I was sitting at the George Sherman Union the other day when an older gentleman approached me and asked about the sticker of actress Lauren Bacall pasted on the back of my laptop. After bonding over our shared love of Jean Arthur comedies from the 1930s, the man posed a question: How can we get more kids your age to watch old movies?

Recently, I’ve rediscovered the power of film and its miraculous ability to transcend the screen. When done right, a movie can dust off even the deepest nooks and crannies of our minds and introduce...