20 All Time Great Black and White Films

The National Film Preservation Board of America has a registry of films considered to be of enduring importance. These films must be 10 years old or more to ensure they have stood the test of time and there are 25 new entrants every year. Suggestions come from public recommendations and from the board themselves whose job it is to find and review these films.

The film registry insists on films being kept in their original format i.e. black and white rather than touched up post production in colour and certainly there is something rather special about watching these black and white classics. They never really appear as absolute black and white but rather hundreds of gradations of grey with tremendous lighting and shadows which is why even contemporary filmmakers still like to use the film noir style as seen by the recent Oscar winning “Roma”>.

Many of our list you may already know or have seen before. However, if you have recently found yourself desperately scouring Netflix for something to watch we really do recommend viewing or revisiting these:

1 To Kill a Mockingbird

2 Citizen Kane

3 All About Eve

4 The Maltese Falcon

5 Seven Samurai

6 Casablanca

7 Hamlet

8 Roman Holiday

9 The Night of the Hunter

10 The Third Man

11 Metropolis

12 It’s a Wonderful Life

13 Bicycle Thieves

14 On the Waterfront

15 Rebecca

16 Schindler’s List

17 Adam’s Rib

18 Psycho

19 She’s Gotta Have it

20 Roma

Film is the art form of the 20th century – so happy viewing!