For a lot of folks, black-and-white flicks made before or during the infamous Hays Code era are a pretty scary territory. There’s no telling if there will be weird racist undertones, over the top performances that are impossible to take seriously or hard to follow plots and contexts that only someone from the past 80 years can even attempt to understand, which are perfectly reasonable reasons to give vintage films a miss.

However, before you dismiss all movies made before the ‘70s, we reckon that there are still of a couple gems that you should give a chance (and can watch with your nan), so peep below for our picks of spiffy vintage flicks.

METROPOLIS Mention this 1927 German expressionist silent flick to any of your film-nerd pals and we reckon that you’ll soon find yourself in the midst of a passionate conversation about how ahead of the time it was – and we’re also about to subject you lovely readers to the same thing (sorry). Metropolis follows a future dystopian society where wealthy tycoons reign sit high in imposing skyscrapers while poor workers dwell in the city below, and there’s also a bit about a robot for added science fiction goodness. It turns out that even in 1927 folks were getting worried about the dangerous side effects of capitalism and the ever-growing class divide, and now, almost 100 years later, we’re still stuck with the same fears.

WHAT A WAY TO GO! The only film in colour on this list, although we would argue that Technicolor itself is a main character in this campy movie starring Shirley MacLaine, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly and more. This comedy romp follows the journey of a four-time widow (MacLaine), who can’t stop falling in love with different types of men who become fabulously wealthy and then subsequently die due to their success – much to her dismay. This unwilling gold digger dame also happens to own arguably the most glamorous wardrobe in Hollywood history, designed by the legendary Edith Head. It’s pretty much a masterpiece of camp and colour.

CASABLANCA There’s not much we can say about this iconic movie that hasn’t already been said in much smarter ways by an abundance of folks all the way from when it was first released in 1942, but bear with us as we try our darndest. Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart were made into bona fide cinema legends with Casablanca, which was made during WWII and doesn’t shy away from criticising the then-current Nazi regime, and is also chock-full of the stylish atmosphere that one would come to expect in a noir flick. It’s a beloved classic for a reason, which is why we recommend giving this a watch come your next movie night.

THE WOMEN Hollywood and the general social climate of the ‘30s weren’t known for their gender equality (in fact, it’s actually the exact opposite), but this ensemble cast movie was way ahead of its time due to the fact that every single speaking role in this flick just so happens to be a woman – how rad! Set in the super-glam world of high Manhattan society, The Women stands as a very early ancestor of something like The Real Housewives franchise, with the only difference being that each character speaks with an iconic Trans-Atlantic accent and that there aren’t any boring husbands or boyfriends to bother them. It’s silly and frivolous, yes, but it makes for a super-entertaining watch.

SOME LIKE IT HOT Drag? In 1959? Turns out humans have long-loved it, despite what some of today’s bigoted folks might make you believe. If you’ve yet experienced the privilege of witnessing the late great Marilyn Monroe on screen, make sure you watch the actress for the first time in this Billy Wilder-directed comedy, since we have to say that the actress gives her best performance in Some Like It Hot. Basically, the plot follows two petty criminals donning drag alter-egos in order to escape gangsters and then run in to a ukulele-wielding Monroe, and then chaos ensues soon after. Also, it happens to end on one of the most beloved lines in cinema history.