Classic Hollywood
Classical Hollywood cinema is a term used in film criticism to describe both a narrative and visual style of film-making which became characteristic of American cinema between the 1910s (rapidly after World War I) and the 1960s. It eventually became the most powerful and pervasive style of film-making worldwide. Similar or associated terms include Classical Hollywood narrative, the Golden Age of Hollywood, Old Hollywood, etc.
Below are some great examples of classic American film at its best. Hitchcock’s Rear Window represents the best of his oeuvre (I never tire of watching North by Northwest also) and as for The Wild Bunch , director Sam Peckinpah reportedly said after shooting wrapped, presumably to Hollywood executives, “Now they’ll know what killing is”.
I believe these films are important examples of American film and should not be subject to streaming fees from Amazon and others. Some of the films I’ll showcase here, may in fact be part of public-domain or free to view anyway. For instance, Rear Window you can stream on Vimeo and other platforms as well.
I’ll rotate films on this page often and try to provide links where you can view these films without ads, uncut, and without streaming fees. Enjoy!
Some Like it Hot
The Maltese Falcon
The Wild Bunch