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Post by Aj_June on Nov 18, 2018 15:57:37 GMT
... that one when you blasted me by saying that I should watch Disney movies If I can't like realistic endings like that of Chinatown.
Well, it's true isn't it? Imagine Chinatown with a happy ending! Hardly "blasted', though. Wait until I really blast someone here! What do you mean by your parents had no taste? You mean they were like those people who would watch anything that came on TV?
I mean they were not in a position to exercise taste. They just went to see almost everything that was released because it was the only entertainment they could afford. Life after WWII in the UK was pretty bleak so it was escapism. Dad dug in his heels with musicals. We went to see a lot of westerns (there were a lot to see then) but he was often pretty scathing, especially when old gits like Randolph Scott (whom he called "Old Creaking Joints") or Joel McCrea were out-punching a dozen guys thirty years younger. He loved HB in the African Queen because it showed an old git of his age doing the heroic thing but breaking wind, complaining about back-ache, etc in a realistic way.
Now I am especially excited about this part of the post. What do you mean by saying that English movies were regarded as inferior? Regarded as inferior by whom? Your parents? Did they have access to foreign movies? That's great to know if that's what you are saying! My fault, I was not clear in my post. Only English-language films were on the menu. Most people preferred American films as better-budgeted and more escapist with "Hollywood Endings".
Besides the three main cinemas in our town there was a fleapit which showed B-horrors and sci-fi and the odd foreign film, especially if deemed "saucy". Also revived older classics but they had no appeal to my family or the general public. In another thread I told the tale of how my father took me to see "Bicycle Thieves" there as he thought I would appreciate my relatively affluent home life as a result. But he sat down in a pool of urine left by a previous patron, and this put him off "arty-farty" foreign rubbish for good.
Thanks, London. I know it sounds stupid but I am fascinated by those times of your parents that you talk about. I do rather live then than now when you have idiotic movies like Avengers get so much public attention (BTW I have not seen Avengers but I assume I will find it stupid). Oh, I know even in those days bad stuff must have come out frequently and we only talk about the good movies of time past but still I do rather live in 40s (post war 40s) and 50s than today. Even with all those constrains and lack of choice that you mentioned.
Del Piero has had his turn. Get ready for Gigi Buffon soon! Or my fav pic is that of the movie Kes. Might change my avatar to that of Kes poster once again.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 18, 2018 17:29:35 GMT
Influence? Not to what I'd call any great extent, although it was through my father that I was first exposed to musicals of the studio era: he'd always watch a Betty Grable movie. Otherwise, he had little use for motion pictures, at least for his personal enjoyment. They did, however, contribute to his income. He was a typesetter and worked for years at a small company for which a couple of major clients were AMPAS and Pacific Title. If you see any film or TV show made between the late-'50s to mid-70s carrying the credit "Titles By Pacific Title," the chances are better than good that every letter of the onscreen text was originally typed by his fingers. After thousands of them, he'd probably absorbed as many names of personnel on both sides of the camera as anyone, even if they meant nothing to him. Because of what was otherwise a lack of interest, it came as a surprise to me when he mentioned late in life that, at 18 in 1937, he'd gone to see Lost Horizon three times in one week. Intrigued, I asked what it was about it that he found so unusually compelling. "I dunno; I liked it," was his characteristically taciturn reply. Since he preferred to stay home, my mother would take me to a lot of films. She'd see most anything, although she preferred light entertainments, like those of Doris Day or Elvis Presley. After they'd retired and moved to Northern California, they'd come back to L.A. for regular visits, and it was on one such that they, my two brothers and I went to the Dome in Hollywood to see Close Encounters Of the Third Kind, about which she was thereafter sentimental: she enjoyed the picture, but more importantly for her, it was the last time the five of us ever went to a movie together. Hi Dogs Yet another link to the industry, how wonderful "I dunno; I liked it," Dear me, there's a respect due there, a sort of no stress attitude that probably I and many others should adhere to! So nice that you remember going the pics with your mom, and likewise there's a special moment there with the family at one specific sitting. Great sharing mate, thank you. Adding a small memory about Close Encounters Of the Third Kind. When it came out here in the UK it was at a time when our theatres only had one screen! remember those days?! I queued for 2 hours to see it, the world wasn't in a hurry back then, you didn't mind waiting a couple of hours for your entertainment because it was an event, quite often a treat that you could only afford once in a while.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 19, 2018 6:10:43 GMT
I had a grand aunt on my mothers side who I've been told often went to the cinema, her favorites were Rudolph Valentino and Fred Astaire, She went to see Valentino in The Eagle every day for two weeks. I guess there is at least one influence. From her I got a lot of Film fan magazines from the 1920s, she was still alive then, she thought I was the right person who would understand how great movies are. I've read them and I guess there are many unique pictures in them, and reading the letters section was very interesting too, fans asked the same questions then as they do nowdays, "Is He Married?", "Does He have a girlfriend?", "Do He have any pets?" and so on. My other influence would be my mother, she loved movies and movie stars and had scrapbooks with pictures of her idols. Her idols were Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra and Burt Lancaster. Gable in It Happened One Night and Gone With the Wind, Sinatra in Higher and Higher and Anchors Aweigh, and Burt in From Here to Eternity, those movies have been mentioned a lot. Humphrey Bogart, Melvyn Douglas, Ronald Colman and Walter Pidgeon were others she also liked. Fred MacMurray and Victor Mature were two she didn't like, she called them big blunt buffalos. My father too went to the movies when young, but he never memorised any movies, except that they were cowboy movies and the only name he could remember was Ken Maynard. He gave me something else though, my love for jazz and jazz influenced vocalists. Super Post!
