Ice Breaker: Your Favorite Classics

[B-Independent.com]

Just a few of mine....

THE SEARCHERS
THE WILD BUNCH
VERTIGO
THE PALM BEACH STORY
SWING TIME
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
AIR FORCE
MURDER MY SWEET
THE MAGNIFICIENT AMBERSONS

[pterosaur]

Ha. I was actually just thinking this morning about starting a group like this. You beat me to the punch.

I love classic movies. In fact, these days, really the only movies from Hollywood I like were made before I was born. A few of my favorite directors are Hitchcock, William Wyler, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Preston and John Sturges, Michael Curtiz, I could go on forever...

Here are a couple of the many lists of classic films I've made:

Classic Hollywood Dramas
Dark Hollywood
Classic Comedies

[B-Independent.com]

a lot of those movies you have on your lists should be required viewing for anyone calling themselve's a "movie buff," much less a full-on cinemaphile.

i haven't created a "classics" list yet, but if i do i'll probably just include the couple hundred i own. something that's more a reflection of me rather than what i think everyone should watch.

i'd apologize about "beating you to the punch," but I've been toying with this idea for a few days. i wasn't sure if i wanted to get to immersed in the world of Netflix because i'm strongly debating about trying another provider. it's rare i get to talk about classic movies. the community i run is comprised primarily of younger filmmakers who generally talk only about horror or more recent movie. eventually i just got tired of posting my thoughts and observations due to lack a lack of response. IMDb is the same way. let's hope there's more classic movie fans here than on IMDb.

[pterosaur]

I've loved classic movies for as long as I can remember. My mom and I used to have classic movie Sunday through which I developed my love of cinema. I too find it sad that the younger generation is missing out on some great films. All this hubbub about the new releases page just proves that point to me.

It's quite alright that you beat me to the punch. I was wondering if I started a group like this, if anyone would even join. It's so nice to find someone else who loves the classics. Maybe there are more of us out there.

Who are your favorite actors? I think my top 3 actors are Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum and Humphrey Bogart. Actresses: Bette Davis, Myrna Loy and maybe Greer Garson. Although Kate Hepburn should probably be in there too.

Do you have a favorite decade? Mine would probably be the 40's.

[B-Independent.com]

Your situation sounds pretty similar to mine. My mother also raised me on the classics....growing up on the 80's, every Sunday started with a rerun of BLONDIE. We got cable when I was about 8, in '81, and I grew up with AMC (back when they showed movies). My mother was a hugh fan of both John Wayne and Bogart. She also made me watch an unhealthy does of Charlie Chan, Bowery Boys, and Sherlock Holmes. It also didn't help maters that the only thing to watch besides golf were Laurel and Hardy reruns after cartoons would end just after lunchtime on Saturdays.

I'm willing to bet there's a larger number of classic movie buffs out there then what you might expect. Just going through titles on Netflix, most have received some pretty good rental numbers. Plus, there's all sort of user lists. you can hit "reload" on any given nior title and never see teh same list twice.

Actors, huh? I'm a big Joseph Cotten fan. That cat was just as smooth as silk. Joel McCrea. Dick Powel. I'm with you on Myrna, man was she smoken'.... Ginger Rogers, or course (I absolutely love the Fred and Ginger pics). Natlie Wood comes to mind.

I really can't pic a favorite decade. I love Hitch's 40's work just as much as his 50's. There's an elegance to teh films of the 40's you wont' find in other eras, but the 50's saw a move towards more naturlistic productions.

[pterosaur]

Yep, it sounds as if our cinematic childhoods were fairly similar although my mom was more of a Cary Grant, Fred/Ginger type of person than John Wayne. Her favorite movie is You Were Never Lovelier. We're about the same age and I too remember all those Laurel & Hardy reruns along with The Little Rascals on Saturday afternoons.

I hope there are a larger number of classic movie fans than I think there are. Although, you are right that a lot of classic movies have surprisingly high numbers, a lot of them don't. I have two lists; one of films with less than 10K ratings and the other with less than 50K. You'd be surprised what's on them.

I too love Joseph Cotton. I just watched his spectacular performance in Shadow of a Doubt recently. And you just can't go wrong with Fred and Ginger.

I agree that Hitch's films from the 50's are better than the 40's. I just watched North By Northwest again yesterday. I love that movie. I guess that, if I had to pick an era to live in besides this one, it'd probably be the 40's.

[B-Independent.com]

I almost watched NxNW last night, but opted for something I hadn't seen...hence that FC thread.

SofD is a definitely a fav, and Cotten is probably my favorite Hitch baddie in that one. I love the ways he's introduced - like a vampire. Thsi was the first Hitch we ever disected in film school, and it's still a favorite. Great use of visual parrallels to represent Uncle Charlie and Charlie.

