Must See Movies

[Guest Amy]

I also started watching classic movies in my childhood (early twenties now), but have found difficulty finding other fans (except my mother). I would agree, however, on many of the movies that have already been listed as kid-friendly: Rear Window, Singin' In the Rain, It's a Wonderful Life, Bringing Up Baby, King Kong, and A Night at the Opera. I would also add City Lights, Modern Times, The Awful Truth, The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer, Carousel, Cover Girl, all of the Shirley Temple movies, High Noon, Meet Me in St. Louis, Miracle on 34th Street, Oklahoma!, On the Town, The Shop Around the Corner (infinitely better than "You've Got Mail"), and White Christmas.

[Guest k, sandy]

Amy--I LOVE Cover Girl and the Shop Around the Corner! They're surprisingly not shown very much. When I was a kid, back in the seventies, no one had cable so I could only see classic movies on Sunday mornings and afternoons when the local station would show Shirley Temple and Blondie movies, with some Ma and Pa Kettle tossed in. How I loved those! I always wanted to be a performer, so I liked the Shirley Temple ones the best because they were musicals. I remember holding the microphone of my Dad's tape recorder up to the tv set to record the songs from 1776 when they showed it on the 4th of July. I always loved the way that people could burst into song at a moment's notice! In the late 80's I worked in a video store that had a large collection of classic films and a great boss who would order any that my friend and co-worker Nick deemed were "essential," we being the store's classic aficianados. I was in heaven! Of course, the store's biggest rentals were always the new releases, but often if we put a classic on to play in the store many people would come up to ask about it. I think that many people just haven't SEEN that many (if any) classic films, so they don't know what they're missing!

[Guest Sheridan]

One of the greatest and most beautiful actresses of the 30's & 40's was ANN SHERIDAN (whom I was named after). Look at "Kings row" , "City for conquest" , "Good Sam" , "I was a male war bride" and so many more. Although she was over shoadowed at Warner Bros. by the likes of Bette Davis....She still had everything it takes!

[Guest Carey, Liza]

Some of the great pictures that had the most positive impact on me, when I first stepped into the wonderland of classic Hollywood, were: (I must mention....) the original "A Star is Born" (with Janet Gaynor/Frederick March) "Bill of Divorcement" and "The Silver Cord" (quirky, intense intra-family relationship dramas.); "What Price Hollywood?" and "The Stand In" (two expose's on the inner workings of the Hollywood machinery and its component players' extraneous relationships); Of course, the wildly bizarre and engrossing "Sunset Boulevard"; The provocative and penetrating "Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Fugitive Kind", featuring Marlin Brando (both taken from Tennessee Williams' works, weren't they?), as well as "Come Back Little Sheba", "The Rose Tattoo" and "Suddenly Last Summer"....the last exploring emotional breakdown, as did the poignant "Now, Voyager", "The Shrike", and "The Snake Pit" ......there are so many more films which have imprinted my imagination that I could spend the next week listing them all.....but this forum would run out of space.

[Guest Cunnlngham, Jessica]

Hello again everyone, I am amazed at the response to "The Women".One of my favorite characters is Sylvia Fowler. I think that one of my favorite parts is the part where Rosalind and Joan Fontaine (also one of me and my sisters favorites)are at the beauty parlor and they are doing there exercises and they fall on the mat. I was rolling with laughter when I first saw it (and I still do)! I LOVE Rosalind Russell! She is just so funny! I love her in "Auntie Mame", but she can also be a very serious actor too. Like in "Sister Kenny". She did a wonderful job in that movie. My whole family loves old movies .We like to sit down with a bag of popcorn and a glass of sweet tea(that tells you that I'm from the south)and watch our favorites together. Another movie that not many people have heard of but me and my family love is "Kitty". The movie stars Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland. It's a Pygmalion type of story that we just love but I have'nt seen it in years. I sure would love to hear about everyone's coments. Forever a Movie Buff

[Guest Alix]

Born2late, I also was born too late! I'd have given anything to have worn the styles of the 1920's--those awesome cloche hats, beaded dresses, high heels! I think that's part of the appeal (for me) in the movies of the 20's and early 30's. I love to look at the clothes and drool. Thank goodness for TCM!

[Guest Alix]

I love THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. Every Christmas Eve, my husband and I build a nice cozy fire, turn down the lights, open a bottle of white zinfindel, and watch...you guessed it, Jimmy Stewart and Maureen Sullevin. It's like a tradition at our home. When I was a kid, my brother & I used to do the "You remind me of a man" from THE BACHELOR AND THE BOBBY SOXER routine over and over and over until my mom got angry at us. We loved that!

[Guest Alix]

Sylvia Fowler! Gosh, I love her too! It seems like we all know someone who's like Sylvia. I get a kick out of her garrish outfit with the big eyes on it! It certainly fit her character--Adrian sure knew how to match a dress to a character, that's for sure. My very favorite is the Countess deLave. "Oh l'amour, l'amour!"

