Retro Films That Have Nothing To Do With War

Film ponders innumerable avenues, from the meaning of life to the effects of death and the emotions flowing between the two events, or, in the case of horror, the aftereffects of death and the questioning of humanity. Many films examine these questions through depictions of war, while others explore comedy, horror, and dramas without depicting battle. Below, we reflect on 50 retro films that avoid discussing war.

1. Psycho (1960)

Have you ever experienced retro film without exploring the territory between Marion Crane and Norman Bates? Though this movie doesn't deal with war, similar themes prevail through the plot with terrifying imagery. A convict steals a lump sum of money and flees her town; she stops for a night at an unassuming motel, the legendary Bates Motel, where she meets the one and only Norman Bates—a strange creature who seems to despise and adore his mother.  

2. Giant (1956)

You can't go wrong with Turner Classic Movies, especially not ones of the Western genre. This film stars James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor and centers around the disparity and wealth gap between ranch owners and Mexican ranch workers. Taylor's character, Leslie, marries the ranch owner and hopes to influence his racial treatment toward non-white people. 

3. All About Eve (1950)

A beloved Broadway star, Margo Channing, steps off stage following a wondrous performance, where she meets Eve, a sad, struggling, hope-to-be actor who wants to follow in Channing's footsteps. Blessed with praise from this wannabe star, she agrees to show her the ropes, not knowing Eve's deceitful plan to steal the spotlight from Channing. 

4. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

Travel back to the 70s for a timeless camp classic with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. The film satirizes the original 1967 film Valley of the Dolls by sending four musicians into the star-studded, talent-fueled, colorful world of Los Angeles. The girls delve into illicit substances and bad decisions and fight in a comic musical celebrating free spirits and androgyny.

5. The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell star in this 1955 room-com about a potential love affair. Ewell's character gifts his wife and son a holiday in Maine while he remains in New York to tend to his work and home life. He notices a stunning new neighbor, Monroe, who moves into the apartment next door, and he can't look away. Will her remain faithful to his wife, or will he fall for his neighbor?

6. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Roman Polanski's 1968 film explores the dark side of humanity. Rosemary and her husband move into a new apartment in New York City, where she uncovers weird behavior from her neighbors. She brings this to her husband's attention, and he ignores her, waving her off as rude and unappreciative. Rosemary gets pregnant and undergoes mental torture and extreme body pain, fostering strange memories of a demonic presence. Who is the baby's real father?

7. The Best of Everything (1959)

The Best of Everything focuses on women's willpower and friendship in trying times. Three women congregate in a New York apartment, each dealing with various life circumstances; one is pregnant, one is an aspiring actress, and the other is in love, sharing a lifelong desire to carry out their dream careers while dealing with widespread misogyny.  

8. My Sister Eileen (1955)

As two sisters (Ruth and Eileen) move from Idaho to New York, they fantasize their journey will deliver fortune as soon as they land in the Big Apple. When that doesn't occur, Ruth befriends an editor who promises to give her the reality she always wanted. However, her life boasts nothing of literary impact, but her sister's romantic escapades do. 

9. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

This film comments on the aftereffects of war in America when a girl wrapped in southern charm (Blanche) relocates to live with her sister (Stella) and her husband (Stanley) in New Orleans—Blanche's southern belle personality clashes with Stanley's machismo mannerisms and glaring attitude. A Streetcar Named Desire navigates a woman's relationship with men and a sister's trust. 

10. Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo, another Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, follows a former policeman gripped by an intense fear of heights and roped into a strange scenario by an old acquaintance. The man who hired the ex-cop harbors a more sinister master plan involving the ex-cop and his fear of heights. Vertigo is a masterclass in sound editing and cinematography, making it an excellent foray into retro cinema. 

11. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)

Whatever Happened To Baby Jane questions what happens to a once-promising actress when she loses momentum. Jane's sister, Blanche, navigates her life in a wheelchair and falls into Jane's care. However, Jane grows dissatisfied with this idea and attempts to eradicate her sister's existence to continue her acting career.

