spiderwort
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@spiderwort
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Post by spiderwort on May 4, 2017 17:35:26 GMT
Aging is such an extraordinary phenomenon whether it be in women or men. It's a subject not often dealt with (at least in America) in our youth-obsessed culture. But it's a subject rich in drama and films that do examine it usually feature amazing performances. I asked for elderly protagonists, but, of course, there can be exceptions if there are important characters in any film that addresses the subject in a significant way; in other words, secondary characters. Some of my favorites, not all classics: Long Days Journey Into Night (1962) -- Katharine Hepburn's performance as an aging woman in a drug-induced state of denial about her lost youth is a glory to behold The Whales of August (1987) -- Bette Davis' penultimate film and Lillian Gish's final film is a remarkable study of two elderly sisters dealing with the hardships and joys of their twilight years. A beautiful film with great performances by its iconic stars, with the help of Vincent Price and Ann Sothern (Oscar nominated). Here's the trailer: The Whales of AugustLadies in Lavender (2004) -- Judi Dench and Maggie Smith play sisters who know they are older, but seem hardly to worry about it at all; instead busy themselves with rescuing a young man swept from the sea onto their beach. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005) -- a beautiful performance by Joan Plowright who faces poignant hardships of aging with enormous dignity; highly recommend this little known film. The Whisperers (1966) -- Dame Edith Evans portrays an elderly woman tormented by her inner "voices." A disturbing look at a troubled woman's old age. |
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on May 4, 2017 17:44:21 GMT
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a great vehicle for Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. The sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is not quite as good, but if you watch the first, you're going to want to watch the second.
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Post by bravomailer on May 4, 2017 18:39:10 GMT
Psycho
Sorry, couldn't help it.
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Post by mattgarth on May 4, 2017 18:56:28 GMT
Jessica Tandy -- DRIVING MISS DAISY
Beulah Bondi -- MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW
Emmanuelle Riva -- AMOUR
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Post by teleadm on May 4, 2017 18:57:03 GMT
It's been ages since I've seen it, La vieille dame indigne 1965 (The Shameless Old Lady) with old French actress Sylvie.
Two Katherine Hepburn movies, one good On Golden Pond 1981, and one sadly bad Grace Quigley 1984.
Maybe more ensamble movies, but Cocoon 1985 and it's unneccesary sequel Cocoon: The Return 1988.
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Post by teleadm on May 4, 2017 19:14:07 GMT
All That Heaven Allows 1955 is in a way also about aging and age-fixation, were a widow falls for a much younger man, and is more or less condemned by her surroundings and especially by her own children.
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Post by mikef6 on May 4, 2017 20:16:02 GMT
Miss Marple films with Margaret Rutherford who was 69 years in 1961. 4 films 1961-1964
Edna May Oliver was only 49 when she began a three film series as elderly spinster Hildegarde Withers (1932-1935), but always looked and played older than her real age. The same goes for ZaSu Pitts who played Hildegarde in two films (1936 & 1937) starting at age 42.
Marie Dressler. Oscar winner at age 62. “Min and Bill” (1930). Nominated for Best Actress again the next year for “Emma”
Ida Kamińska. Nominated for Best Actress at age 65 for “The Shop on Main Street” (1966)
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on May 4, 2017 21:00:18 GMT
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a great vehicle for Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. The sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is not quite as good, but if you watch the first, you're going to want to watch the second. Yes, you cannot go wrong with Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. I did see the first Marigold Hotel, and, of course, had to see the other. I would watch either of them read the phone book. Old joke, but true in this case. They play sisters in Ladies in Lavender. I highly recommend that, if you haven't already seen it. Being a major Dench/Smith fanatic, I did see Ladies in Lavender. They also appeared together in Tea With Mussolini, another fine film. Separately, I've enjoyed them in The Lady in the Van and Philomena recently. |
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Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on May 4, 2017 21:10:33 GMT
Being a major Dench/Smith fanatic, I did see Ladies in Lavender. They also appeared together in Tea With Mussolini, another fine film. Separately, I've enjoyed them in The Lady in the Van and Philomena recently. Glad to see another Dench/Smith fanatic! And I also enjoyed them together in TEA WITH MUSSOLINI, and Dench separately in PHILOMENA. Unfortunately, I've yet to see THE LADY IN THE VAN. It's not your usual Smith role, but she's great in it. |
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on May 4, 2017 21:18:29 GMT
Would For the Love of Ada (1972) count? It was a feature film spin-off from a UK TV sitcom, about an elderly widow and a widower, who meet each other, and despite their old age decide to get married. The film follows them on their first wedding anniversary together. It's a light-hearted comedy. The film was a critical and commercial bomb when released (unlike the TV show it was based on, which was quite successful), but it doesn't seem so bad to me. I rather enjoyed it.
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Post by Matthew the Swordsman on May 4, 2017 21:30:37 GMT
Would For the Love of Ada (1972) count? It sounds right to me. Irene Handl (who was born in 1901) was quite good in the film, and she kept me watching despite the very slow pacing and predictable comedy. Her career as an actress lasted from the 1930s to 1980s. |
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Post by snsurone on May 4, 2017 21:58:57 GMT
Dame May Whitty in NIGHT MUST FALL and THE LADY VANISHES.
Dame Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple, and (although it was a supporting role) was the only thing worth watching in the otherwise excrable movie, THE VIP'S.