Hee, I have to chuckle as regards the questions to the stars thing, it really has never changed. I don't think I ever did that myself, except trying to get Deborah Harry to marry me, though I was 20 at the time
Can you imagine going to see the same film every day like that? It really was a different time back then, people really did that. There have been a couple over the years where I have gone twice in a month, usually on the second occasion to take someone who I was convinced needed to see it.
Blunt Buffalos
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 19, 2018 6:25:47 GMT
Thanks, London. I know it sounds stupid but I am fascinated by those times of your parents that you talk about. I do rather live then than now when you have idiotic movies like Avengers get so much public attention (BTW I have not seen Avengers but I assume I will find it stupid). Oh, I know even in those days bad stuff must have come out frequently and we only talk about the good movies of time past but still I do rather live in 40s (post war 40s) and 50s than today. Even with all those constrains and lack of choice that you mentioned.
Del Piero has had his turn. Get ready for Gigi Buffon soon! Or my fav pic is that of the movie Kes. Might change my avatar to that of Kes poster once again.
Hee, Kes is a personal favourite >
www.imdb.com/review/rw2044557/?ref_=tt_urv
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 19, 2018 6:33:10 GMT
My parents watched a lot of films but by the time I came along my Dad worked at a chemical plant on a 7 day/7 night schedule (shift work and lots of overtime) so his time to watch movies was pretty limited. We had a VCR very early on but didn't really buy movies until the prices came down (I remember them being $50 or more a piece in the early 1980's). We had cable fairly early on too so that's how I watched most of my movies in those days. My Dad really enjoyed the James Bond films and WW2 films so whenever TBS or AMC had marathons we'd usually watch quite a few of those when they came on. I was definitely influenced by him watching those films so I still have a big love for WW2 films in general. My mom watched a lot of PBS and shows produced in England (BBC) so I watched quite a few of those but they were typically adaptions of literary classics. She'd usually let my brother and I pick out a movie a piece at the local mom and pop rental store on the weekends so as long as they weren't R rated we usually had free reign. She was usually the one that took us to the movie theater too because of Dad's work schedule although there were a few times he took us (like Top Gun and as a family on vacation we usually inevitably stopped at the local theater at whatever town we were vacationing at). I still remember for some reason my Mom refused to let me go with my neighbor and her Mom to go see the Goonies when it came out. I threw a massive protest and even tried to sneak out of the house that night to go with them. haha. Then once it was out on video she let us rent it and loved it. She must have heard something about the film being too "scary" or something from a friend. Good times. Banned from going to see The Goonies! Love it! Talking about VHS players really gets you thinking about when it was the coolest thing to have ever. My first one had a remote control that was plugged into the player, remote on a wire!! Thanks for sharing veg, so nice when film interests filters through all the family.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 19, 2018 14:42:54 GMT
I think my first film was "Fantasia" (1940) - not when first released, I ain't that old! I think I was about 5, and being unused to the routine of cinema I squirmed about, asked for explanations in a shrill voice, embarrassed the neighbors who had been so kind as to take me, and spoiled the enjoyment of most people within ten rows. There are posters on this board who think I am still hell-bent on spoiling folks' enjoyment of movies. They can attribute it to that formative experience. In the immediate post-WWII years in the UK there were three cinema chains that, between them, showed nearly all the new Brit and US releases. There was no TV, of course, and my parents were at that time of limited means. Movies were a cheap entertainment, so we went once, twice, or even three times a week. You normally had to queue and it was quite normal to enter the cinema in the middle of a feature film and afterward walk out once it came round again to scenes you had already viewed. Entrance was 1/3d (one shilling and three pence - about US 8 cents). If you felt flush, you could often jump the queue by paying 