on . . . Christmas movies (of course)

Movies are big at our house. Christmas is big at our house. Christmas movies - huge! We rarely look for anything new, we are not very adventurous in our Christmas viewing . . . preparing the movie list, what order and when we watch all our favorites, is a ritual. Which ones did we not get to last year, when is everyone going to be home, which are we most looking forward to this year, etc?

Some films that have Christmas as a backdrop or a minor theme we might not get to every year - Die Hard, A Tale Of Two Cities, even Trading Places are on the list, but from year to year might not make it to viewing (though, any opportunity to watch A Tale Of Two Cities, the greatest movie ever made, ought not to be missed), but some are required and never missed. A Christmas Carol is saved for Christmas Eve, and is only ever the 1951 Alastair Sim version - and just so happens to have the scariest movie ghost ever in Jacob Marley. It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle On 34th Street, and A Christmas Story are must-see Christmas viewing and always looked forward to. Trapped In Paradise and Elf are relatively new additions and big favorites. 

And there are several television specials on our yearly list. We watch for the broadcast of Charlie Brown, the Grinch, and Rudolf, but we own Pee Wee's, Mr Bean's, and The Simpson's Christmas specials, and we all hold The Honeymooner's Christmas episode to be very special.  And one of the most eagerly awaited Christmas celebrations at our house is David Letterman's Christmas show . . . Jay Thomas' yearly Lone Ranger tale is fun, the traditional knocking the meatball off the top of the tree is fine, but Darlen Love's annual rendition of "Christmas (baby Please Come Home)" is a phenomenon and should not be missed by anyone.

And last but far from least; I think our family's real favorite, the one most anticipated and enjoyed year after year, is Holiday Inn. If anyone wonders why White Christmas isn't on our list, that's ok, and some of it is real good, but Holiday Inn is by far the superior film - and, interestingly enough, the first film to feature the song "White Christmas". Like It's A Wonderful Lifeand Sim's A Christmas Carol, Holiday Inn is simply a great movie, Christmas or no. The story is great, the music is great, the comedy is great, etc, etc, it's just a really good movie that happens to have Christmas as a prominent storyline feature.

 Make our list your own, and you will have a very . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

on . . . . Ronald Colman

MICKEY: As we leave Halloween and scary movies behind, and I am undirected as to any particular topic to write about, I think of spotlighting my favorite actor - Ronald Colman. Colman is not as commonly remembered as many of his peers . . . Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, etc, are all (usually) well-known, or at least known, to modern audiences - but Ronald Colman is largely unknown by today's movie fans. This is not because he was never as big a star as these other men, Ronald Colman was huge . . . he was one of the biggest, most popular silent era stars and became even bigger when sound came to the local theaters. Colman had movie star good looks, compelling eyes, and the most beautiful speaking voice in the English language - but his appearance and manner were distinctly of his time. Whereas Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and others looked and comported themselves in a compatible manner with the 30's, 40's, 50, and even the 60's, by the 50's Ronald Colman struck audiences as definitively a man of a generation or two ago.
 

Ronald Colman was a great actor, as I said he was one of the biggest and most popular silent era stars, and in 1930 in his first talking picture roles Colman received two Oscar nominations for two different films, he went on to earn several more best actor nominations winning an Oscar in 1948 - but it's hard not to speak first and dwell on his voice. You can't find comments about Ronald Colman that don't praise his most celebrated gift - his speaking voice. When he spoke, saying nearly anything, you heard earnestness, gallantry, resoluteness, warmth, heroism, and most of all, virtue. Generations later, people who have never heard of Ronald Colman, still adopt a particular manner of speaking to portray a noble, honorable, heroic character - what they are doing is simply mimicking Ronald Colman. Various cartoon characters and advertisements have and do use a Ronald Colmanesque voice to inform the audience that what the audience is hearing is a good, trustworthy, honorable person. In his last film, The Story Of Mankind, humanity was on trial before a cosmic court and Earth offered the finest individual of all mankind, humanities most noble representative - Ronald Colman was cast as that man. 

And yet - one of Colman's most remarkable screen moments is all a closeup and lingering shot of his face, with nothing said. My favorite love story is Random Harvest, with Ronald Colman, one of my favorite romantic comedies is Lucky Partners with Ronald Colman, my all time favorite movie is A Tale Of Two Cities with Ronald Colman. Year after year Colman was voted the number one favorite film star, from the 1920's to the 1950's - yet today he is forgotten by many. For those who love old, classic, B&W Hollywood films but are unfamiliar with Ronald Colman, you have a great treasure storehouse to investigate and enjoy. Some you 
should look for first include ~

Tale Of Two Cities

Lost Horizon

The Prisoner Of Zenda

Lucky Partners

Talk Of The Town

Random Harvest

Champagne For Caesar

MARY:  I always loved Colman, and felt a certain warmth when thinking of him almost as if he was someone I knew once.  The first thing that I think when his name is mentioned is "Paula" I can hear him standing there saying it, one word, one scene, filled with more emotion then most can fill an entire movie with. 

