I love Lon Chaney too! Glad to see other fans here. So many good films, THE UNKNOWN, THE PENALTY, HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (the first MGM film), LAUGH CLOWN LAUGH, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, SHADOWS....tons of great stuff. A shame he died so young, I think he would have done fine in the talking era, judging by the 1930 version of THE UNHOLY THREE. I know he was slated to play Dracula, but I could seriously picture Chaney doing gangster films as well.
My love of old horror films has been well documented, but let's just say I own the vast majority, if not all, horror films from the first half of the twentieth century in my collection.
I'm a big CITIZEN KANE fan. I'm in my late thirties, first saw it in my early twenties and over a dozen times in the interim. It's one of those films I always get something new out of with each viewing. The more life experience I gain, the richer KANE becomes. I find myself, in good ways and bad, really relating a lot to Joseph Cotton's Jed Leland character the last few viewings, but man, what a deep film with rich characters. So many valid interpretations one can make.
Umbrella Sam, I'm not a big MGM musical guy, but good for you. For me, it boils down to most of my musical tastes are heavy metal and classic rock, and when I do go pre rock era, it's usually classical I'll listen to. That being said, I'd love to read your thoughts on the MGM Marx Brothers movies I reviewed knowing your love for the MGM musical.
I'll come up with a list of films soon, but cool reading everyone's thoughts.