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

[Ventress]

Happy Birthday Fred

TCM are showing Mr Smith Goes to Washington on Tuesday 15th at 1.30pm and Singing in the Rain the following day at 9am. I will be setting these up to record!

Just looking through the TCM schedule for the next week or two shows just how much dross was made ppeatfruit

[ppeatfruit]

I'm surprised that anyone has put Seven Brides in their fave. list! As you all know I LOVE musicals but only good ones! The nodding fake daffs. and the plot line are more than a bit IMO (though the dancing is fabulous).

Oklahoma is 100% better !! As is The King and I, Carousel, The Sound of Music, Gigi and The American In Paris (not a brilliant plot) but the dance routines are amazing)

[StableGenius]

Hi, I'm a fellow lover of classic films. Fond memories of watching BBC2 Saturday Matinees in the 70s with my late mum ('soppy films', as she affectionately called them). Then, on school holidays in the 80s, gorging on channel 4's themed old film seasons. I miss all the more obscure stuff that would pop up on terrestrial TV.

Anyway, I'm having a 'Gainsborough Pictures' season on youtube at the moment. Currently 'A Place of One's Own', a ghost story with James Mason (playing rather out of type as a bluff, well-meaning, middle-aged Yorkshireman) and Margaret Lockwood as his wife's companion, possessed by spirits.

Beautiful costumes and sets, they don't make 'em like that any more.

[avva]

I think that for the most part the dross gets filtered out and lost, which is why we can look back nostalgically - it all seems better because the equivalent of the sci fi movies have vanished (Artic Blast, what a treat ) Having said that, Hollywood does seem particularly lost in a sea of unoriginal sequels at the moment.

Sorry to say it, but Oklahoma was the biggest disappointment to me. I thought it was so badly done, and even downright unpleasant in parts. I was expecting it to become a firm favourite, so maybe that's why

Take Me To St Louis on the other hand was the other way round, expected it to be lousy and loved it.

[ppeatfruit]

Stable that sounds like the film about a ghostly Pirate who haunted a house right by the sea. I think Margaret Lockwood played the romantic female lead. I can't remember it's name.

Yes I do love the costume films. Though sometimes they get the hair wrong (more 1940s than 1840s !!!)

[PrivateParkin]

Thanks for the Mr Smith tip off Ventress - pre-war Jimmy Stewart is my absolute favourite.

ppeatfruit you're making me laugh with your critique of Seven Brides and it's fake daffodils, I know what you mean!

[PrivateParkin]

Good list gryffen although I'm not sure about these new-fangled 1970s films you've included, a mere 40-odd years old!!

[84CharingCrossRoad]

Just remembered Sabrina Fair. Audrey was so amazing In it. She wanted to marry William Holden in real life but apparently she wanted children and he had had a vasectomy so they split up. Humphrey Bogart was fab in it too. The remake with Harrison Ford etc wasn't a patch on the original...

[Halsall]

the film about a ghostly Pirate who haunted a house right by the sea. I think Margaret Lockwood played the romantic female lead. I can't remember it's name

Were you thinking of The Ghost and Mrs Muir, ppeat? Rex Harrison was the ghost of a sea-captain and Gene Tierney was Mrs Muir, who comes to live in his former seaside home. There was a spin-off TV series of it in the 60's, too (with different actors).

[StableGenius]

That could be it, Halsall - the house in my Gainsborough flick isn't by the sea and the ghost(s) seem to be 2 evil servants who murdered their disabled ('invalid') boss for her money.

I was always drawn to Gainsborough by the glamorous old-fashioned lady at the start - second only to the Disney castle with fireworks in my childhood estimation.

[ppeatfruit]

Yes that's it *Halsall" It's quite a sweet film not with murdering servant ghosts

Stable The Gainsborough studios used to be in neglected buildings by a canal approaching the city past Islington. So sad I watched them being pulled down and there are now flats there.

[mzcracker]

Just checking in to say I'm currently watching 'the quiet man'.
Looking forward to reading all the suggestions!

[Halsall]

A Place of One's Own has been on Talking Pictures a few times recently - I caught the end of it the other day. I have to say I was a bit startled to discover recently that Dennis Price and Margaret Lockwood were in the throes of a full-on affair while they were making that film....!

[ppeatfruit]

Private The basic message of 7 Brides is very old fashioned and sexist, rape excusing too!

[ChinkChink]

Indeed. It's based on The Rape of the Sabine Women.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women

hence one of the songs 'Sobbin' Women'.

According to the wiki, though, there's a school of thought that the original term might have referred to abduction or kidnapping rather than rape.

In other news, I really enjoyed 'Woman in a Dressing Gown' recently on Talking Pictures.

[ppeatfruit]

Yes I know; so the final line of "Sobbin' Women" "With a Roman baby on each knee" . Was because they had all married and lived happily ever after?

[gryffen]

Lol classic to me is films that have made an impact so they are memorable.

The only reason 7brides is on the list is it was a fave of my grandmas- I prefer Kismit.

Hard hitting film for me was Judgment at Nuremberg due to family involvement in the court cases against the Nazi and hubby GF being a liberator.

Oh - forgot to add Court jester with Danny kaye 🤩🤩🤩🤩

Vessel with the pessel has the brew that is true.........

[Tortelliniforever]

With a Roman baby on each knee" . Was because they had all married and lived happily ever after? Yes. Named Claudius and Brut!

I saw a documentary on 7 Brides the other day that was really interesting. They knew the scenery was a bit crap (when Milly sings on the journey up to the farm on her wedding day apparently the birds kept on getting disorientated and flew into the painted backdrop) but their budget had been slashed as it wasn't expected to be such a success.

[Tortelliniforever]

I much prefer 7 Brides to Oklahoma too.

I was always drawn to Gainsborough by the glamorous old-fashioned lady at the start - second only to the Disney castle with fireworks in my childhood estimation.
True. Although I was always worried her hat was going to fall off!

[mumsiedarlingrevolta]

Haven't properly read whole thread as over excited.

Desk Set. Bloody brilliant- Katherine Hepburn a triumph.

Bell Book and Candle.

All the Hitchcocks-esp anything with Grace Kelly. To Catch a thief and Rear Window.

Mr Smith fantastic-and anything with Jimmy Stewart.

Watching all of your suggestions with excitement...

[ChinkChink]

Yes, Oklahoma was pretty dark in places, although Rod Steiger is one of my favourite actors. And I wasn't keen on the hero of Carousel. Great music though.

On the plus side for Seven Brides; the barn-raising sequence is one of the best scenes from any Hollywood musical.

[BagelGoesWalking]

Also love Seven Brides. Mind you, had it on for 10 mins when it was on recently and my DD18 was very scathing about it - it was the part where they "abduct" the girls and set off the avalanche. Definitely not PC now.

Love Mr Smith Goes to Washington so thank you for the tv listing reminder.

The Thin Man films with Myrna Loy and William Powell are marvellous told duh crackling wit and great clothes. Of course, Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep and To Have and Have Not.

Danny Kaye in Hans Christian Andersen ❤️

[Halsall]

Upcoming film alert: I mentioned The Ghost and Mrs Muir, and lo! It's on Talking Pictures on Saturday at midnight

[Halsall]

Oh, and Magnificent Obsession (directed by Douglas Sirk, starring Rock Hudson in his pomp) is on Film 4 today at 11am.

[84CharingCrossRoad]

All That Heaven Allows
Beautiful film with Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, (Ronald Reagans first wife)