[Guest Romero, Juan]

I watcht a average 90 Movies per year. Two years ago I Choose to begin watching "Old Movies" as my daugther refers to them. well after she watch Pockett Full of Miracles, Lilies of the field; she understand Me Now. Today's Movies are a complete Mess. I have no choice I'm a Theatre Manager But of Every 10 movies 2 are Worht watching. I beging tuning American Movie Classic then TCM was born Everything change.Every Year Hollywood have a Remake and I gett To see the real Thing On Turner Classic Movies. Thomas Crowm affair,Planett of the Apes, Ocean 11, Pshyco, Gett Carter.I Became or better yet I'm Proud to be a TCM Junkie So far the classic 4 me are: All about Eve,Heat of the Night, Paper Chase,Cincinatti Kid,The Hustler,Stangers in the Tain.

[Guest chaney, kathy]

Hello all, I am a huge classic movie fan. My mom got me started as she lived in Holllywood in the 40's and met many of the stars. My favorite actresses were Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell, Bette Davis and Greer Garson. (to just name a few) Cary Grant, Tyrone Power, and Errol Flynn for the actors. I would love to talk to someone who loves the old movies as much as I do. I am addicted to TCM and watch it as much as I can.

[Guest k, sandy]

Hi everyone! Juan, I have to agree with you on All About Eve. What a great film! My favorite performance by Bette Davis, for certain. I also love movies that are set in the world of theatre. Everyone is always so Actor-ish! Another backstage/theatre movie that I love is Stage Door starring Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, and every snappy dame in Hollywood at the time, it seems! Yes, I, too, am a HUGE fan of The Women! Anyone out there seen the recent Broadway revival of it with Cynthia Nixon (of Sex and the City fame) and Kristen Johnston (of Third Rock From the Sun)? It has gotten good reviews, I hear.

[Guest son, jery]

Hi Sandy and everyone else. I'm a fanatic about anything Bette Davis played in. "All About Eve", though, has never been a favorite. Bette has to share the screen with others and I only want Bette to be the big star. Which brings me to one of my all time favorite movies, starring the fabulous BD: "In This Our Life." Bette always slammed this great 1942 film about a psychotic Southern Belle (Bette, of course) who destroys everyone around her. But Bette was never the most objective viewer. The movie made more money than anything she had ever done before. Most critics thought she was fabulous and even more people do today. The final sequence with her lecherous uncle (Charles Coburn) when she screams at him: "You can die for all I care! Die! Die!" scares the bejeesus out of everyone whose watched it with me. Olivia DeHavilland (who plays the good sister) remembers that Bette really DID scare the cast and crew because she got so intensely into the character of this female monster. Bravo to Bette! There'll never be another one like her! (think Gwynth Partlow, Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer (ugh)!)

[Guest Alix]

I like Bette in NOW VOYAGER. I think she does magnificant work as Charlotte Vale in this one. I also like her in THE LITTLE FOXES. Oh, is she nasty in this one! I always want to slap her when she watches Herbert Marshall, her husband, crumple and die from a heart attack while she just watches! And she is also good, IMO, in CABIN IN THE COTTON, OF HUMAN BONDAGE...she rarely disappoints.

[Guest k, sandy]

I forgot that Bette Davis was in The Little Foxes. I was in the play a few years ago. I played Alexandra, the daughter (which was played by Theresa Wright in the film), and I didn't want to be influenced by watching someone else's performance, so I avoided the film. But knowing the play so well, I think that Davis would be wonderful as Regina Giddens. Interestingly, the role was played on Broadway by Tallulah Bankhead, a southerner. I wonder how she felt about a New England Yankee playing the role of a fading, manipulative Arkansas belle?

[Guest son, jery]

Sandy, fascinating to know that you played Alexandra in "The Little Foxes"! Tell us more. What do you think of Liz Taylor playing Regina? Tallulah absolutely hated Bette for starring in the movie version of "Foxes." Tallulah could never translate in movies. I've seen in one or two. She's missing that magical component that Bette was full of! Bette and director William Wyler's on "Foxes" became legendary. They never made another movie together again.

[Guest Alix]

I agree, Jery, that Tallulah doesn't translate well onto the screen. This doesn't diminish her strength or popularity as a stage actress! She was kind of like Al Jolson--electric in person but very two diminsional on screen. I liked Bette as Regina.

[Guest k, sandy]

Well, jeryson, there isn't much to tell. I played Alexandra in a local production here in the Cleveland area. Cleveland has quite an active theatre scene--much of it amateur, some semi-professional, and the wonderful professional regional theatres, the Cleveland Playhouse and The Great Lakes Theatre Festival. The Little Foxes is one my favorite plays-all the roles are rich and interesting. The thing that I loved about Alexandra is that when you first meet her, she seems like a sweet, dutiful daughter, wanting only to please her mother and everyone else. Then as the play goes on, you see that through her loving relationships with her father, her Aunt Birdie, and Addie, the black housekeeper her intelligence, spirit, and incredible strength of character is revealed. By the end, when she realizes her mother's hand in her father's death, she stands up to Regina and challenges her as an equal with the chilling last line in the play, "Are you afraid, Mama?" She truly is Regina's daughter. As for La Liz as Regina...hmmm, perhaps. She certainly is beautiful enough to play this selfish steel magnolia. I would have paid to see her take on the character. As for Tallu not translating on screen, I might agree with you there. Some performers have a magic that needs to be experienced live. I saw Carol Channing a few years ago when the Hello, Dolly! revival toured here and she was incredible! I never understood how she was a Broadway star until I saw her perform live. She had charisma for days! And was enormously funny, too.

