Just finished watching Casablanca for the plentieth time, and was reminded of how much I love good b&w cinematography (most of the last fifteen minutes or so are splendid). Movies that were made in black-and-white and were more than just the recording of the story on film. Movies (or scenes, or still shots) that display the range and the drama and the elegance (and eloquence!) that black-and-white film has to offer. Other examples that quickly come to mind would include The Third Man, Shanghai Express, Citizen Kane, Double Indemnity, The Seventh Seal, The Letter, I Know Where I'm Going, and Manhattan. There are countless others. What are some of your favorites? Movies, scenes, or just establishing shots?

Just passing through, a couple quick thoughts --

Dr. Strangelove
Paper Moon

I'll be back.

One of my favorites has been:
The Oxbow Incident.
The lighting and photography help to set the grim tone of the hanging.

Dr Stangelove
Casablanca

Carl Theodor Dreyer: filmography

Yasujiro Ozu: filmography

Andrei Tarkovsky: filmography

Kenji Mizoguchi: filmography

Robert Bresson: filmography

Paweł Pawlikowski: Ida (2013), Cold War (2018) < actually a 2019 U.S. release

Satyajit Ray: filmography

Sergei Eisenstein: filmography

Michael Haneke: mixed bag of stellar b&w to color: filmography

Akira Kurosawa (of course): filmography

Q: which one should i watch?

A: all of them.

Too many really. But today, off the top of my head, I'll stick to Welles films. Citizen Kane, of course. Magnificent Ambersons. Also The Trial with Anthony Perkins. Nevermind B&W, the cinematography and lighting in that film were very inventive.

quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
Too many really. But today, off the top of my head, I'll stick to Welles films. Citizen Kane...

lots of ppl don't get citizen kane. i didn't. one way is to check if your library's dvd has Roger Ebert's commentary. if you're in any way interested, you'll be glad you did.

Just to be different, I’ll say The Last Picture Show

M (1931)
Psycho (1960)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Der Blaue Engel (1930)

"Odd Man Out".

"Magnificent Ambersons".

"The Dawn Patrol" (1938)

"Manhattan".

I’ll go with Eisenstein:
Battleship Potemkin
Alexander Nevsky

I recall a number of B & W Soviet films with striking cinematography. The brightest went into art, music, science, chess.

Nobody has mentioned Frank Capra. He was no slouch; checkout the lighting here:



Link to original video: https://youtu.be/L1GLW3lU_GE

The Thin Man

I love the horror:

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Innocents (1961)
The Haunting (1963)
Frankenweenie (2012)

FWIW It's hard to separate cinematography from set design, lighting, makeup and what's actually in front of the camera, they work as one to create the image. Sometimes the camera has to move, other times it must not. Selective focus, film stock and lenses chosen, video processing, yikes, a complicated topic.

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
FWIW It's hard to separate cinematography from set design, lighting, makeup and what's actually in front of the camera, they work as one to create the image. Sometimes the camera has to move, other times it must not. Selective focus, film stock and lenses chosen, video processing, yikes, a complicated topic.

Well, I'm not trying to get too technical, nor to isolate various elements. I'm using it in the broad sense of what you see on the screen. Besides, I think most of the elements you list would be included in the definition. But that's not what I started this thread to discuss; I was looking for other people's favorite examples of black-and-white images onscreen. Not their favorite movies that happen to be in b&w, but films that show good use of the medium.

quote:

Originally posted by amals:
..the broad sense of what you see on the screen.

Yes, and the choice to use B&W defines the movie, with all that goes into creating the images.

I'm reminded of the recent stink over the Oscars choosing not to air the cinematography awards as well as other technical categories. It looks like AMPAS thinks it all comes down to the personalities.

BTW with the great examples in your opening post, "Citizen Kane" used the camera in new ways and set a higher bar.

Too many excellent choices, but off the top of my head, anything by the master himself, John Alton. Take a look at a little B-picture called He Walked by Night. Gorgeous.

http://www.waitsel.com/moviearticles/Film_Noir.html