Why don't you just google the best movies before 1969 then? Unless you want specific answers, this thread won't tell you anything you wouldn't already find through the first page of google. It's a Wonderful Life and On the Waterfront, the two films named in the other comment, you'd find on any basic list of 'great films'.

I guess I just don't really see the point of asking such a broad question when you can just use the search bar to find many of the exact same threads or just use google to find some broad lists.

And I apologize for sounding like I was speaking for everyone -- clearly I know that I don't. And I want to answer your question! I never said that I didn't! That's why I listed qualifiers in my post to get a better sense of what you wanted to watch so I could give you some good recommendations. I see no point in me telling you that I loved Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors from 1965, Thunderbolt from 1929, and then John Ford's The Searchers. I'm not really able to discuss these films because there is no where for me to start. At least, I wouldn't be able to give you a sufficient answer because I don't know what you're looking for. If you look in my post history, I made a recent reply to someone who asked if there were films similar to Tarkovsky's The Mirror. I was able to go on and on (and I could've probably typed out 3x that, at least) because I knew what I wanted to talk about and I could help him in that sense. You're demanding a lot if you just want me to list films and talk about them in any substantial way past simply 'namedropping' them -- and for your sake, I don't think that would be very helpful.