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 4, 2017 22:13:01 GMT
All That Heaven Allows 1955 is in a way also about aging and age-fixation, were a widow falls for a much younger man, and is more or less condemned by her surroundings and especially by her own children. Teleadm, this is my favorite Douglas Sirk film, and I can understand how thematically you could consider it for this thread. But I don't see Jane Wyman as being "elderly" in it, just middle-aged. I wonder if you can think of another film with a similar plot but a really older character? I've thought about it, but as yet I can't some up with anything. But there must be something out there like this. Probably something not American. Probably the most obvious example would be Harold and Maude. |
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Post by manfromplanetx on May 4, 2017 22:49:11 GMT
Lili Darvas (April 10, 1902 – July 22, 1974) Wonderful and talented Hungarian actress noted for her theatrical stage work in Europe and the United States and, later in her career, in films and on television
Szerelem , Love (1971). Darvas starred with a touching performance in this her last film role. The film tells the story of a young Hungarian woman whose husband has been arrested by the secret police, and who eases his mother's (Darvas) last months with a fabricated tale that her son has a successful career is in America.
Lili Darvas received a special prize at Cannes for her acclaimed performance, it was one of three awards the film won at the 1971 festival
She played Granny Bayles, Billy Mummy's grandmother in The Twilight Zone episode "Long Distance Call" (Season 2 - Episode 22) in 1961.
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 4, 2017 23:29:10 GMT
Probably the most obvious example would be Harold and Maude. Of course! Thank you, thank you. What a joy Ruth Gordon was in that. I'm sure you're right that there must be others, but HaM became so iconic that's it's sort of occupied the position of being both the first and last word on the topic, and anything else exploring the same territory could seem derivative. If there are others, perhaps that's why they're not well known. To the central topic of elderly female protagonists, there was also George Cukor's delightful Travels With My Aunt with Maggie Smith and Alec McCowen. If I may stray into television for a moment, Bette Davis gave an especially fine performance in 1982's A Piano For Mrs. Cimino, as a woman whose competence to manage her own life and affairs comes under challenge by family. Also from TV, and perhaps stretching the point a bit, was Queen Of the Stardust Ballroom. Although principal players Maureen Stapleton and Charles Durning were both in their 50s and their ages are never specified, they seem to be playing older and age, per se, isn't the focus as much as stage of life, as widowed grandmother Stapleton finds new romance...to the disapproval of her children. A lovely film that deserves to be better remembered. Speaking of elderly female protagonists and late-in-life romance, would Cocoon qualify? Another just comes to mind: Kind Lady, with Ethel Barrymore unwittingly putting herself at risk - and ultimately discovering strength she hadn't realized she possessed - through her patronage of painter Maurice Evans, who insidiously takes over her life. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2017 11:52:54 GMT
Katie Johnson - The Ladykillers (1955)
Jean Adair and Josephine Hall - Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 5, 2017 13:38:59 GMT
I haven't seen Travels with My Aunt, but I don't believe you can go wrong with Maggie Smith. And I love your "strays into television." Both of those films were exceptional; I doubt I've thought of either since I saw them, but now that you've mentioned them, I remember them well. I loved Bette Davis in A Piano For Mrs. Cimino, beautifully directed by George Schaeffer. And you're right about the Stapleton and Durning ages, but you're also right that they seemed to be playing older - and they looked older, too. Wonderful film, that was. Slightly OT about its director: Sam O'Steen was one of Hollywood's great editors, cutting among others, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Chinatown, and Silkwood. As for Cocoon and Kind Lady, I don't remember either well enough to be sure, but what memories I do have would lead me to say yes. Oh, and speaking of television, you've reminded me of another that fits that was really excellent: Love Among the Ruins (1975), starring Katherine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier. is a great citation (Cukor again; his next project after TWMA). And I'd completely forgotten that Sam O'Steen had directed QOTSB. Thanks for the reminder. |
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wanton87
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Post by wanton87 on May 5, 2017 14:27:20 GMT
What about Angela Lansbury in the Murder She Wrote Series? That has to be a first (Elderly female detective). Not sure if you wish to count the following entry spiderwort, but it might slide in under this rule: And that would be Amzie Strickland. Anyone alive who has watched any vintage television may not know her by name, but they would almost certainly recognize her. Didn’t know her personally, but my former employer claims that his parents lived next door to her in Hollywood in the 1960’s. I thought that this was pretty impressive: www.imdb.com/name/nm0834351/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm |
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Post by marianne48 on May 5, 2017 15:38:41 GMT
Tsilla Chelton as the anti-hero title character of Auntie Danielle
(1990). Beware--as sweet old ladies go, she has all the sweetness of a scorpion.
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Post by teleadm on May 5, 2017 16:22:02 GMT
All That Heaven Allows 1955 is in a way also about aging and age-fixation, were a widow falls for a much younger man, and is more or less condemned by her surroundings and especially by her own children. Teleadm, this is my favorite Douglas Sirk film, and I can understand how thematically you could consider it for this thread. But I don't see Jane Wyman as being "elderly" in it, just middle-aged. I wonder if you can think of another film with a similar plot but a really older character? I've thought about it, but as yet I can't some up with anything. But there must be something out there like this. Probably something not American. I will try to explain why I mentioned this movie, as a widow she is only "allowed" conventions, being part of society and social events and being pitied that she is a widow (no matter what you think about Jane Wyman) symboliced perfectly in the scene where her children gives her a Television set, and the camera moves in on the Television set, and she only sees her empty face, that symbolic rectangular frame that conventions want to stuck her into, grow old and look at TV and be part of social and society events from time to time, should she do what others expect and grow old in front of that TV, or should she follow her own heart. This was made before Peyton Place when all skeletons fell out of the closets. |
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