M (1931)
With all the impact of a propaganda poster, Fritz Lang's 1931 thriller sets the bar for dynamic, heavily stylised title cards.
King Kong (1933)
By the time the titles arrive on screen, the viewer should be left with no doubt that an encounter with King Kong wouldn't be an adorable David Attenborough-type cuddle-fest. Instead, they aggressively fill the screen with sharp angles and a cheast-beatingly animalistic typeface.
North By Northwest (1959)
Saul Bass designed stop-motion animated titles slide into place along rigid planes, with arrows pointing north and west, before the titles morph into the windowed façade of a downtown building. They genuinely don’t make them like this anymore.
Alien (1979)
Keep looking up; the positioning of the title at the top of the screen (and the fact it's called Alien ) remind us to keep watching the stars.
Back To The Future (1985)
Great Scott, that’s a nice title card. The whole essence of Back To The Future is boiled down to form its titles, from the futuristic chrome-lined font, to the skewed lettering denoting the back and forth of a linear timeline. Einstein would be proud. (The scientist, not the dog.)
