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

Hello people - don’t come too close, gotta code im by dose

Anyone mentioned Fred and Ginger recently? You used to be guaranteed a few over Christmas, usually on very late at night or mid morning. Very odd looking gentleman when standing about was Fred, but in motion

I'm going to look for those Stuart Kaminsky novels, thanks. I also love modern films set behind the scenes, e.g. LA Confidential, Get Shorty, Hollywoodland etc

Has anyone read the book Suspects by David Thompson? Each chapter is a back story of characters from films (mainly noir) and links them, weaving a massive story arc. It's great for classic film fans.

That sounds brilliant Fuckery - sober of a "Dickensian" for Film Noir.

*sort of, not sober

Ive got some of the Kaminsky books too, nice easy reads. I was going to mention LA confidential too, a bit more challenging, l the stuff about the star look a like brothels and the magazines-all true.
Suspects is a good one to dip in and out of, the main films that form the basis are Chinatown, Laura and (bizarrely) It's a Wonderful Life.
And if course, there's Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger. Kind of you tube "20 Hollywood scandals" but written a loooong time ago. Very bitchy, sometimes sad, sometimes funny.

HOBSON'S CHOICE is on TP @ 13.40

LAVENDER HILL MOB just started on BBC2

Ooh, thank you KangaMummy! Am confined to bed with very sore throat so that’ll do nicely.

Just finished watching Hobson's Choice - it was BRILLIANT!

Lovely seeing now well-known faces in early film roles, too - Pam Ferris, Prunella Scales, Richard Wattis - as well as the golden oldies like Charles Laughton and John Mills.

I relished every minute of it!

It's a good'un, isn't it, Schaden We saw it last week for the eleventy-billionth time

It isn't the first or even the hundred-and-first time I've seen it either Halsall, but what a joy it always is!

Is it my imagination or are people (especially the MEN) better-looking in black-and-white? Or did they have more glamorous stars then?

Or is it just me . . . still obsessed with Men in Monochrome?

Can't beat a nice crisp bit of black and white, I agree!

Men in Monochrome. Know just what you mean.

I slept through Hobson’s Choice ☹️ but I did manage to watch The Lavender Hill Mob 😁 which I always get mixed up with The Ladykillers. (Although The Ladykillers is in colour, something else I always forget). Much prefer black and white, so atmospheric.

I love the phrase Men in Monochrome. There's no doubt they're better looking, whether that's down to the black and white film or whether they just were anyway, I'm not sure. Probably both. I wish the old actors thread was still available as it was just one b&w hottie after another .

The women were beautiful too. And the fashions were better. They just had it all!!

Oh and thank you for all the book recommendations. I have read LA Confidential and I love the film (some fantastic actors in it too). "That is Lana Turner" .

Will look into the others.

The fashions were fantastic, Noggy!

Old actors thread? I haven't heard of that - I would have loved to have seen it.

Am currently watching something called Dancing with Crime, featuring a young Diana Dors - she was quite pretty before she discovered the bleach bottle. No B&W hotties though.

The Lavender Hill Mob 😁 which I always get mixed up with The Ladykillers.

Actually - I was thinking of the Ladykillers when I read Lavender Hill Mob, too, Halsall. - Curse the profligacy of Alec Guinness!

Mind - I thought they were both in black and white. Shows what my memory is like! I could have sworn that Herbert Lom (be still my beating heart!) was in b/w in it - but sure enough, I checked, and you are right - colour!

Diana Dors was greatly underrated IMO. She wasn't just pretty - she was a bloomin' good actress, which was a lot more than could be said for many of the Blonde Bombshell types.

Yes, she was very good in Yield to the Night as a Ruth Ellis-style women awaiting execution. A genuinely frightening and unnerving film.

And now I’m watching something which is definitely not Quatermass and the Pit as advertised, but is instead some sort of short comic caper featuring abysmal child actors “taking care of the housekeeping” while Mother is confined to bed with a headache.

All sorts of pearl clutching moments so far including
Boy and girl sharing a bedroom (twin beds)
Boy whooping around in Indian Chief headdress
Boy and girl unsupervised making breakfast for Mother including boiling milk on a gas stove - not a pan holder in sight
Boy and girl apparently in sole charge of feeding, cleaning and milking a variety of animals, some of them quite large
Tea taken at table complete with Great Dane (trained by Barbara Woodhouse) and a couple of small tortoises. No sign of any hand washing.

Those were the days.

Quatermass is on now.

Barbara Woodhouse was an evil animal-abusing witch. I'd "walkies" her, the !

Barbara Woodhouse was an evil animal-abusing witch.

That she was, Schaden. I’d like to think that she and Fanny Craddock are confined together in a small space, sizzling away for all eternity.

I wish the old actors thread was still available as it was just one b&w hottie after another well let's start a mark two, do it in film, then it's preserved forever!
When I was watching The Bishops Wife after marvelling at the sheer beauty of Cary, my next thought was "Look at that perfect suit!"

I like your style Fuckery and I start with this