MOVIES:
The Artist
A great homage to the silent era. It has everything: beautiful visuals, great performances, well-done drama and humor, and last but not least, plenty of heart. It thoroughly deserved the many awards it won.
The Rocketeer
Out of all the modern-day movies to attempt to capture the style and feel of 1930s adventure movies and serials, this one, in my opinion, does it the best. That's not to belittle any of the others, but The Rocketeer gets every detail, as well as that intangible "something", so right that it, more than any of the others, feels almost as if it was really made in the 1930s. It's great fun from beginning to end.
War Horse
War Horse, with its John Ford-esque cinematography and unashamed sentimentality, feels more like it is from 1941 than 2011. Steven Spielberg enjoys revisiting the styles of days gone by, and that clearly shows here.
The Indiana Jones Trilogy
This one needs little introduction. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas teamed up to create a love letter to the serials they grew up watching, and the rest is history.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Director Kerry Conran always preferred the whimsy of 1930s science fiction movies and serials to the style of most modern science fiction, which he described as "almost too well informed... and more cynical.". When he set out to make a movie himself, he decided to recapture the style and whimsy of 1930s science fiction, and in my opinion, he did a darned good job of it, in both his independent six-minute short and the later big-budget feature version.
The Hudsucker Proxy
While The Hudsucker Proxy has often been criticized as being soulless (whether it really is or not is debatable) and while it's not quite like anything else, old or new, it is a well-done (in my opinion) homage to classic screwball comedies, and the art deco visual design is very beautiful.
Captain America (2011)
Captain America is an unashamedly old-fashioned and thoroughly fun adventure. It has a pure-hearted hero, a dastardly villain, exciting heroics, plenty of humor, a great story, and even a musical number with a Hitler-punching montage. The only things I didn't like are that parts of the second half felt like a frenzied rush to hurry up and get Captain America transported to the present day to set up The Avengers, and the out of place (albeit poignant) ending.
Although it was unfortunately not used as the official poster, one of the best movie posters of recent years was created for a special screening that was held for the cast and crew of Captain America. (The thumbnail in clickable.)
Miller's Crossing
One of the very best modern gangster movies. It feels like a hybrid of early 1930s pre-code gangster movies and 1940s film noir. The attention to period detail is meticulous (especially regarding speech), the performances are great, and the visuals are beautiful.
The Mummy (1999)
I know, I know. This one has a bad reputation. It's accused of being everything from an Indiana Jones rip-off to "just another dumb big-budget blockbuster". But I disagree. While it is influenced by the Indiana Jones movies, it draws more upon The Mummy's Hand, Gunga Din, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and various classic horror movies, screwball comedies, and adventure movies and serials. It's a perfect blend of horror, adventure, and comedy; made in a style that, despite a few modern touches, hearkens back to the 1930s.
The Phantom (1996)
This adaption of the comic-book character of the same name is made in a style very reminiscent of 1930s serials. It's far from perfect, but still pretty fun.
The Shadow (1994)
A flawed but enjoyable adaption of the famed pulp/radio character, made in a noirish, pulpy style.
TELEVISION SHOWS:
The Adventures/Return/Casebook/Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
While there was likely no particular intention of making this series a throwback to an earlier style, it has a very timeless style, the period setting is very well-done, and the cast of classically-trained actors with many years of theatrical experience adds to the classic feel. This is by far the most faithful adaption of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, and Jeremy Brett is nothing short of amazing as Sherlock Holmes, both in terms of faithfulness to the literary character and of the quality of his performance in its own right. Each episode feels like a short movie, giving it a feel somewhat like a 1930s or 1940s movie series.
Jeeves and Wooster
A hilarious adaption of P.G. Wodehouse's stories, rich in 1920s atmosphere.
Agatha Christie's Poirot
A great series starring David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. Like Granada's Sherlock Holmes, each episode feels like a movie. The 1930s setting is very well-done, and the series has something of an art deco flavor.
Foyle's War
Yet another great period detective show, this one set during WWII. This one also has a feel similar to that of a movie series made in the 1930s-1940s, albeit not quite as much as Poirot.
Well, I'm sure there are a few more lurking around in the back of my mind somewhere, but that's about all I can think of right now.
