One couple was interested in good movies from the past, apparently finding that most movies today are garbage, even by the most forgiving standards.
The place to start is 1939. Nominated for Best Picture that year! -
- Dark Victory
- Gone with the Wind (Best Picture winner) - The Old South, good and bad
- Goodbye, Mr. Chips - Teachers like this - students as family
- Love Affair - A three-hanky weeper, remade as An Affair To Remember
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - DC and WELS, as we know them today, though without any repentance. Just bad and weak men.
- Ninotchka - best satire of Communist tyranny and humorlessness
- Of Mice and Men
- Stagecoach
- The Wizard of Oz - An abundance of talent and creativity, one Munchkin was WELS and drove the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.
- Wuthering Heights - Heathcliff and Cathy - a romance men can watch
I only marked the ones I have seen, and I have seen them three to ten times. Every second of Ninotchka is hilarious and I would watch it again today.
Many silent movies are excellent because the actors had to deliver the story with their faces and bodies. Comedy is often better with slapstick rather than an effort to be funny through dialogue.
We favor movies produced before 1945, but we also look for famous ones we never saw or movies with talented actors. Turner Classic Movies is the best source for these, which we get on fiber optic cable.
Musical talent does not run deep - or at all - in my family, but I enjoy musicals of the past. The more recent attempts are unwatchable.
Oklahoma! - That is the first real or reel musical. Before that, movies were onlyh set up to showcase musical numbers with no real plot. Holiday Inn is one example, later remade as White Christmas, a musical with a plot.
Music Man is the ultimate Illinois-Iowa musical. I know every frame of it; I refuse to watch the remake.
We have seen quite a few famous musicals live, the best way - from Fiddler to Guys and Dolls. The movie version of Guys and Dolls was horrible ("Brando sings!"), but it was fun live. We saw Fiddler live, two days in a row in Arizona. We watch Man of La Mancha live with the author sitting at the next table. I told our guest - "Get your program signed. He will love it and likely you will never have this chance again." I was right about both.
I enjoy the big production numbers of the past, more than Mrs. Ichabod does. We bargain on movies, except she never wants to watch MM again - ever. In those days, people had to take lessons and work into starring roles. Debbie Reynolds had to rehearse until her feet bled for Singing in the Rain.
The biographical films are always worthwhile. One of our favorites is Madame Curie.
If a movie is old and famous, it is likely worth watching and viewing again.
Mark Steyn is a popular conservative commentator on TV. He is also an expert of music and musicals of all types. Our oncologist loves Mark Steyn's commentary on politics and music.
If you want doctoral dissertation level information about popular songs, look up his website
https://www.steynonline.com/.
And his song histories -
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| Heathcliff! - Cathy! |
