I've gotten more into it, these last few years, but a lot of the "classics" we frequently hear referenced are actually still excellent.
Casablanca is my favourite movie of all time. To Catch a Thief is bloody good (Grace Kelly!), as is North by Northwest (Eva Marie Saint!). It's a Wonderful Life has grown on me, over time, and, as a Christmas movie, it's definitely above average, if rather bleak. Spartacus, while cheesy, is pretty good, too. The Magnificent Seven (original) is fucking great. Towering Inferno (original) is also, I feel, rather underrated, these days. Hatari (John Wayne) is great, too. Even Logan's Run (just before blockbusters really took off) is very good, if a little weird. Network is a biting satire, far ahead of its time. And the original Pelham 1,2,3 is ahead of its time, too. I didn't really like The Graduate, but the soundtrack is very good.
Even some silent films (notably Metropolis by Fritz Lang, Nosferatu, etc) are pretty good too, in hindsight.
So yeah, I'm not claiming that Hollywood was ever particularly "based", or anything like that, but some of these "Silver Age" and "Golden Age" Hollywood productions are actually very, very good. Credit where credit is due.
No real point to this - just saying, if you are yet to really give "classics" like some of that lot a go, well, maybe it's worth it, for a break from all the woke shit of Current Era, lol...
Any other recommendations welcome, ha.
To Be or Not to Be is a surprisingly fresh comedy for its time (original 1942 - mel brooks did an 80s remake but eh), and director Ernst Lubitch also has a good romcom/christmas movie called The Shop Around the Corner (Jimmy Stewart) which I watched last month.
Obvious classic noirs should not be missed, my pick would be Double Indemnity, Night and the City and Murder, My Sweet. The Big Heat is also a classic and I remember having a soft spot for Where the Sidewalk Ends, which made me sad that Dana Andrews was never better utilised in more noirs (I don't really like Laura, the best known one of his).
Classic westerns is an area of which I'm pretty ignorant, although Winchester '73 is a very overlooked one, again with Jimmy Stewart.
For some 1940s-50s Hollywood meta commentary, I don't think you can do better than what the Coens showed in Barton Fink and Hail, Caesar. Although they're 2 very different types of movie, 25 years apart, I kind of view them as a pair. The first of is a surreal psychological examination of Hollywood's relationship with beauty and truth, the latter being a satirical take on the struggles of hollywood 'fixer' Eddie Manix, who is depicted as practically a saint even though the Coens surely know he was not.