Start here

Where to start with black-and-white films.

Wondering where to start with black-and-white films? Choose Some Like It Hot if you want a fast comedy, or Sherlock Jr. if you only have 45 minutes. This is not a ranking or a homework list. These are eight easy doors, arranged so you can choose by mood and by the evening you actually have.

If your first question is why anyone would choose monochrome now, begin with why black-and-white films are still worth watching today.

Momo, the Monocurator usher
  1. 01
    Modern Times: Momo holds a wrench among large paper gears, a conveyor belt and a factory clock.
    Modern Times (1936)

    A warm, funny way in: Chaplin against the machine age.

    Find more approachable classics you can finish in under 90 minutes.

    Charlie Chaplin · 87 min

    Great first watch

  2. 02
    It Happened One Night: Momo waits beside luggage and a bus-stop sign outside a lamplit roadside cabin.
    It Happened One Night (1934)

    A bus journey turns two practised talkers into reluctant allies. Start here for romance built out of friction.

    Frank Capra · 105 min

    Great first watch

  3. 03
    Red shoes step from monochrome ground onto a yellow brick path bordered by red flowers.
    The Wizard of Oz (1939)

    The moment black-and-white opens into colour. Pure wonder.

    See how colour becomes the doorway.

    Victor Fleming · 98 min

    Great first watch

  4. 04
    Casablanca: Paper piano keys, travel papers and a glass lead toward an arched view of an aircraft in the mist.
    Casablanca (1942)

    An old love walks into Rick’s café. The conversation is polite; the history is not.

    Michael Curtiz · 102 min

    Great first watch

  5. 05
    Sunset Blvd.: Gold lettering and burgundy curtains frame an indoor monochrome film projection beside a colorful sunset and pool.
    Sunset Blvd. (1950)

    Watchable, wickedly ironic, and impossible to stop.

    Use the Billy Wilder beginner guide to choose your next film.

    Billy Wilder · 110 min

    Great first watch

  6. 06
    12 Angry Men: A giant ivory 12 surrounds a small jury table beneath the shadow of a ceiling fan.
    12 Angry Men (1957)

    One room, no escape, all tension — and it feels modern.

    After watching (spoilers): see why Juror 3 is really trying the wrong son.

    Sidney Lumet · 96 min

    Great first watch

  7. 07
    Some Like It Hot — Momo holds sheet music beside a golden saxophone and a paper staircase, with coral background visible above his raised arm.
    Some Like It Hot (1959)

    Two musicians hide in an all-female band and keep making their escape more complicated. Pick this for accumulating comic trouble.

    Use the Billy Wilder beginner guide to choose your next film.

    Billy Wilder · 120 min

    Great first watch

  8. 08
    Sherlock Jr. — Momo steps between a cinema screen and a world of film strips.
    Sherlock Jr. (1924)

    Proof that silent film is no homework. 45 minutes of joy.

    Find more approachable classics you can finish in under 90 minutes.

    Buster Keaton · 45 min

    Great first watch

Keep going

Choose a route, not a syllabus.

Need a shorter evening? Browse classic films under 90 minutes. Want one director to follow? Try the beginner routes through Akira Kurosawa, Billy Wilder, or Alfred Hitchcock. If mood matters more than history, tell Momo what you have time for.

Watching with children? Choose a first silent film by running time, reading and the kinds of peril on screen.

Teaching a class? Choose a free film worksheet by what you want students to explore, from visual storytelling to evidence and inference.

Browse all 517 film guides Ask Momo