[king2clio]

Gee, lots of the movies I write reviews for have less than a thousand ratings. Some examples:

Crimes at the Old Dark House (284)
The Leech Woman (494)
Blues in the Night (368)
Tokyo File 212 (101)
Expresso Bongo (529)
Inner Sanctum (264)
Dragonwyck (390)
They Made Me a Killer (156)
Monster of Venice (530)
Lonely Wives (503)
A Whisper in the Dark (551)
Murder in China Basin (361)
Comedy of Terrors (773)
The Man Who Cheated Himself (220)
The Lady Confesses (345)
Diabolically Yours/The Widow Couderc (629)
Special Agent (231)
Mask of Diljon (453)
Swamp Fire (238)
X: Equis (806)
Teenage Doll (792)
Parole, Inc (169)
Buddies (706)
Dead Pidgeon on Beethovan Street (330)
Big Town After Dark (156)
Hell is a City (324)
Guest in the House (578)
Ocean Park (600)
The Hoodlum (671)
Angels Crest (178)
The Frightened City (589)
Trapped (482)
Slightly Scarlet (863)
Jigsaw (526)
The Man on the Eiffel Tower (596)
Babyfever (706)
It Takes a Thief (w. J. Mansfield, 592)
Gangs Incorporated (170)
Blonde Ice (795)
Gangster Story (381)
Ma Barker's Killer Brood (382)

I guess there aren't a lot of other classic film noir completists like me out there. And apparently not that many people other than me like the less well-known old horror movies that tried to be scary without being gory.

But there are other ways to attract few people, too, like being a recent independent film that got little publicity (Ocean Park, Angel's Crest) or a recent foreign film that didn't cast actors known in the U.S. (X: Equis).

I, too, like Joseph Cotton a lot (and he has an important role in the obscure giallo film "A Whisper in the Dark" w. 500+ ratings). Some of the other films I list above have actors who were well known in their day but I guess aren't attracting a lot of people to their lesser-known films today (e.g., Charles Laughton, Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Alain Delon, Edward Everett Horton). I think of Henry Jaglom and Joseph Mankiewicz and Samuel Fuller as auteurs whose works would attract at least 1000 cinephiles. But apparently not, since they each directed a work on my under-1000 ratings list above.

Anyway, it's nice to be here among people who speak highly of films from the 1940s and 1950s and consider Joseph Cotton smooth as silk.

[maryhatchbailey]

I love every movie on your classic hollywod drama list except for mighty joe young and the barefoot contessa! Thanks to you and B-Independent for this group. I love classic movies and am thrilled to have someone to talk to about them. I've been a netlix member for a few years, but never been involved. Also, I'm new to using a computer for other than research and word processing, so excuse any improper chat etiquette.

It's an old thread, but Hitchcock is one of my favorite directors. I prefer his earlier work - my fave is Notorious. It's got the most subtle, but sexiest scene - when cary grant and ingrid bergman have just admitted to themselves that they are attracted to each other and plan on having dinner on the balcony - hot! It's also got that amazing long-take when bergman is waiting for grant to come to the party so she can slip him the key to the wine cellar - the camera starts in a wide shot looking down from the second floor onto the elegantly dreseed people on the first floor. The camera slowly makes its way down indirectly onto bergman's tightly closed hand that holds the key. I love it!! I also love Mr. & Mrs. Smith - the only real comedy he directed...North by Northwest will be playing at a nearby theater this month. It's not one of my faves, but I love seeing the classics on the big screen. That's a treat. I'm also a big cary grant and irene dunn fan. My Favorite Wife is a gem.

[pterosaur]

Why no Barefoot Contessa or Mighty Joe?

I love Notorious too. Anything Grant/Hitchcock is magic.

I just watched My Favorite Wife not too long ago. Irene Dunne is a great, underrated comedic actress.

[maryhatchbailey]

Barefoot Contessa just bored me - I usually like Bogart. I like the offbeat characters he plays like in Treasure of the Sierrra Madre when he goes crazy. I recently saw African Queen on TCM. I hadn't seen it in a long time -Bogart and Hepburn -what a pair!

I love Irene Dunne, too. The scene in the Awful Truth where she's singing for a room full of people when Grant comes in, thinking to catch her with her music teacher, and he falls off the chair and she laughs at him, but continues to sing - always makes me giggle.

[pterosaur]

Alright. To each his own. I really like that movie though.

That's a great scene. There are some amazing scenes in that film. I'm fond of the ending where Cary is lurking outside Irene's room trying to get the door to blow open again.

[maryhatchbailey]

I like that ending, too. I wish they had made more movies like that together. Penny Serenade seemed to have a constant thread of sadness throughout it, eventhough it did have funny moments.