Classic films appreciation thread - come and join us!

[PrivateParkin]

Following on from the recent thread about favourite actors from old films, @FatBallsAndSunflowerSeeds had the fab idea of an old movies appreciation thread... So here it is! If you like old films and actors of any kind, come and join us.

old thread

We thought we'd look out for any classic films being shown on TV, post them on this thread and then discuss them afterwards... But if you want to post about any of your favourite old films and actors at any time, that would also be fab. Basically, this is just a place to chat about old films - please come and join us!

I'm off to check the TV schedules for any potential gems coming up - I will post again with anything that looks good.

Meantime, here's James Cagney tap dancing down the stairs in Yankee Doodle Dandy - happy bank holiday everyone
m.youtube.com/watch?v=xlvB4xk4LNQ

I'm up for this. I wasn't on the previous thread, I'm afraid - somehow it passed me by completely - but I'm assuming everyone knows about Talking Pictures, which shows a wealth of old films, mostly not that well-known, often B&W, and including many fascinating gems.

Off to enjoy the other thread now

Right, I can see my recommendation of Talking Pictures was entirely superfluous

Hitchcock's Notorious is on there at 6pm today. Attention all Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains fans (he who was fabled in Hollywood for his beautiful voice).

Rushes out to try tap dancing down our steps

I am not in the UK and classic films are a bit thin on the ground here! However, I did watch Singin' in the Rain with DD yesterday for the umpteenth time. I love it but really still don't like the Cyd Charisse dance sequence.

Hi Halsall yes there are a few Talking Pictures fans around! Thanks for posting re Notorious. I recorded it when it was on recently and haven't had a chance to watch it yet - hopefully tonight!

A Carnival of Souls.
The Wicked Lady.
Murder by Death.
A Matter of Life and Death.

Just a few of my favourites.

Midnight Lace (Doris Day)
Kind Hearts and Coronets
Black Orchid (prob the wrong name... Brain fart... About nuns! B/W).

Black Narcissus!

Also @Dfg15 posted about the Discovering... series on Sky Arts, which has featured loads of the actors mentioned on the previous thread - well worth checking out if you have access.
Tortellini apologies for my UK-centric post earlier, sorry to hear about the lack of old films in your neck of the woods! I rented out a couple on Amazon Prime last week - there are absolutely loads on there (although the sound quality wasn't that great for one of them).

Hi elQuintoConyo great list - I like the sound of Black Narcissus. Also there was loads of love for A Matter of Life and Death on the old thread, so you're definitely not alone there!...

Signing in. DP and I watched Night of the Hunter last week. Strange film for the time, and very influential.

I've seen Notorious, but many years ago - I was a teenage film buff. Wasn't interested in going out drinking and smoking, preferred staying in with my VCR and collection of old films - I'd record basically anything and give it a go - found some real gems that way, including The Wicked Lady, which I LOVED.

Can anyone help me remember the name of another one I enjoyed a lot? It was an old melodrama, probably 1940s or 1950s, about a woman who seemed wonderful and worked her way into the lives of a family, but who was actually very messed up and destructive I just can't think of the title or who was in it or anything!

Talking Pictures quite often shows This Happy Breed which is great nostalgic viewing.

Talking Pictures has a Laurel and Hardy today (in approx 5 mins!) Them Thar Hills, and an early John Wayne western tomorrow - from 1930!

The Philadelphia story is my ultimate feel good film.

Are we looking at a specific time period here?

Ah Lucked it's one of mine too. Love Stewart, Hepburn and Grant - and Ruth Massey as Liz. The drunk/hiccuping scene is one of my favourites of all time!

Good question re the time frame - I didn't have anything specific in mind - what do people think?

elquinto - OMG your post has reminded my that I have a Powell and Pressburger box set somewhere around the house - will go and root it out!

CharDee - I LOVE The Wicked Lady and could probably recreate the dialogue from start to finish (including James Mason's mispronunciation of "reasonably friendly" as "weasonably fwiendly"

Private Parkin - don't worry about being UK centric! I have to point out that I only meant they are thin on the ground on tv. I am very lucky in that I have a local library with loads of classic films (free loan) and an actual dvd hire shop just round the corner which has just about everything I have ever asked for. Plus one of my local cinemas specializes in showing restored versions of classic films - including free showings of silent films with live orchestra accompaniment in the city square in the summer.

CharDee not All About Eve?

I watched a 1999 Trevor Nunn version of Oklahoma yesterday, does that count? I enjoyed looking for anachronisms and places where the proper film!!! was better or worse!

Great idea for a new thread! I was only recently alerted to the Talking Pictures channel and manages to record the Wicked Lady (which I haven't watched yet). Would appreciate any alerts to good films on there.

Love all the classics mentioned. Have a soft spot for the Ealing comedies as well, particularly Passport to Pimlico and Whiskey Galore.

Spiral Staircase is on Talking Pictures tomorrow night at 11 (I think - but check!). Good and scary, with Dorothy Maguire as a woman who can't speak so can't express herself about the terrifying happenings

It's probably been mentioned before but for anyone who's in the London area and can get the London Live channel - they have some surprisingly interesting old films on in the afternoons. Worth checking out.

Oh, and Discovering Greta Garbo is on Sky Arts tomorrow morning at 9:30. As pointed out before, these are quite good documentaries (if you try to ignore the rather dreary voiceovers by the splendidly-named Ryan Mandrake)

Halsall Snap ! I watch London Live quite a bit, some of the films are very odd! Did you see the one with Jessie Mathews trying to pass as a man? Obviously it's the one that Victor Victoria with Julie Andrews was based on.

I watch Sky Arts too esp. the bio programmes , I enjoyed the ones about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers separately and Ava Gardner. They do repeat them rather a lot though

I can't watch horror films, we live in a house that the dcs think is haunted and I'm often alone here, so NO horror films for me!!!

Spiral Staircase is on Talking Pictures tomorrow night at 11 (I think - but check!). Good and scary, with Dorothy Maguire as a woman who can't speak so can't express herself about the terrifying happenings grin

Just checked and it is in our library - looking forward to it, thanks for the recommendation.

How scary is Spiral Staircase please?? I've just looked up the description and it sounds terrifying!! I will give it a go though!

Tortellini I love the sound of the old movies on the big screen - I think the only old films I've ever seen in the cinema are It's A Wonderful Life and The Citadel with Robert Donat - seeing the level of detail on the big screen, as opposed to TV, was amazing. I guess those films were never made to be shown anywhere other than in the cinema... [Goes off to Google local cinemas, expects to be disappointed...]

One of the reviews on IMDB says The Spiral Staircase is one of the most eerie and atmospheric films that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing, Private. So, yes, quite scary!

We're really lucky to live near a restored Art Deco cinema which sometimes screens old classics - they do It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas, for example. Dh and I really enjoyed going to see The Smallest Show on Earth there (about, er, a decrepit old fleapit cinema that's brought back to life - a few parallels there )