West Side Story,  but I’ve never seen the film. And at that, I’ve never seen a Natalie Wood film (that I know of). But with her death being reexamined I have a feeling her movies will be on HBO and maybe I’ll be able to get this one under my belt.

Psycho (1960)
Again, with this film being so highly referenced and quoted, I’m very familiar with popular aspects of the movie. I’ve just never seen it first hand. Now, part of that is because I don’t like to watch scary movies at night. Or by myself. Or on Tuesdays.  Just kidding about the Tuesdays, but the rest is true. After a scary movie my over active imagination is not going to let me sleep well. Every noise my old house makes is definitely going to mean the end of my life and I just don’t function well when I’m dead sleep deprived. What I have found though, is that older scary movies don’t spark my frightening imagination at 3 a.m. as badly as others. There’s always other aspects of the movie to focus my attention on, i.e. the outdated technology pictured, the characters style, etc. When I get around to watching this, it’s still going to be with my husband on a bright sunny early afternoon, just to be safe.

Roman Holiday (1953)
Other than the fact that this stars Audrey Hepburn, I have no idea what this is about or why it’s a classic. I can assume it’s a romantic film, given the almost kiss on the poster. But I can’t say I’ve ever thought anything else about this film. I supposed if I ever see this offered on a streaming service, I’ll try to make a push to watch it.

Citizen Kane (1941)
This is another film I know nothing about, except that “it’s a classic.” After reading the one line description, I am intrigued. I love a good mystery. The list of lead actors sounds familiar but in the same way that I know Casablanca is a classic film. I know them but I don’t know. Of the five I mentioned this one is probably at the top of what I legitimately want to watch. So as long as I can find somewhere to watch it, I’ll probably tackle this classic soon.

Have you seen these? Have you watched these more than once? What’d you consider classic films? What’s on your ‘must watch before you die’ list? Let me know in the comments.