1/10d, and savor the resentful looks of the proles in the 1/3d line as you swept pass them. My elder brother, who had just started dating girls, dreaded the doorman shouting "Seats only at 2/6d" and being torn between saving his pocket-money and having to show off to his date by parting with such an exorbitant sum (about US 16 cents!). As to my parents' taste, they had none, but Dad was the decider. He was not big on musicals but pretty much anything else was acceptable. English films were, with a few exceptions, regarded as inferior substitutes for "real" movies (that is, American movies). Nothing much has changed there after seventy years. Dad's favorite was Humphrey Bogart, and he did look a bit like him. His favorite female star was Grace Kelly, and my Mum was of that type (not quite in the same league of course!) Films were rated "U" (universal entrance), "A" (children under 12 not allowed, over 12 only with an adult) and "H" for horror (children under 16 banned). There was no rating which discriminated against sexually explicit or violent films until the "X" certificate appeared in 1950 to replace "H". I remember being indignant at not being allowed to watch The Big Heat (1953) as I had a crush on Gloria Grahame (still do). The period of my most frequent cinema going (late 40s to mid-50s) exactly coincides with the Film Noir epoch, which is why I am hooked on that "genre". A running family joke which I did not understand as a child surfaced whenever my mother looked up the local rag to see what was showing. My father always suggested "Richard Dix in the Iron Road". Apparently in the pre-war years this was a movie that was repeatedly shown ad nauseam. I had no idea who Richard Dix was. I had never knowingly seen one of his movies. I still have not. I have used the word "movies" here, but we never referred to them as that. It was always "the pictures" as in "Are we going to the pictures on Saturday?" or "My favorite picture". one shilling and three pence!
Just a bit before my time as regards remembering, I was 5 at decimalisation.
Films were rated "U" (universal entrance), "A" (children under 12 not allowed, over 12 only with an adult) and "H" for horror (children under 16 banned). There was no rating which discriminated against sexually explicit or violent films until the "X" certificate appeared in 1950 to replace "H". I remember being indignant at not being allowed to watch The Big Heat (1953) as I had a crush on Gloria Grahame (still do).
Do you remember the "AA" cert? I think it was for 14 years minimum? Gloria Grahame, yeah me too
The period of my most frequent cinema going (late 40s to mid-50s) exactly coincides with the Film Noir epoch, which is why I am hooked on that "genre".
I would kill to be able to see some of the great noirs for the first time on the big screen.
Yes it was always "the pictures", never the theatre or the cinema.
Top stuff London, thanks for the contribution
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Post by Nalkarj on Nov 19, 2018 16:09:45 GMT
Oh, absolutely, hitchcockthelegend. I was lucky enough that I was raised on “old movies” while never particularly considering them “old”–just, y’know, movies. My parents showed The Wizard of Oz, nearly all the Disney classics, and It’s a Wonderful Life, all of which I loved (and still do), at an early age. My grandfather introduced me to Laurel and Hardy, the Bowery Boys, Abbott and Costello, and the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes. But I still remember, one day around Hallowe’en, when my parents and I watched Arsenic and Old Lace, and I suddenly had a realization that these black-and-white movies, the ones my classmates didn’t know, were a million times better than whatever summer blockbuster was in the multiplex. So, yeah, my parents and grandparents really got me into an appreciation of film. Among other things, too, I got my fondness for westerns and thrillers from my mom, my sense of humor from my dad. So, anyway, yes.
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Post by timshelboy on Nov 19, 2018 16:29:12 GMT
They were (are in fact) both great influences and some of their favourites (THE APARTMENT, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THIS HAPPY BREED) are also mine
They both also like CINEMA PARADISO, BODY HEAT, THE THIRD MAN, THE THIN MAN, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, and David Lean
My dad V fond of SAINT JACK - my mum adores KISS ME KATE
My mother likes anything with William Holden or Robert Mitchum and is a vocal Douglass Montgomery enthusiast. My dad likes Sophia Loren, Rita Hayworth & Julie Christie.
