10 iconic films that are finally streaming in Australia

Sydney Morning Herald

23-04-2025

I have a ritual when a new streaming service launches in Australia: I try to find the oldest movie available. Mostly I am disappointed. Classic Hollywood movies, very broadly from the introduction of the 'talkies' in the late 1920s through to late 1960s, are deeply under-represented in the streaming age (and other cinematic cultures, such as Japan or France, are essentially non-existent).
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Timeless filmmaking just isn't a priority for commercial streaming services. If you search on Netflix, for example, the oldest movies in their 'classics' section are just two Hollywood releases from the 1960s – the 1966 western The Professionals and the 1969 counterculture salvo Easy Rider. Calling that minute selection tokenistic would be generous.
But when Max launched at the start of this month I finally found satisfaction. Among the assets of Max's parent company, Warner Bros Discovery, is Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
Launched in 1994 as a cable channel by media mogul Ted Turner, TCM holds the rights to significant Hollywood feature film libraries. TCM has its own hub on Max, debuting in Australia with approximately 100 initial titles and plans to add more.
That number is just a drop in the ocean, but it's still a promising start and a terrific collection in itself. Whether you're unfamiliar with classic Hollywood movies or rediscovering the long unavailable works of iconic stars and celebrated directors, there's already much to enjoy on TCM.
Here are 10 recommendations to get you under way.
An American in Paris (1951)
Culminating in a magical 17-minute dance sequence where stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron high-step their way through 44 different sets, this stylised Hollywood musical was a best picture winner at the Academy Awards. With Kelly as the expatriate artist caught between a wealthy older woman (Nina Foch) and an ingenue (Caron), the story is familiar, but every technical aspect is inspired, and the stars give off sparks.
For fans of: La La Land.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Fresh from Broadway, Mike Nichols captured every lacerating verbal blow in his adaptation of Edward Albee's play about sparring married adversaries (Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) who bring a younger couple (George Segal and Sandy Dennis) into their alcohol-soaked world of mutual torment and shattered illusions. Marriage is a crucible in this chamber piece where every edge cuts to the bone.
For fans of: Big Little Lies, Sharp Objects.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
The film that invented the teenager. 'That's a new disease,' Natalie Wood's high school student Judy notes after meeting James Dean's disaffected fellow student, Jim. Nicholas Ray's potent melodrama turns the coming-of-age tale into a troubled quest to stay afloat amidst parental condemnation and exploitative peers. Dean's brooding performance is the definition of iconic.
For fans of: The O.C., Heartbreak High.
Dial M for Murder (1954)
This knotty crime thriller, which boasts a fascinating and unexpected performance from Grace Kelly, is generally not considered a top-tier Alfred Hitchcock film, but the film's mordant humour and sharply visual storytelling have aged exceptionally well. Ray Milland's cold-hearted former professional athlete plots to have his unfaithful wife (Kelly) murdered to get the insurance money, but his plan goes awry.
For fans of: Killing Eve, Fargo.
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Adam's Rib (1949)
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy were one of Hollywood's great screen couples, and this pithy, prescient romantic-comedy about married New York lawyers on either side of a hot-button case involving adultery is a standout collaboration. George Cukor's direction leans into the high-spirited, making for a battle of the sexes that highlights the feisty, fertile dynamic between the two leads.
For fans of: LA Law, Suits.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Withdrawn from circulation for decades following controversy about its subject and copycat crimes upon release, Stanley Kubrick's dystopian drama about the criminal journey of a bored British teenager (Malcolm McDowell's Alex) is the director indulging both his cold eye for violence and a satirical approach that is particularly uncompromising. The crime comes with punishment (and plenty of Beethoven), as Kubrick works over the audience's sympathies.
For fans of: Fight Club.
Gaslight (1944)
Yes, it's the movie that inspired the now much-used term. Ingrid Bergman plays a wife psychologically tormented by her gold-digging husband (Charles Boyer), who uses false accusations, conniving interpretations and blanket denials to dislodge her sanity. Marital bliss is a cruel illusion in this mix of noir menace and haunted house unease, and Bergman gives a full-blooded performance as a woman taken to her absolute limits.
Ninotchka (1939)
This witty, urbane screwball comedy where personal pleasure proves too much for state ideology has a timeless appeal. Greta Garbo, the sternest of Hollywood leading ladies, plays a Soviet commissar sent to Paris to fix a trade deal gone awry. But she comes up against a charmingly dissolute Russian exile (Melvyn Douglas), whose attempts to sabotage her mission turns into a livewire romantic attraction.
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For fans of: Bridgerton, Gilmore Girls.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
In the legendary John Huston's directorial debut, Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade, a San Francisco private eye who gets caught up in the murderous competition between rivals pursuing the priceless titular artifact. It's a tight, coolly executed crime thriller, with a memorable supporting cast of nefarious contenders, each of whom is open to negotiation and a double-cross. Greed's corrupting force has rarely been so entertaining.
For fans of: Perry Mason.
The Searchers (1956)
TCM has some excellent westerns, but I can't go past John Ford's compelling collaboration with John Wayne, which took the leading man's stoic heroism and turned it into vengeful self-loathing. Wayne plays a Civil War veteran whose niece (once again, Natalie Wood) is kidnapped by Native Americans – he spends years in a brutal pursuit, even as his motivation darkens. The final shot is an all-time heartbreaker.