Rick at the Classic Film and TV Cafe started National Classic Movie Day on May 16th, back in 2014, and it’s still going strong. I actually have tickets today to see Double Indemnity up on the big screen, but I’m trying to decide whether to go. I know this sounds sacriligious, especially today, but it is about a 1.5 hr round trip from my house to NE Portland, OR. Frankly, sometimes I’m just not feeling the drive, you know? I have also seen Double Indemnity in the theater before, even at Grauman’s Chinese Theater! I could also see it tomorrow too. So we’ll see. I may opt to celebrate National Classic Movie Day at home with Chinese takeout instead. Also in my defense, I saw two classic films in the theater last weekend–Casablanca and The Bad and the Beautiful.
The Classic Movie Blog Association provided all the members with a series of prompts to celebrate this occasion. At the risk of creating an incredibly long blog post, I am going to try and answer each prompt.
- Your Favorite Hidden Film Gems
A Girl, A Guy and A Gob (1941). This is a great comedy starring my fave, Lucille Ball, a young Edmond O’Brien (another one of my faves, and in his second film!), and George Murphy. In this film, O’Brien plays Stephen Herrick, the wealthy boss of a large shipping company. Lucy plays Dot, a secretary who ends up working for Stephen. Unfortunately for them, there was no “meet cute” as the two had met a day or two prior in a tumultuous encounter at the theater. Stephen is part of the upper crust and is engaged to a woman who is obviously with him for the status and perks that his class brings her. He ends up meeting Dot’s more down to earth, albeit eccentric family, and is enchanted by how fun and carefree they live their lives. He and Dot start falling for each other–except she’s going with “Coffee Cup” (Murphy), a sailor whom she’s been dating forever.
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941). This is another great comedy from 1941 with another of my faves, Jean Arthur. In this film, Arthur plays the titular “Miss Jones,” her character’s first name is Mary. “The Devil” in the title refers to Charles Coburn’s character, John P. Merrick, the owner of the department store in which Mary works. At the beginning of the film, Merrick receives word that the employees at his store are trying to unionize. He decides to go undercover as “Thomas Higgins” and get a job at the store so he can discover who is instigating the unionization efforts. Higgins gets a job on the shoe floor selling slippers. He meets Mary and her co-worker/friend, Elizabeth (Spring Byington) and is quickly charmed by both–especially Elizabeth. He then meets Mary’s boyfriend, Joe O’Brien (Robert Cummings), and learns that he is the person behind the unionization campaign. However, at this point Merrick has developed a friendship with these employees and starts to sympathize with their cause. This film is very funny and charming.
Conflict (1945). This is a great, unsung film noir, that even the film’s star, Humphrey Bogart, disliked immensely. However, I disagree with Bogart and think that this is a great film. In this film, Bogart plays Richard Mason, husband to Kathryn (Rose Hobart). In the opening scene, we can see that there is trouble with the Masons. Kathryn nags Richard relentlessly, and even tells him he’s wrong about disliking mutton when he very pointedly says he hates it. However, the tension in their marriage isn’t due to mutton, it’s due to the fact that Richard is openly smitten with Kathryn’s sister, Evelyn (Alexis Smith). Richard eventually comes up with a scheme to “off” Kathryn, and make it look like an accident. The plan seems to go off without a hitch. Family friend, Dr. Mark Hamilton (Sydney Greenstreet), however is suspicious as are the police. This is a great movie and the ending was done very well. While it might not be at the top of the Bogart canon of films, it’s a good movie. Bogart also played a wife murderer in a few films after this one–The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) with Barbara Stanwyck, which is also very good.
Out of the Blue (1947). This is an insane, but very funny movie. This film stars George Brent and Carole Landis as Arthur and Mae Earthleigh. The Earthleighs live in an apartment in New York City’s Greenwhich village. Their terrace is next door to bachelor David (Turhan Bey) who owns the very rowdy German Shepherd, Rabelais. David is also an artist and employs a lot of models to pose for him. His current muse is Deborah (Virginia Mayo), who also wants to breed her German Shepherd with his. Later, Mae goes out of town. Bored, Arthur goes to a bar where he meets Olive (Ann Dvorak), a woman who loves brandy, which she says helps soothe a heart condition. However, while the brandy may help Olive’s heart, it also causes her to pass out. In a questionable move for a married man, Arthur invites Olive to his home for brandy. Later, Arthur asks Olive to leave and she does. Until she reenters his home and passes out in his guest room, but not before redecorating the room! The next morning, he discovers Olive and accidentally knocks her down onto the floor. He thinks she’s dead; but she’s actually passed out. This starts a hilarious third act where Arthur, Deborah and David try to move Olive’s “body” around–all while the nosey old lady neighbors, including Elizabeth “Mrs. Trumbull” Patterson watch in shock.
