Thursday, September 18, 2008

Old People Movies

I have a bit of an old soul in me.

I am thankful to have grown up with parents who had an affinity for classic movies. My mom, especially, liked the classics and we watched so many of the original Hollywood legends from the days when they still seemed to be flawless. There are very few actors today that I truly admire for the skill of their craft. I love the actors/actresses who can become so much in character that you truly believe they are their character. The quality of acting that doesn't leave room for the thought, "Oh, that's so-&-so", foremost in my mind throughout a film.
Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Glenn Close, Tom Hanks, Al Pacino...these are some that come to mind.

My mom, especially, liked the classics and we'd watch them so many times. A handful came to be known as our "Old People Movies", not so much because they were the type that older people would watch but because they often featured older actors in leading roles. Here are three clips from three of our all time favorites...all based on plays, two Old People movies, one fun 70's romantic comedy, and all three are wonderful.

Enjoy!







Top to Bottom:

1977 - Neil Simon's, The Goodbye Girl starring Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason and Quinn Cummings. (Note: don't bother with the 2004 TV remake--it's not even close to the original.)
The ending song by David Gates (former lead singer of Bread) always makes me smile!

1987 - David Berry's, The Whales of August starring Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price and Ann Sothern.

1981 - Ernest Thompson's, On Golden Pond starring Katherine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda, Doug McKeon, and Dabney Coleman. I recommend the unedited version (some mild cuss words that didn't offend me or detract from the story). The soundtrack by Dave Grusin is sublime especially the title theme.

9 comments:

Mrs.French said...

you have inspired me to head on over to netflix and choose some classics...thank you.

Melissa de la Fuente said...

I am so with you.....classice are so awesome! I was making my 7 year old watch All about Eve with me the other day! :) Thank you for your very sweet comment over on ML and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
xo
Melissa

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

mrs. french: Yay! That sounds great...nice way to pass an autumn evening. Enjoy!

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

melissa: you're so welcome, thanks for stopping by!

Liquid said...

Oh, we will soooooooo get along!

Pleasure to have found ya'!

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

liquid: Thanks...will check you out soon! ;-) ~tina

LBB said...

Hello Pfeiffers! Thanks for visiting my little blog! I whole-heartedly agree on the pleasure of watching "old movies"...my husband and I love watching the classics as well as the not so well known...they have great acting and so many different elements all in wrapped up in one movie: romance, mystery, comedy, etc...without having to rely heavily on other things (ie: special effects).

Learning Spanish at 41 said...

lbb: Hi--thanks for coming by and for the comment. That's exactly why I like the classics (and some modern movies that will become classics) is for the acting and elements that carry the stories without a use (or overuse) of "special effects". ~tina

Anonymous said...

Oh! I just LOVE old movies!!!!! Cary Grant & Doris Day & Rock Hudson & Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers & Don Ameche & Jimmy Stewart & Katherine Hepburn & June Alyson & Bing Crosby.........I get so lost in them......those were the days!!! Emily.

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