Halloween Happenings

Sorry for the lack of posts; 4 kids, no sleep and a holiday approaching.  I'm sure my viewings for this Halloween will be limited to Monster House and The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, which I'm fine with both we enjoy as a family. 
One thing I hate to have not said as this Halloween passes by is that, even with all the scary movies, big blockbusters they spend tons of money on to insure their release in time for October 31, my favorites are the comedies.  I love Young Frankenstein, "sedagive, sedagive," Gene Wilder should be so much more famous than he is, although that stint on WIll and Grace didn't help him much.  One of my husband's favorite's is The 'Burbs and for the last month we've been going to bed watching it. 
These are the best to watch with the family, or at least with mine, because as Mortimer Brewster put it best, "Insanity runs in my family...it practically gallops."

Top Ten Monday

Top Ten Halloween Movies



     Mary's

  1. Arsenic and Old Lace

  2. Young Frankenstein

  3. When a Stranger Calls

  4. House on Haunted Hill

  5. The Haunting

  6. Psycho

  7. Halloween

  8. The Shining

  9. Lady in White

10. Nosferatu

         Mickey's

  1. Arsenic and Old Lace

  2. Lady in White

  3. Young Frankenstein

  4. Shock Waves

  5. The Sentinel (1977)

  6. The Bride Of Frankenstein

  7. The Haunting

  8. Phantasm

  9. Halloween

10. Nosferatu

MARY: I so wanted to include Beetlejuice.  For that matter all Hitchcock, but his films are such anytime movies that I don't want to limit them to a Halloween list. 

This Week on TCM

Halloween is coming and TCM is filled with the several nights of great hauntings.  Some are favorites, some I cannot wait to see.  Happy Halloween!

Sunday24th

Nosferatu

Wednesday 27th

Lucky Partners
Mildred Pierce

Thursday 28th

Rebecca

Hammer Horror Festival on Friday...so excited!
Curse of Frankenstein, The
Revenge of Frankenstein, The
Frankenstein Created Woman
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!

Saturday 30th

Berserk
Ghoul, The
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

[And, a special note on William Castle: William Castle was the master of gimmick matinées. In the early 60's Castle (who started as Orson Well's assistant director) made a series of low-budget horror films that he promoted with a new gimmick with each film . . . from glowing skeletons flying above the audience to electrified seats, Castle himself would often appear on screen during previews to his films or before a film would start to encourage patrons to purchase freight insurance or to assure them that nurses were standing by. On the 30th The Old Dark House, 13 Ghosts, Homicidal, Mr. Sardonicus, and Strait-Jacket all follow one anther.  Homicidal was Castle's answer to Psycho, and is not always as silly as it sometimes appears - on occasion it's quite effective. Strait-Jacket was Castle's attempt to set aside the gimmicks and see if he could fill the theater by featuring a legitimate Hollywood star . . . and Joan Crawford does indeed add an aspect of legitimacy and genuine suspense to the film. Then on the 31st (after a mini Roger Corman festival) Castle's The Tingler, staring the always great Vincent Price, airs. When I was 10 and moved to Harrisburg everyone on Park St told me The Tingler was the scariest movie they ever saw - the last 10 minutes or so demonstrate why 10 year old boys in a movie theater would be scared by this movie.]

Sunday 31st

Terror, The

House On Haunted Hill

Haunting, The


on Lucky Partners

 MICKEY: I would encourage all to watch Lucky Partners on Wednesday - this is a (near) screwball romantic comedy that Hollywood did so well in the 30's & 40's. Hollywood (American cinema) was known for Westerns, they liked presenting themselves as making epics, and musicals were their specialty - but what Hollywood did better than anybody, what they refined into art was romantic comedies. One of the reasons Hollywood so excelled at romantic comedies in the 30's & 40's is the stars they had to make romantic comedies with . . . Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Jimmy Stewart, Jean Arthur, Myrna Loy, etc, made those movies some of the best movies ever made.

In Lucky Partners we have Ronald Colman and Ginger Rogers, and there's nobody better. The film opens with strangers passing on the street - Colman passes Rogers saying "Good luck", when she questions his remark Colman responds "I merely wished you good luck" and the story begins to unfold ending in one of Hollywood's classic courtroom conclusions.

I say it's a "near" screwball comedy because it actually flips the scenario of the classic screwball . . . "screwball" doesn't indicate merely a wacky kind of premise or goofy jokes - "screwball" references a very particular type of storyline; these films were made in the Depression era and the common features of a ditsy young heiress who falls for a working class guy and goes through a series of misunderstandings. In Lucky Partners Ginger Rogers is the working class character and Ronald Colman is the character of some (but yet to be discovered) distinction. This is a great example of what Hollywood does best and an example of great stars who are a joy to watch.

on Rebecca . . .