[Guest Donnelly, Carollee]

My 3 favorite movies of all time are: Gone with Wind, Its a Wonderful Life and the Wizard of oz. I love the classic movies. Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor and I love all his films. I also love Alfred Hitchcock and all his movies. Bette Davis is my favorite actress. My favorite movies of hers that I love are Now Voyager, Mr.Skeffington and a Stolen Life. I also collect film and tv books.

[Guest son, jery]

Fascinating, Sandy! Loved your thoughts on playing Alexandra. This could make a great article for one of the film or drama magazines.I once saw a community theater production of "Little Foxes" in Montgomery, Alabama. The actress--by day a normal house wife--was fantastic. Her daughter, played by a college gal, equaled her. Both could have gone on to professional theater. You're right about stage stars and film stars. Mary Martin flopped in films but excelled on stage. Ethel Merman was simply too big for the camera. Gertrude Lawrence also flopped in movies (she is supposed to be a disaster in the film version of "Glass Menagerie". Bette Davis was up for the role but Irving Rapper gave it to Gertie--a horrible mistake!)

[Guest son, jery]

Carrollee, I swear, it was like reading my own list of favaorites when I read yours. Gone With the Wind will be forever fabulous. Wizard of Oz comes in a close second. For my third, I'd put the great David Selznick movie about America's homefront during World War II, "Since You Went Away" (1944). Claudette Colbert is fabulous. Bette Davis is also my all-time favorite actress. "Mr. Skeffington" always leaves me bawling my eyes out. "Dark Victory" is right up there. Did you like her in "In This Our Life" and "Beyond the Forest"? Lord, but she was one mean vixen in those two masterpieces!

[Guest rubyshues]

Hi- Just replying to your message that I saw on cm message board. Sometimes I feel I've was born to late also and how wonderful it would have been to see all these wonderful movies when they first came out. But you have to remember that we would have been limited to just what was out at that time and not being able to pull a movie from our "collection" to view at any given time. Though we may lose alot on the small screen, I am grateful for today's technology and what it has given me to be able to tape and store movies for myself. I can't tell you how many times I've felt during the course of a day, while at work or wherever I may be, I just felt like watching an old movie, I have to say I am at my happiest when I'm watching either a bad oldie or a good oldie, almost anything is better than what it being shown today. It's nice to know we're not alone out there. I used to think I was an oddity, but I'm finding we're a pretty big force out there. Do you watch MAC? Also do you receive any old movie magazines? Thanks for the opportunity to reply to you on one of my most favorite subjects.

[Guest rubyshues]

I am about as huge a fan as you can get!! I feel like I'm the only person in the world who does not get TCM (I am ready to ditch this archaic cable company) I have my brother tape as many movies for me as he can off of TCM and I just keep adding them to my collection. Some of my favorite actresses were Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Arthur, Paulette Goddard, Jean Harlow, Deborah Kerr, Betty Hutton, Myrna Loy, Ginger Rogers. I would love talking about old movies.

[Guest Alix]

MAC--do you mean American Movie Classics (AMC)? If you do then I do sometimes watch it--only if a real gem is being shown. I dislike the commercials. And no, I don't receive any old movie magazines. Are there any out there? If so what are their names? I'd love to subscribe.

[Guest Queen]

I want to recommend the movie THE CHEATERS. It was made in 1945 and it is a fabulous Christmas movie. I have begged TCM to aquire this movie. It is not on video and I have not seen it in about 20 years. Its my last wish on earth to see THE CHEATERS. Has anyone else seen it? It has Billie Burke and Eugene Pallette in it. Thanks.

[Guest k, sandy]

OK, jeryson, I watched IN THIS OUR LIFE today and you're right--Davis was one mean vixen in that film! Her character, Stanley, never thought of anyone but herself, yet she went around saying how no one ever thought of her. Selfish to the core. I was impressed by the performance of Olivia de Havilland. She never played the flashy characters, yet no one else could make a "good girl" so interesting. What was with the bad matronly hairdo, though? Maybe they wanted Bette to look prettier. I also liked the performance of the actor who played Perry, the young black man that Stanley tries to pin the rap on. Much honesty and integrity there. I didn't catch the actor's name at the credits. Well, we all know how few roles there were for blacks in the movies back then--especially characters that weren't just small servant roles or racist stereotypes. You know, we used to have a good discussion on these boards about outdated gender, race, and social stereotypes that got purged. Maybe that would be a good one to get going again.