We had a double bill of LA PISCINE and LE FARCEUR this weekend. They preferred the former for the travelogue values!
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Post by OldAussie on Nov 20, 2018 0:05:53 GMT
They were (are in fact) both great influences and some of their favourites ( THE APARTMENT, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THIS HAPPY BREED) are also mine They both also like CINEMA PARADISO, BODY HEAT, THE THIRD MAN, THE THIN MAN, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, and David LeanMy dad V fond of SAINT JACK - my mum adores KISS ME KATE My mother likes anything with William Holden or Robert Mitchum and is a vocal Douglass Montgomery enthusiast. My dad likes Sophia Loren, Rita Hayworth & Julie Christie. We had a double bill of LA PISCINE and LE FARCEUR this weekend. They preferred the former for the travelogue values! I think I'd get on very well with your parents.....to paraphrase a great writer - "Their taste in movies is excellent! It exactly coincides with my own!"
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 20, 2018 15:09:57 GMT
My parents were not big film fans, I loved going to my grandmothers as she would take me to the Saturday matinee. My mother was born in Zagreb and fled to Australia in the mid 50s. One film I clearly remember that held great interest for my her was Roger Corman's, Secret Invasion (1964) mainly because of the location filming around Dubrovnik, Croatia (pic below). As a very young child the harrowing scene involving a baby stuck with me for years... My father did introduce me to my all time favourite childhood film The Time Machine (1960) When I was a child my grandmother a city socialite always liked to name drop and claimed that she was great friends with movie star Googie Withers, no one else in the family seemed interested nor cared, but I never forgot that unusual name. When I seriously began to take an interest in classic film I sought out Googie Withers films and became a great fan...thanks Nan ! And of course let it be said that Googie Withers was a fine actress, well worth discovering. So yes, well done Nan!
Thanks for the post mfpx
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 20, 2018 18:19:31 GMT
Oh, absolutely, hitchcockthelegend . I was lucky enough that I was raised on “old movies” while never particularly considering them “old”–just, y’know, movies. My parents showed The Wizard of Oz, nearly all the Disney classics, and It’s a Wonderful Life, all of which I loved (and still do), at an early age. My grandfather introduced me to Laurel and Hardy, the Bowery Boys, Abbott and Costello, and the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes. But I still remember, one day around Hallowe’en, when my parents and I watched Arsenic and Old Lace, and I suddenly had a realization that these black-and-white movies, the ones my classmates didn’t know, were a million times better than whatever summer blockbuster was in the multiplex. So, yeah, my parents and grandparents really got me into an appreciation of film. Among other things, too, I got my fondness for westerns and thrillers from my mom, my sense of humor from my dad. So, anyway, yes. Utterly splendid! The classmates situation is very real, most likely for most classic era film fans I imagine, certainly in my age group where I was senior school 77-82. Colour was all the rage and most kids followed suit, when I wanted to talk about To Kill a Mockingbird, they all look dumbfounded and was more interested in some ghoulish slasher film that they were lucky to see. My Social Studies teacher loved me, though, in fact he can go down as one of my influences as he pointed me towards 60s kitchen sink pics. thanks Sal, great to read about the influences in your life.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 20, 2018 18:24:52 GMT
I don't know. Both of them liked the Marx Brothers,Will Hay etc, and they also liked foreign films like Bicycle Thieves etc, but I don't remember either of them ever mentioning one film specifically as beimg their.favourite. They had been keen cinema goers when they were younger, but They didn't go to see new films very often when I was young, apart from taking me to kids films, but I do remember us going to see Discreet Charm of the Boirgeoise and enjoying it. And they liked Day for Night. Great Avatar Louise, love it! Just for liking Will Hay your parents instantly fall into my supremely cool category Thanks for posting Louise
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Post by petrolino on Nov 21, 2018 1:24:18 GMT
My mother's a big fan of crime and horror movies. I'd watch them with her growing up. I got hooked and I still am.
