The Golden Age: Classic Movie Thread

[LAX]

Feb 3, 2011 20:32:01 GMT -4 pathtaken said:

Turner Classic is doing Oscar month right now.
Totally overloaded today watching.
Witness for the Prosecution, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
All this morning!
I've got crap to do but couldn't look away.

I don't blame you. The last two I watch any time they're on. 1000 viewings and they're still worth tuning in for.

[huntergrayson]

Katherine Hepburn is my goddess but, oddly enough, I don't really see the passion that I know her and Spencer had in life translate on-screen. (Her and Cary Grant? Oh, yeah). Also, it might be a generational thing, but I find Guess Who's Coming to Dinner to be terribly stilted and didactic.

I'm really pleased that TCM is having their Classic Film Festival again this year. (Though passes are obscenely overpriced for a festival that only lasts four days -- they start at $500!)

[GinFizz]

Shirley Jones introducing "Carousel"? I'm not sure that's a good idea...she doesn't think the movie turned out very well, and that's gotta be a buzz kill for an audience.

(Personally, I think it's a pretty good movie, much better than "Oklahoma". It's got Jacques D'Amboise for one thing. )

I guess TCM is trying to appeal to as broad an audience as possible with their festival line-up, but it would have been nice to see some more rare and/or interesting films in the the program.

[pathtaken]

Sadly ,they're probably limited to who actually is still alive and able to present a film at any of their film showings.

[divasahm]

I'd love to see Shirley Jones present anything--she and Julie Andrews were my childhood vocal idols.

I wonder if the lack of screen heat between KH and ST was a result of consciously pulling back from their RL feelings for each other. They may not have wanted to upset his wife and family by being so openly affectionate onscreen. That kind of discretion somehow got lost between those days and the making of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"...

[sjankis630]

Great thread.
I am putting together some movies for a friend who is recovering from surgery and likes old movies:
Two Barbara Stanwyck films: The Mad Miss Manton and The Lady Eve Both starring her and Henry Fonda but with different characters and two decidedly different vibes to both movies (Sam Levene as Lt Brent almost steals the movie in Mad Miss Manton) and no one can play a good bad girl like Stanwyck can. It is amazing I only knew her on the Big Valley.
For Noir:
1) The Narrow Margin - There is something about a detective movie on a train that always gets me.
2) the House on Telegraph Hill - This one I recently discovered - just a great film all around. And those San Francisco Hills.
3) Chinatown - no one has mentioned this maybe because it came out in the 70s but this is Jack Nicholson's finest hour for me. And it is done in the 40s Noir style.
4) Sunset Boulevard - I loved this one and also l am a big fan of Billy Wilder. I didn't see this until my early 30s and remember finally realizing what that Carole Burnett skit was about all those years ago. ("yes miss Desmond ....")
5) Dark Passage - loved this one with Bogart (not one of his most popular) but again great scenery, Lauren Bacall and gotta love San Fran in the 40s.
6) Kiss Me Deadly - Pulp Fiction Much? I love this gritty thriller - reference to Pulp Fiction because it is obvious that Quentin Tarantino is a fan as well.
7) The Long Goodbye - this is from 1973 but loved Elliot Gould in this Philip Marlowe tale. - modern Noir works sometime too.
8)The Asphalt Jungle this is a great heist film and a glimpse of a young Marlyn Monroe - some have already mentioned her in the great All About Eve.

For Comedies:
Some Like it Hot - this sometimes gets too much exposure being number 1 on some critic's lists but having watched this at least 10x I always find some great lines I had forgotten about.

The Apartment I have a soft spot for this film. The first time I saw it I felt so much for Jack Lemmon that I forgot that he is letting people cheat in his apartment to get ahead. Also Shirley McLain never looked better IMHO.
Some have already mentioned Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House. This is really underrated and it was the first time I had ever seen Melvyn Douglas and he damn near stole the movie. Loved the scenes with them getting lost trying to show him where their new house was "in the country."
My man Godfrey I don't know if this was mentioned because it is great and William Powell is funny in it. This is also the first Carole Lombard movie I had ever seen and I remember seeing her in her first scene and having to stop the movie and immediately look up who she was. I then said "That is what the big deal is all about."

The Thin Man series has already been mentioned but i have to add that although a couple weren't completely to my liking (I think the Thin Man Goes Home was a bit much) I loved the characters and can't help thinking of the TV show Moonlighting whenever I see any of the series.

Ball of Fire I had never heard of this one until about 3 years ago. I like it a lot but IMHO it kind of lags near the end - after they leave the mansion. My favorite part is when Barbara Stanwyck comes over in the middle of the night. Just the look on her face slays me everytime.
Libeled Lady is also another good one. I love how smooth William Powell is throughout and how funny Spencer Tracy is - especially in the beginning. I have never understood what all the fuss was about for Jean Harlow though. (I hope I don't offend any fans)
I do like the Palm Beach Story but only in smaller doses. When I watch this i tend to focus on the travel sequences. Someone mentioned the Ale and Quail club already. Who could have ever imagined how much of a fuss those old men could kick up? Also this movie - despite being funny - has one of the singular worst endings I can think of for a comedy. Talk about tying up lose ends! I will admit that this movie made me go out and read Rudy Vallee's autobiography. (don't laugh it was good).

You know what they say... If you haven't seen it yet, it is new to you.

[carrier76]

Watched "Mildred Pierce" last night. I must say I enjoyed it immensely, and especially enjoyed Joan Crawford. I skipped over the intro by the TCM guy and Alec Baldwin (?). No need. The girl who played Veda did an exceptional job; I certainly wanted to double slap her as well.

LOVED Ida. I was surprised to find that she played the principal on Grease. Huh.

[margojata]

Mar 28, 2011 20:58:01 GMT -4 carrier76 said:

Watched "Mildred Pierce" last night. I must say I enjoyed it immensely, and especially enjoyed Joan Crawford. I skipped over the intro by the TCM guy and Alec Baldwin (?). No need. The girl who played Veda did an exceptional job; I certainly wanted to double slap her as well.

LOVED Ida. I was surprised to find that she played the principal on Grease. Huh.

Eve Arden! Loved her too in this.

Joan is so fantastically overacting. I love her as the waitress, oh so dramatic when she has to put in her first order!

This movie is sooo a guilty pleasure comfort movie for me. Seeing the new version is interesting... all the stuff they left out (likely because it couldn't play in the 40's).

[carrier76]

Joan's dramatics were fantastic! Loved it.

I decided I needed to start watching older movies; I taped "The Way We Were" and "Annie Hall" off TCM this weekend (granted, not Golden-Age, but still) and I'm taping one of the Harlow movies tonight. I caught about 5 minutes of Wife Vs. Secretary when I was working out last week and she was compelling. I'll give it a go.

[GoldenFleece]

Wife vs. Secretary on Youtube, but the video/audio is wildly out of sync. Jean Harlow's roles have been sort of hit or miss for me, but I really enjoyed her playing a more understated, less flashy character. A before-he-was-famous Jimmy Stewart plays her boyfriend.