Old Movies

I don't take the movies seriously, and anyone who does is in for a headache.
Bette Davis

When I got home today, a treat awaited me. I had ordered a used copy of All About Eve from amazon.com (oh, how I love used DVD's) and it arrived. I popped it in and am watching the story unfold. Even though I know how it will end (I've seen it a million times), I am still gripped by the performance.

I love old movies. It seems as if the characters were so much stronger then. I don't know why. Maybe it's because the actors were different somehow. Most of them had such forceful (euphemism, anyone) personality off screen that perhaps their performances were flavored by it. So many of them must have been fascinating to know. Difficult, vain, primadonnas, and real jackasses, but probably fascinating to know.

Some of my favorite movies are All About Eve, Some Like It Hot, Singin' In the Rain, and Sunset Boulevard. Two are silly, and two are serious. I am trying to build a collection of my favorites, but, in truth, I can watch almost any old movie.

Some of my favorites are seasonal. For Halloween, I like Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte or House of Wax (the original, not the crappy new one). Another really scary b/w film is the original The Haunting of Hill House. It's based on a Shirley Jackson story and even though there are no mega special effects, the tension is fifty times greater than that awful remake of a few years ago. I scared myself silly with that one on a summer night when I was staying in the dorm by myself.

When I was in grad school, the film studies department at that university offered a series of free screenings of classic films. I got to see Casablanca from film just as it would have been shown in the theater. They showed a great selection every year. It was great to go in and sit in the dark with people who also liked those great old films and just enjoy.

Another of my favorite old movie memories happened when I was very young. The town near us has one of those enormous, elaborate movie palaces built in the 20's. It has a theater organ that has been restored, and to celebrate the completion of the renovation, they brought in an organist from the state capital and showed the original silent version of The Phantom of the Opera. It was spellbinding. Maybe that's when my love of old films began. There was an intermission with a sing along. They also showed a serial and a news reel. I was captivated. They've never done it again, but every year I hope for the magic to come back.

Those movie palaces were built to transport people away from their normal world. I love that. As you may already know, I am a big proponent of fantasy. Today's theaters don't really transport me anywhere, nor do the films they show. I guess that's one reason why I don't go very often. I'd much rather be in a place like the Orpheum in Memphis watching their organist rise up out of the pit in his white tux with tails and see something truly funny like Some Like It Hot on the big screen. Maybe if I can build up enough of a collection here at home, I can capture some tiny sparks of that feeling to revisit from the comfort of my couch.