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 21, 2018 6:18:11 GMT
Jeez. My Dad used to storm out on my Mom, and grabbed my petrified ass and go to the movies. It may be 'selective memory', I'm not sure, but? "Patton", the Peter Sellers "Pink Panther" movies come to mind. My Dad was a pretty vocal "NYC Conservative" in his time. He had a Nixon Campaign button which read: "They can't lick our Dick", LMAO. Wish I'd have found THAT among his things when he passed. We never talked 'in depth 'cinema. But clearly, whether he knew it or not, he was a great fan of John Huston, who was anything but a "NYC Conservative". On the television, he liked "Maltese Falcon", and spectacularly, "The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre". One of his 'grab my hand, we're going to the fkn movies' films was? "The Man Who Would Be King", which, like Welles quest for "Heart Of Darkness", was on Hustons 'wish list' for decades. I think John's initial plan for the Kipling story was Bogart and Gable. He wound up with Michael Caine and Sean Connery, early 1970's. If you like "Treasure Sierra", definitely check that 'unsung' Huston film out. Similar thematically. And I'll never, EVER forget watching "On The Waterfront" with the old man on television, early 1970's. The film has been a profound influence on my life. Reeking with the Catholicism I was raised in? Terry Malloys "Captain Ahab like quest" to FINALLY 'do the right thing' is an emotional cornerstone in my life. My Dad was of Brando's generation. He was probably 21-22 when that film came out. Great thread, BTW. I should probably go back and 'like' everything. PS: I think he liked the Marx Brothers, not sure. Hiya Tommy
Hee, my dad used to pack my brother and me off to the pictures on a Sunday with some pocket money so he could be alone with mom!
The Man Who Would Be King, yes super film.
From the upper echelon of boys own adventures comes - The Man Who Would Be King!
Two ex servicemen are lolling around colonial India, it's just the start of a journey that will see them in Kafiristan. Here the mountain dwellers believe the rouge white fellows to be Gods, and thus things are about to get very interesting indeed.
Written by master writer Rudyard Kipling, directed by behemoth John Huston, and starring British legends Sean Connery & Michael Caine, there really isn't any way this film could have failed, sure enough the picture exudes a classy structure that is coupled with deftly smart writing. The Man Who Would Be King was a project that John Huston had coveted for many a year (decade), as far back as the 40s he was looking to adapt the Kipling short with Humphrey Bogart & Clark Gable in the leads, some time after it was mooted that he fancied Peter O'Toole & Richard Burton to play Messrs Dravot & Carnehan. Fast forward to 1975 and the eventual pairing of Caine & Connery now looks like a masterstroke of casting, and it really is impossible to imagine anyone else in the roles of the amoral scavenger duo of the piece, in short, the wait for the film was indeed worth it.
That the film is known as an adventure genre staple is a given, but it should be noted that in amongst its delightful fusion of fantasy and swashbuckling values, lies wonderful characterisation, cheeky sly glances at the power crazy, imperialism, greed, and pulsing a political beat. It's a smashing, highly entertaining picture that stands up really well ever more today in this new millennium age. I mean it's got Caine & Connery playing rapscallions for GODS' sake ! 8/10
Actually my dad doesn't like Connery, and although he watches Bond films if they are on sort of thing, they tend to not be the Sean ones, he can take or leave the series really, unlike myself who is nuts about all things Bond. He loves Caine though.
And I'll never, EVER forget watching "On The Waterfront" with the old man on television, early 1970's. The film has been a profound influence on my life. Reeking with the Catholicism I was raised in? Terry Malloys "Captain Ahab like quest" to FINALLY 'do the right thing' is an emotional cornerstone in my life. My Dad was of Brando's generation. He was probably 21-22 when that film came out.
Brilliant, that's the sort of thing that makes this thread worthwhile, film influence in all its glory.
Cheers Tommy
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 22, 2018 14:16:44 GMT
They were (are in fact) both great influences and some of their favourites (THE APARTMENT, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THIS HAPPY BREED) are also mine They both also like CINEMA PARADISO, BODY HEAT, THE THIRD MAN, THE THIN MAN, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, and David Lean My dad V fond of SAINT JACK - my mum adores KISS ME KATE My mother likes anything with William Holden or Robert Mitchum and is a vocal Douglass Montgomery enthusiast. My dad likes Sophia Loren, Rita Hayworth & Julie Christie. We had a double bill of LA PISCINE and LE FARCEUR this weekend. They preferred the former for the travelogue values! With those choice of actors your mom would get on with my dad! Nice post tim, great to see you are still viewing as a family. I had a pleasant surprise yesterday when I got to dads house as Stalag 17 was just starting, suffice to say we both sat glued throughout. Cheers for joining in tim
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Nov 22, 2018 14:18:08 GMT
My mother's a big fan of crime and horror movies. I'd watch them with her growing up. I got hooked and I still am. Thanks for contributing petrol
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