12. Sabrina (1954)

How do you handle a once-requited love and an unrequited love? Sabrina follows Audrey Hepburn, a sad soul in love with a rich, lazy player who doesn't bat an eye toward her. The man's older brother intends to marry this woman and conjoin their family's fortunes. Who will she end up with? Do they receive the fortune?

13. Blackboard Jungle (1955)

Blackboard Jungle stars Glenn Ford, Vic Morrow, and Sidney Poitier in a post-World War film critiquing American culture and widespread school violence. Ford's character accepts a teaching job for high school boys in low-income households. They treat him disdainfully and disrespectfully, but he doesn't surrender hope or faith in them and helps them. 

14. New York Confidential (1955)

A lead racketeer (Charlie) hires a subordinate (Nick) to orchestrate his dirty work after three other subordinates fail to tie loose ends. Charlie sends Nick out to find the three men and handle them. Nick finds two, and the other escapes, so Nick resorts to confessing his and Charlie's crimes to the cops. Charlie remains in hiding as the cops search for him, and Nick's life is further complicated when Charlie's daughter admits her love for him. 

15. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

A classic coming-of-age tale starring James Dean and Natalie Wood lies in Rebel Without a Cause. Dean's character moves to a new school to start fresh, away from his habits of stirring up trouble. He finds a new friend and develops a crush on Wood's character, who dates the bully (Corey Allen). 

16. To Catch a Thief (1955)

This Hitchcockian film moves away from the horror genre. It breaches into a thriller romance following a notorious cat burglar in his retirement era. Yet, he notices a new criminal affecting his community, so he investigates the situation, hoping to reinvent the criminal he once identified as.

17. Nosferatu (1922)

Explore vampiric origins in Transylvania through the astounding 1922 silent film Nosferatu. In the horror flick, Count Orlok brings a young man named Thomas Hutter into the woods to show him the castle he dwells in and invites Hutter inside. After a cosmic reveal, we learn that Nosferatu has a dark secret about his identity. 

18. West Side Story (1961)

Two street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, fight for control and power over their neighborhoods, commenting on racial tension and the influence of poverty in their community. Tensions escalate when one girl from the Sharks falls in love with a Jet boy. 

19. Singin in the Rain (1952)

Two Hollywood heartthrobs star in each silent musical film, so they don't need to show off their actual voices. But, once Hollywood transitioned to adding sound to their movies, crewmembers learned only the male actor could sing. Enter a new actress who lends her voice, not her face, to Hollywood, at least for a bit. 

20. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Sunset Boulevard opens with a huge reveal; cameras pan to the dead body of Joe Gillis, a screenwriter, in a swimming pool. Then, the film flashbacks to the events causing Gillis' death. He meets Norma, a former actress determined her career is at its peak, not over, and he moves into her house, becoming her script supervisor to get back on his feet. Through manipulation and maniacal behavior, Gillis finds himself trapped with a delusional woman who lives on Sunset Boulevard. 

21. The Hustler (1961)

The Hustler is a 1959 novel written by Walter Tevis that Robert Rossen directed and released in 1961. The film explored shady interactions and characters populating pool halls after World War II. The movie follows a pool shark with as much good luck as bad luck. 

22. Frankenstein (1931)

Dive into the mind of mad scientist Dr. Henry Frankenstein, an intelligent creator, assembling a new life form from dead body parts. The science experiment works, but the monster escapes the lab. Frankenstein navigates the way humanity treats this new species. 

23. The Blob (1958) 

A horrifying blob descends on a small town, destroying everything it touches with one gulp. The cops in the city can't believe a gelatinous glob could do such a thing, and they ignore everyone's concerns. Two teenagers, Steve and Jane, follow the blob's attacks, trying to defeat them. 

