Calling all Classic Film Lovers!

Mmm. I might give a hand to that list. It really should be easier to find a copy of Cardiff's Sons and Lovers but I havent had any luck. I have read the book, so maybe I can make a page that way. The 49th Parallel, however, is very easy to find, and I'll probably make a page for it. I would watch any film where Laurence Olivier is a French-Canadian fur trapper in plaid.

EDIT: Sixteen redlinks. Now we have Sons and Lovers.

edited 6th Oct '17 1:52:27 PM by LongTallShorty64

Excellent. I'm gonna make a page for The House of Rothschild soon.

But right now, I'm watching the Mexican Dracula.

"Son los hijos de la noche!"

Often found to be superior to the original, actually. Some neat shots in there.

On the other hand, I really do like Bela Lugosi better than this dude

"La sangre es la vida!"

Oh so many. Besides the ones I watch every year as holiday traditions, the Disney classics I've loved since childhood, and the many fine Shakespeare adaptations, there are comedies ranging from The Importance of Being Earnest to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, swashbucklers like The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and The Adventures of Robin Hood, the family stories of Meet Me in St. Louis and Little Women, 95% of the movies with Fred Astaire... how to choose?!

And why wouldn't you? He had a way of making anything sound great:

El Cid and Summer with Monika are two that came into my mind right now, but there are more on my list.

EDIT: What, there's no page for Bergman's Summer With Monika?

edited 7th Oct '17 7:40:14 AM by Quag15

I'm not that big on rewatching movies over and over again, but I definitely have a favourite: 12 Angry Men.

That kid was totally guilty.

The Night of the Hunter is the one I rewatch the most.

Harry Powell is just too delightful of a character.

edited 7th Oct '17 5:50:18 PM by Gaon

Lillian Gish!

The House of Rothschild.

I wouldn't say it's a great film. There's a lot of stiffly delivered, stagey dialogue, which reminded me of the previous George Arliss biopic I watched, Disraeli. The romantic subplot with the Youngs (Loretta and Robert) is basically a waste of time.

But on the other hand it is a shocking indictment of antisemitism coming from the year 1934, when most of Hollywood wouldn't even dare touch that subject. And I believe it is the Trope Maker for A Nazi by Any Other Name. It's impossible to miss the point when an evil antisemitic German is fostering a pogrom that involves chucking rocks through the windows of Jewish homes.

One less redlink on the Academy Award page, btw.

edited 11th Oct '17 8:32:23 PM by jamespolk

49th Parallel: Out of the Archer films I've seen, this one is the weakest. But it's endlessly fascinating mostly for the Canadian angle. The Nazi Protagonist s basically terrorize parts of Canada and try to spread their ideology and are soundly rejected. It's weird to me that the whole "Canada is so accepting and culturally diverse" goes back as far as 1941. And the famous leads barely have any screen time. Of course, with many war films made at this time, it's an Unintentional Period Piece because America would soon join after the release.

The Front Page: I liked this adaption. I saw the restored version and the special features talked about the restoration. One tidbit i found interesting was how there was three different versions of this film floating around: the domestic one, the UK one, and a general foreign one. And they have their slight differences in context and editing. This one has great camera work which is something the Hawks one lacks. I do prefer the wife/husband tension in the 1940 one and Burns plays a bigger role there, too. So basically the 1931 is better directed and precodey but the 1940 one has better dialogue and faster pacing.

edited 14th Oct '17 4:29:34 PM by LongTallShorty64

Your link above is to the 1974 film, The Front Page. Did you mean the 1931 movie, The Front Page.

I like the 1931 film too. Very happy to see that it got a nice crisp restoration. It was not until the restoration that I realized the reporters have nudie pictures up on the wall. Kind of reminded me how it wasn't until I got a nice crisp Blu-Ray version of Intolerance that I realized the three people sitting behind Lillian Gish are the three Fates.

Anyway, the 1931 Front Page and His Girl Friday are both great movies and I can't say which I like better. I can say that The Front Page was the only good movie in the Oscar field that year, unfortunately losing to all-time Oscar turd, Cimarron.

And thanks for getting rid of another Academy Award redlink by making a page for 49th Parallel.

You're more than welcome.

Both movies are really enjoyable. Now, I just have to check the Wilder version.

One Night of Love — seems thoroughly forgotten, couldn't even find very many reviews. The story I guess is rather standard, but it was interesting. Unlike a lot of movie singers of the Jeanette MacDonald school, Grace Moore was a for-real opera star who hit it big in the opera world back in the 1920s. She could certainly sing the hell out of "Carmen". It was interesting to hear some of those opera standards in a Hollywood movie.

I watched The Graduate which just fits into our time frame. It was alright, I guess. I liked the cool, smooth transitions utilized. I imagine this is supposed to be all 1960s post-war, post-consumerism/commercialism of the 50s malaise which I found to be stereotypical 1960s BS. We're supposed sympathize with Benjamin, but I don't completely. Not knowing what to do with your life sucks, but he's spoiled ("My dad got me a sports car for my birthday, how boring!!") and the stalking at the end did not endear him to me. The end is hilariously over the top which I did like especially when they slowly realized the mistake. Good use of the Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack, though!

edited 20th Oct '17 3:08:25 PM by LongTallShorty64

Actually I'd say The Graduate does not fit into our time frame, as not only was it released in 1967, it is just as emblematic as Bonnie and Clyde of the transition to New Hollywood.

But it's not like this thread has been burning down with activity of late, so what the hell.

Been a while since I've seen The Graduate but it might be the kind of movie that doesn't age all that well. Or maybe the problem is me as a viewer, finding it difficult to sympathize with a spoiled young rich kid who's getting to have sex with Anne Bancroft.

My favorite thing about The Graduate, besides the "oops" looks on their faces at the end, is how the entire final sequence was stolen from a Harold Lloyd silent called Girl Shy.

Eh, I guess the cut off date requirements weren't the clearest...

Yeah, it's overwhelmingly sixties.

Dang, I knew the Lloyd film had him racing to stop his girl from marrying but didn't know ''The Graduate' copied it'. I need to rewatch that silent: it's one of my favourite Harold Lloyd films.

It ends with Harold barging into the church and shouting his girlfriend's name from above, from the rear balcony as she's up front at the altar. It's very very similar.

To be fair, stopping a wedding by shouting the bride's name is not exactly an unique thing.

Now, if the camera angles, the editing, or the lines are somehow similar, then, we can call that scene a rip-off/copy/tribute/direct homage.

You should find it and compare. It's quite similar, except Harold doesn't jam a cross in the church door like Dustin Hoffman does. And of course the tone is different as in Girl Shy it's the triumphant Happy Ending.

The Big Trail (1930).

Famous for a couple of reasons. Only one of a few scattered examples of films shot in a widescreen 70mm format around the beginning of the talkie era. After this film tanked at the box office Hollywood gave up on widescreen for the most part and stuck to the 4:3 Aspect Ratio for 20 years.

Second reason is that it was the starring debut of John Wayne, who was only 23 years old, and should have been a Star-Making Role. But after the film failed he got stuck making cheapo B-Movie westerns for the rest of the decade.

I was not prepared for how much a young John Wayne◊ looked like Leonardo DiCaprio. The film looks shockingly gorgeous with all the widescreen shots of the Sierras and the Great Basin and the intermountain West. It really does look amazing and way different than anything else from the era.

Here's a DVD cover in which Wayne looks even more like Leo◊.