Casablanca C/D

Considering that the vast majority of films to the mid-'50s were B&W, that's saying a mouthful!

I remember a critic once saying something to the affect of "It's amazing how good a bad movie can be" about this film, and I agree. So classic.

Yup, well aware of it. And many great films from the 30s and 60s are black and white too. Casablanca is my fave black and white film.

I'm sure Calum is very far from alone in that view - there aren't so many B&W films that I love more, though there are some. I have a feeling that across various countries, a high proportion of my favourites would be B&W. Old Hawks/Wilder/Ford etc., Renoir, '50s Kurosawa, mid-period Hitch, Preston Sturges, early Godard. I would guess that cinema history, maybe excluding India of which I know almost nothing cinematically, still has more B&W films in it that colour, so it shouldn't be surprising. And some made B&W willfully later - I love The Last Picture Show and Manhattan, for instance.