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 LOVE Roger Livesey! His voice is just wonderful and esp his character in A Matter Of Life and Death.

Did you see this, Parkin? The unusual family tree continued with him and his sister marrying siblings.

"While in New York he married actress Ursula Jeans, whom he had known previously in England[3] (Livesey's sister Maggie was already married to Ursula Jeans' brother Desmond)."

Yes, Roger Livesey is great in those films, and also with dear, dear Larry in The Entertainer.

I found It's Great To Be Young rather lame, but it has its moments as a group of very nice school children rebel to support their wronged teacher, played by John Mills. What jumped out at me was that one of the boys was played by Richard O'Sullivan, who much later starred in Man About The House and other 70s sitcoms that these days would probably seem outrageously sexist and racist.

I wanted to say, too, that we should all channel Rita Hayworth at all times (I'm going off now to check she wasn't a convicted axe murderer).

Not on TV but I see the Brindleyplace film festival is screening Casablanca on 17th July for any Midlands peeps!

I stumbled across It's Great to be Young on Talking Pictures about 18 months ago....it's reassuring that they tend to repeat things so if you miss it the first time, it's almost sure to be on again! Anything in a school is fun because you can spot the child actors who later became well known. Richard O'Sullivan pops up in quite a few of these old films as a small boy.

Private, I haven't seen Bells Are Ringing for years but it's a lovely film. Judy Holliday was a 🌟 and died tragically young.

Anyone else like Norman Wisdom's films? I know some people find him very annoying but there's a sort of charming nostalgia to his films. The Early Bird would definitely be somewhere in my list of top comedy films.

Bagel I didn't see that bit about the Livesey family, no! I was obviously too bowled over by the sisters/brothers situation. Amazing!

Monica I finally watched Nothing Like A Dame the other day. (I had to put my PIN in to view it - presumably because of the dames' bad language!! ) I really enjoyed it - it was so interesting, but also really moving. Especially the bit where it showed Larry, in his later years, strolling in the cottage garden, leaning on Joan's arm, which then morphed into Joan now, leaning on (I presume) her daughter's arm. But overall I got a sense of what strong characters they all are - trailblazers, really. Loved Honky Tonk Women playing them out at the end!

@peoplearemean thanks v much for the tip! I am in the Midlands, so that is definitely possible! Would absolutely love to see Casablanca on the big screen (or Mary Poppins for that matter!). Thanks for the heads up.

Milly do you know, even though I must have seen some Norman Wisdom films, I can't actually recall which ones I might have seen or whether I liked them. I mean, I know his act (well, the popular version of it) but I honestly can't think of anything. I'd probably - wrongly maybe - bracket him with Carry On-type humour, which I don't really like, so maybe I'm being biased??! I will look out for him from now on though.

It's funny isn't it - beloved old actors is a massive spectrum (like anything I suppose) - from Cary Grant, say, to Norman Wisdom!!!

I like some of the early Norman Wisdom films too. The black and white era ones owe more to the Ealing school of comedy than the carry-ons (although I do quite like the very early carry-ins like Carry on Teacher and Carry on Sargeant).

He did make a few howlers of the carry on variety too though. There is one about a banker having a mid life crisis - something about what good for the goose is good for the gander. So bad I can still remember it and I only ever saw it once many years ago!

Norman Wisdom has never really floated my boat, although I do quite like the nostalgia of a simpler world of tea shops, department stores and people falling off ladders. Or is that more George Formby?

I’m so glad you liked NLAD, PrivateParkin (and I’d feel terrible if you hadn’t, as I was droning on about it for weeks). Dame Joan’s situation did seem very poignant and, if I remember correctly, both her daughters got a mention in the credits.

That's interesting Cholly - well I will keep an open mind should I ever see any of his black and white films on TV!

a simpler world of tea shops, department stores and people falling off ladders.
I think I was getting him slightly confused with George Formby as well.

Ooh Summertime is on Talking Pictures this evening at 6.00pm. Sounds good:
Middle-aged Ohio secretary Jane Hudson (Katharine Hepburn) has never found love and has nearly resigned herself to spending the rest of her life alone. But before she does, she uses her savings to finance a summer in romantic Venice, where she finally meets the man of her dreams, the elegant Renato Di Rossi (Rossano Brazzi). But when she learns that her new paramour is leading a double life, she must decide whether her happiness can come at the expense of others.

That sounds great! I’ll tune in (and that’s a very antiquated expression in itself, isn’t it?) if I’m home.

Did you watch Summertime Monica? I recorded it - added to my ever-growing "pile" of films to watch!

Meanwhile happy birthday to Olivia de Havilland who is 102 today. I've already gone on about my love of her films with Errol Flynn, so instead I'll just post this fantastic photo. What a doll!

Wow!

I didn’t see the film because I wasn’t home on time, but trust it’ll come around again soon. Last night we went to see the latest Jurassic film, which was everything the films we discuss here are not!

Inspireds by PrivateParkin's On This Day posts, this is a blue plaque post. Today I drove past the blue plaque commemorating Leslie Howard (and this looks like an interesting website).

That's fab Monica! I do love Leslie Howard - he as so good-looking in an untypical Hollywood sort of way. Pygmalion was one of my favourite old films as a kid.

It's so awful what happened to him - how he died, I mean. I think I read (or perhaps it was on the You Must Remember This podcast) that there was a theory that his plane was shot down because Churchill was thought to be on board. I've no idea if that's true but still - a v tragic and untimely passing.

That's intriguing - the website I linked to mentions his plane being shot down but without that detail. He always seems very wholesome to me, so I liked the slighty naughty quote about his womanising, that he didn't chase women but couldn't always be bothered to run away!

Yes he did have that very wholesome - but also very appealing - look. This photo is from Pygmalion I think.

I was just reading a bit more about him on the interweb - apparently his anti-war films etc were described as "one of the most valuable facets of British propaganda"... the plot thickens...
Now I want to find out more about him!

Oops posted without the photo...

Haven't watched any old films recently as too distracted with tennis, but popping back on to mention that George Sanders was born otd in 1906.

A fantastic villain/cad/bounder/somehow strangely attractive cartoon tiger villain (in The Jungle Book), he's perfect as dodgy cousin and would-be blackmailer Jack Favell in Hitchcock's Rebecca (pic), and won an Oscar for All About Eve. For a while, he presented something called The George Sanders Mystery Theatre, which sounds intriguing...

(I may well be talking to myself here - no change there! - but I'm enjoying it!! )

I’m listening! And I’ll admit that I generally find George Sanders’ bounderish characters dangerously appealing, even though I know I shouldn’t. Much of it is the voice, of course.

Me too although just a quick look after the footie excitement (and stress) and Wimbledon.

I love George Sanders as I'm sure I've said before. I don't think I knew that he'd won an Oscar for All About Eve but I'm glad he did!

I know, there's so much going on right now, plus this UK weather! I should have started this thread during a cold, dark winter!

Just popping in, a few interesting films on talking pictures next week.
Have been a bit sidetracked with the tennis, went to Eastbourne last Saturday for the finals, had a lovely day.
Yy Judy Holliday a fine actress.