I've recently had a huge interest in old movies and the history of film, it all started when I caught a glimpse of Audrey Hepburn on TV in Breakfast at Tiffany's which is an early 1960s movie. I used to ignore anything I classed as "too old" especially in black and white because I didn't want to bother with them, I wanted colour and modern day life I can relate to, after watching that film it changed my mind, I saw the difference in attitudes in the 60s and what was acceptable then which wouldn't be now aka the Japanese character played by a white man in a derogatory way. The fashions, the lifestyles, the culture it all intrigued me to dig deeper so since then I have been I've seen movies from the 1920s onward and I really enjoy exploring this new world of film I had closed myself off from.

I haven't yet ventured into Asian film history however I want to do so, find out who the stars were in certain time periods, for Korea, movies from before the split of Korea into North and South and during the Japanese occupation. However to do this I first need to be able to find these movies, to find information on them and of course to add them to my list on here. I have started to add a few movies and actors from research but I was hoping there may be other people who are interesting in finding out more about this who could maybe help, there is a youtube channel which has lots of old Korean films with English subtitles for example, we could even try to work out how to get people to translate movies that are only available raw or to find a way to get movies that aren't currently available online.

If anyone is interested in doing so this can work for all the countries on here. Let me know what interests you about old movies and who are your favourite actors/actresses or which are your favourite films.

Japanese cinema has a very long and glorious history..... Out of all East Asian countries,I have only seen older films from Japan (1930s, 40s, etc..) .... Hong Kong, I've only gone back as far as the 1960's.
However I recently started taking interest in older Chinese cinema w/ films like The Goddess.

As for Hollywood, I am very familiar w/ most of the older classics, even going back to the 1920's.

To start, I recommend Director Akira Kurosawa's older films.
I'd love to take a look into Japan's cinema history, I can't wait to discover each country's past through film. Thank you for your recommendations do you know if most of  Akira Kurosawa's films are listed on here? 
Not all but most .... It depends on your taste, but I highly recommend you start w/  Rashomon, Seven Samurai and Ikeru.
His filmography is listed in Wikipedia, as is the reason why he made a  worldwide impact.

Like I said, that is my taste, you will have to find your own :)
Lol, I know the youtube channel of which you speak ;)  I have a habit of randomly choosing movies to watch from there occasionally.  I'll say that none of them have exactly been great movies, but they're always enlightening in some way.  Let me know if you want to choose one to watch and discuss here or something!  I'd be up for about any of them since I more or less watch them randomly anyway.

I also have been planning on watching Ran very soon (which is not quite as old, but still), and while I've seen Seven Samurai, I don't remember it well enough so I want to watch it again and actually pay attention this time.  I'm also in the middle of watching Woman in the Dunes, and I recently watched Onibaba, both of which are from the 60's and both totally fascinating (to me).  

Also, I can find a few more Korean films from as early as 1936, even with subs, but they aren't on MDL. Yet.  If I watched them I would add them.  And now there are a couple from the 40's that I want to watch.  I do not need more things on my plan to watch list, haha.  Oh well :)
@zeamays .... both Onibaba and Woman in the Dunes are amazing ... Ran is epic, but Seven Samurai has something very touching, in the way the story unfolds and all those characters (samurai) come together.... It is so much more than an action film, much more than  samurai hired to protect a village.

It is true, you don't have to go back to the 50s or 60s .... many modern classics like Farewell My Concubine, Raise the Red Lantern, Hero, etc...

Also, Hong Kong classics from 90s are a must-watch, like Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, Infernal Affairs, etc...
I've added a few actors and movies i found information on but haven't watched yet. We could discuss movies on here and help build up the database when we watch and review them i guess? 
Also @rainruma thank you for all of your suggestions I keep adding them to my list hopefully I'll start watching some soon when I have time to sit and review them maybe depending. I'm also interested in more modern classics i'll have to give them a go.