24. Roman Holiday (1953)

Roman Holiday observes the lengths a journalist goes to to get a story. Joe Bradley notices a woman asleep on a park bench, surrounded by strangers and darkness. He swoops in, carrying her to his apartment to safely rest. When she wakes up, he learns she's of royal descent and promises his boss to craft a story about her. Though he desires to obey his boss, his growing adoration for the woman may deter his assignment. 

25. Suspiria (1977)

This Giallo film illuminates Dario Argento's brilliant filmmaking skills. Suzy flies across the world from America to Germany to perfect her dancing. When she arrives at the school, she notices bizarre occurrences pointing to cultish and witch-like behavior. 

26. The Graduate (1967)

What do you do when you graduate college? In Benjamin Braddock's case, he contemplates what to make out of his life, gets involved with his older neighbor (Mrs. Robinson), and ultimately falls for her daughter, which appalls Mrs. Robinson.

27. Lolita (1962)

One of the most controversial films of the '60s, Lolita questions the ethics, morals, and rules of infatuation and, from some people's perspective, love. A professor pursues a widow, Charlotte, as a Segway to spend more time with her young daughter, Lolita. 

28. Imitation of Life (1959)

Imitation of Life considers motherhood, mother-daughter bonds, female friendships, and identity throughout the 125-minute runtime. A white woman loses track of her daughter at Coney Island but finds her in the care of a black woman, Annie.

Soon, Lora invites Annie and her daughter to move in with them so that she can embark on her Broadway career. Annie hangs out more with Lora's daughter than Lora, and Annie's daughter begins to explore her skin color (bearing hatred toward her black identity since she passes as white).

29. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) 

You're in for a wild ride with Arsenic and Old Lace. Cary Grant's character, Mortimer, spends his day working on novels and stories but soon finds interest in his neighbor, Elaine. Mortimer returns home to share the announcement with his family, but he stumbles upon a corpse, beginning to question his relative's motives. 

30. Cape Fear (1962)

Lawyer turns possible criminal in this 1962 combination of the horror and Western genre. Max Cady spends eight years etching out a revenge plot on the lawyer who put him behind bars, Sam. When Max completes his sentence, he torments Sam, resulting in an epic duel between the two.

31. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Follow the yellow brick road for an unforgettable journey through Oz, a land filled with brainless scarecrows, heartless tin men, nervous lions, wicked witches, and a girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto. The group tries to take the Wicked Witch of The West's broom in exchange for The Wizard's help. 

32. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

A group of young adults take a road trip to Texas to check on their grandfather's grave. They settle into their family home, but strange occurrences grab their attention from the neighbor's house. The group of friends learns one of their neighbors loves his chainsaw, and he'll use it on whoever he can catch. 

33. How To Marry a Millionaire (1953)

Three women, Schatze, Loco, and Pola, agree on their life goal: they will marry rich. They packed their bags and moved into a luxury apartment together, hoping to find their new rich husbands dwelling in the building. They meet several millionaires, but most of them are gross or creep them out. Can they find a nice rich man, or must they relinquish their idea of a genuine connection?

34. Sweet Charity (1969)

Sweet Charity is the opposite of Debbie Downer. She finds the good in every situation, no matter how upsetting or unpleasant, although she encounters a great deal of negativity in her work and love life. Charity goes on numerous unsuccessful dates, beginning to abandon hope in love until she and a charming man meet in a stuck elevator. 

35. Some Like It Hot (1959)

Two men, Joe and Jerry, dress in drag to escape their connections with the mafia in Chicago. The men join an all-girl band (as Josephine and Daphne) and head with the troupe as far south as possible. They begin to fall for Marilyn Monroe's character. Still, they cannot reveal their true identities, so they dream up an elaborate plan, assuming another fake identity, this time of rich men, to win her affection. As they try to capture Monroe's heart, another man pursues Daphne. 

36. An Affair To Remember (1957) 

Cary Grant and Deborah Carr star in An Affair to Remember, which begins on a cruise ship. The two share engagements with others but can't ignore their budding romance. So, they do what most lovestruck beings in retro New York films do, and they plan to meet at the Empire State Building six months after the cruise. Do they both show up?