Simply one of the best movies ever made, easily in my top ten (Mary's #1!). I count Rebecca to be the movie that all my children fully came to love and look forward to watching old B&W movies with dad through.

on Hammer Horror Festival on Friday . . .

Anytime Peter Cushing plays Dr.Frankenstein the film is worth watching, but let me alert you;  The Curse of Frankenstein has both Cushing and Christopher Lee and was the first of the Classic Hammer Horror remakes.  The Revenge of Frankenstein is very good, with more of a tragic bad guy than a monster. The others, as I say, Cushing as Baron Frankenstein is always worth watching.

and . . . House On Haunted Hill is a fun, late night, scary movie with popcorn and friends -   The Haunting is the genuinely creepy, scary, haunted house movie - the final scene on the drive leading to the gate (Eleanor's escape from Hill House) has one of the very few scenes that actually scared me in any movie ever.

on . . . . Hammer Films

MICKEY: I can't let the Halloween season, and our recent attention here at Talking Pictures on scary movies, pass without speaking about the monster movies I grew-up with from the Hammer Films studio of England. Hammer Films had been around for many years, but in the late 50's they started remaking the classic Universal Studios Frankenstein, Dracula, mummy, and werewolf, etc, movies . . . and they excelled at what they were doing. 

Boris Karloff's Frankenstein monster is still, to this day, the great movie monster, and Bela Lugosi's career was forever overshadowed by his portrayal of Dracula . . . these were lush, gorgeous B&W films with outstanding sets and performances - but Hammer followed the same course with stunning castles and laboratories, flawless costumes, and stop-in-your-tracks arresting performances . . . and just as gorgeous as Universal's glorious B&W, there was no red ever filmed as lavishly technicolor red as Hammer blood-red.

Every suspicious innkeeper, every lab assistant, every local constable, etc, in Hammer films were believable and a joy to watch - but inarguably Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Barbara Shelley were who every 10 year old boy was hoping to see in their neighborhood theater. Starting in 1957 with  The Curse of Frankenstein and then in 1958 with Horror of Dracula (both, and many other Hammer classics, directed by Terence Fisher), Cushing and Lee began a tradition that I still thrill to watch. 

Cushing was always fully convincing as a Victorian era obsessively driven scientist or as the heroically authoritative vampire hunter, and Lee unreservedly recreated Dracula as a sophisticated count who goes rabidly ravenous while under the blood-lust. For many of my (baby-boomer) generation these were the first two movie stars we recognized and cared about . . . if we went to see Lee as Dracula and it wasn't Cushing's Van Helsing chasing him back to his castle but some chubby priest, we were devastated - and if we went to see Cushing as Dr Frankenstein and his creation was not Lee but some middle-aged bald guy, we wanted our money back.

What makes a film a classic - the nature of the material, the age of the intended audience? These movies are classics because they've stood the test of time, they are still beautiful to look at and thrilling to watch. It's a spoiler, but go to YouTube and watch Cushing and Lee, look at the set, costumes, listen to the score, etc, but most of all, watch these two genuinely talented actors fully commit to this kid's Saturday matinée. 

Wednesday's Guest Writer - Benny

This week's guest writer is Mary's brother and Mickey's son, Benny - the youngest of the clan.

Suggestions to your scariest villain lists.

The Gramercy Riffs (The Warriors) - A deadly street gang with huge numbers that is actually somewhat sophisticated and organized . . . not good.

Mr. Blonde (Reservoir Dogs) - Who can forget the "stuck in the middle with you" scene. Few scenes in movie history can take an already popular song and change them forever. I now cringe every time it comes on the radio.

Hitch hiker (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) - I can't even describe the first scene with the hitch hiker.  Just uncomfortable, scary and brilliantly acted.

My Top 5 "Horror " Movie Heroes 

1. Ash (Evil Dead 1 & 2, Army of Darkness) The Ultimate, the movies might be kind of silly but there is no question Ash could have taken care of Michael Myers or Jason . 

2. Sarah Connor (Terminator) She killed an Arnold Schwarzenegger robot that was designed to kill, and eventually gave birth to the mad that would save the world. 

3. Lewis (Deliverance) If you have not seen this movie I'm not going to describe it, but if you have I know somewhere around the middle of that movie you thought "thank goodness for Burt Reynolds".

4. Dr Van Helsing (Horror of Dracula) Even the greatest Dracula ever(Christopher Lee) was no match for Peter Cushing's Van Helsing. Cushing's Oscar worthy turn as the great vampire slayer is just one thing that makes this the greatest Dracula movie of all, which just so happens to have the greatest climax in film history. 

5. Ben (Night of the Living Dead) Nobody knew what a zombie was before, but this guy sure knew how to kill them.