That Funny Feeling (1965). This is a very funny movie starring power couple Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin. Nita Talbot, Larry Storch, and Donald O’Connor provide excellent and hilarious support. In this film, Dee plays Joan Howell, an aspiring actress who makes a living as a maid, cleaning clients’ homes. Darin plays Tom Milford, a publishing executive. On three separate occasions, he and Dee run into each other (literally) at the neighborhood newstand. What Tom doesn’t know is that Joan is the maid who cleans his apartment. Tom’s boss, Harvey (O’Connor), is in the middle of a divorce and is using Tom’s apartment to hide some of his expensive oil paintings, so that they’re not taken from him during the divorce settlement. Harvey wants to send Tom away on a business trip for two weeks. Tom leaves a note for his maid, letting her know that he’ll be gone and requests additional cleaning. She decides to invite herself and friend Audrey (Talbot) to spend the two weeks at her client’s apartment, to getaway from their horribly crummy and cramped place. Tom’s business trip ends up being canceled. He takes Joan out on a date. When it comes time to take her home, Joan directs Tom to his apartment, telling her it’s her home. He is amused and confused, but decides not to come clean just to see how far she’ll go in her deception. At one point, Tom is with Joan and his friends and has to pretend that Harvey’s place is his new place, as they would recognize his place that Joan is pretending is hers. This movie is very funny–especially the part when Dee and Talbot attempt to make Duck a l’orange to disasterous results.
2. How did you become a classic film fan and/or who introduced you to classic films?
I’ve always watched classic films, as they were just films. My family never considered movies “old,” they were just movies. My love for classic film really increased though in 1994 when I was 10, when I discovered I Love Lucy one night on my beloved Nick at Nite. I loved the show and especially loved Lucille Ball. My family also went to the library once a month. I discovered that my library had a lot of Lucille Ball, I Love Lucy, and everything adjacent. I read all of it. From these biographies about Lucy, I learned about her movie career. My library also just happened to have a large number of Lucy’s films available on VHS in their audio/visual department. I borrowed every single one. From Lucy’s films and I Love Lucy, I discovered even more favorites–Katharine Hepburn, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, William Holden, Eve Arden… the list goes on. Then from seeing some of these stars’ movies, I discovered other favorite stars like Fred Astaire, Grace Kelly, Ann Blyth, etc. etc. Even 30+ years later, I’m still finding new favorites and I don’t anticipate that trend ending anytime soon.
3. What is your favorite film memory?
Seeing Casablanca at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, completely packed house (almost 1000 seats), and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Another favorite film memory is seeing Barbarella in a sold-out house at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR. The audience was completely entranced by the campfest that is Barbarella. One of the female attendees even dressed as Barbarella, which is admirable, because it was January in Oregon. Now THAT is dedication to cosplay.
Finally, another favorite memory is seeing Titanic on opening day in December 1997 when I was in the 8th grade. Me, my parents, my sister, my friends, my friend’s parents… at least 10 of us, filled most of an entire theater row at the now defunct Movieland in downtown Salem, OR (where I grew up). My mom worked a few blocks from the theater and went a week or two ahead of time to get the tickets. That was such a fun memory and I ended up seeing Titanic in the theater three times before it finally left the screens in late 1998.
4. What film(s) would you watch to introduce kids to classics?
I would probably choose a colorful, exciting film like The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with my fave, Errol Flynn, or something colorful and funny like Singin’ in the Rain (1952). Kids, I’m sure would love Cosmo’s “Make ’em Laugh” dance where he does backflips off of the walls. I also think kids would like Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) because of Margaret O’Brien’s antics and for the bright colors and music.
5. Talk about your favorite film era/decade/genre
I love the 1940s, it’s my favorite decade of my favorite era (Classic Hollywood) and it is also the peak of my favorite genre–film noir. I love the 1940s for the wartime, homefront movies. I love the advent of film noir and the switch from the glamorous escapist films of the 1930s to the shadow-filled, moody, sometimes derelict locations of film noir. The 1940s were also when another of my favorite genres, musicals, started to become popular with the emergence of Gene Kelly, another of my favorite stars. Two of my favorite films, Casablanca (1942) and Mildred Pierce (1945) came out during this era.
6. Create a watch list
I’ll admit that I’m not the watch list type. My letterboxd watch list contains exactly zero films. However, right now, these are the films I’m trying to watch, mostly because I got them from the library and need to return them:
1. Nights of Cabiria (1957)
2. Days of Heaven (1978)
3. The Twelve Chairs (1970)
4. Manhattan (1979)
5. The Farmer’s Daughter (1947)
6. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
7. Ishtar (1987)
8. Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
9. Swingers (1996)
10. Vanishing Point (1971)
11. Dangerous Liasions (1989)
12. Jerry Maguire (1996)
13. Money From Home (1953)
14. The Towering Inferno (1974)
7. Is there a film that has been passed down generations in your family?
Only films that my parents shared with me. I didn’t really grow up seeing extended family very often, mine lived halfway across the country from us.
8. Share any bucket list classic film you have
Besides allegedly lost films like Convention City (1932) and the full version of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), I need to watch the entirety of Gone with the Wind (1939). I’ve only seen the first half. I also sometime want to watch Cleopatra (1963) because of the legendary stories about the tumultuous filming. My “bucket list” films are going to be many of the very long films that are supposedly masterpieces.
9. What are your favorite classic film resources?
TCM (of course), My own physical media shelves, Criterion Channel, and the library–especially the Inter-Library Loan program.
10. What classic films do you long to see on the big screen?
I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to see a lot of my favorite films on the big screen, including my all-time #1 favorite film, The Long Long Trailer (1954) which I’ve seen on the big screen twice. As for some of my other favorites that I haven’t been able to see on the big screen, I’d love to see The More the Merrier (1943), Funny Face (1957), Dark Passage (1947), and Gaslight (1944).