37. I Could Go On Singing (1963)

Judy Garland's delectable voice landed her countless roles in musical films. This was her last film before her death. She took on the role of Jenny Bowman, a famous singer looking to reconcile with her past lover, David, and their 15-year-old son, Matt. She falls back into love with David and cares for Matt, but the romance erupts into turmoil, causing Matt to pick a parent to stay with. 

38. La Dolce Vita (1960)

Character-driven movies fuel Italian cinema, especially when it comes to Frederico Fellini's 1960 masterpiece. La Dolce Vita introduces viewers to Marcello, a reporter debating which path to cruise down in his life: a road leading to fame and fortune or a philosophical life guided by the love of writing and thinking. Through several vignettes, we study Marcello and his choices. 

39. The Vanishing (1988)

Two lovebirds, Rex and Saskia, pull over for gas during a lengthy road trip. Saskia trails off to the bathroom while Rex waits for her to come back. After an alarming amount of time, Rex worries about her whereabouts, searching for Saskia everywhere. The disappearance haunts him for years until, one day, someone claims to know what happened to her. 

40. House of Wax (1953)

Henry and Matthew (Vincent Price and Roy Roberts) work in Henry's wax museum of historical models. Matthew begs Henry to make more interesting creations to draw in more money. Still, Henry sticks to his fondness for historical figures. Matthew retaliates, devising a plan to burn down the museum and return the insurance money. During the fire, Henry burns with the wax, and several years later, Matthew opens up a new wax museum, yet the wax resembles human skin a little too much. 

41. Rebecca (1940)

Can a new wife fix Maxim de Winter's shattered heart? De Winter meets a new woman after Rebecca, his widow, passes on. The new woman moves into de Winter's estate, where she learns she can't fill the void Rebecca left, no matter what she tries. She also uncovers the truth about Rebecca's past and marriage to Maxim. 

42. The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Tracy Lord needs to choose a husband. She left her first husband over his alcohol abuse and poor treatment. As she prepares to marry her second husband, a well-off businessman, she encounters her first husband and a reporter who catches her eye. 

43. Penny Serenade (1941) 

We go to great lengths for the ones we cherish. Roger and Julie wed, wanting to start a family, but found out that Julie couldn't birth biological children. The duo adopts a daughter, but after Roger loses his job, they go through a legal struggle to keep their child. After the court permits them to keep their daughter, a horrible fate befalls the family.

44. Pinocchio (1940)

Don't lie; your nose will grow. Woodworker Geppetto wishes upon a shooting star for his new creation to come to life as a real boy. The wooden puppet transforms into a breathing being, and the innocent child falls into the wrong person's trust. 

45. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1948)

Some fans speculate this film allegorizes the Cold War or The Red Scare with depictions of strangers coexisting, sometimes within your own home. The film focuses on a psychiatrist confounded with the issues all his patients face. Their family and friends aren't acting human. 

46. East of Eden (1955)

A young man, Cal believes that his father favors his brother over him. Striving for affection from his father, Cal ventures to California with his dad on business. During the business excursion, Cal cares for his alienated mother and is keenly interested in his brother's girlfriend. 

47. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Dr. Frankenstein sustains injuries and trauma from an attack on himself and his otherworldly creation, vying never to play God again. Despite his want to stay away from science, his former mentor pressures him to get back in the lab to make a bride for his monster. 

48. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Marilyn Monroe's character, Lorelei, works as a burlesque dancer and shares an engagement with a man named Gus, much to his father's (Esmond's) disapproval. Esmond hires a private eye to follow Lorelei, yearning to find proof she's only marrying his son for wealth. 

49. Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

A team of scientists plods through a secluded jungle, finding remnants of an unidentifiable animal species. Upon studying the new species, the scientists explore more land, searching for clues about the creature. What they find is much worse than an animal.