# The SF Classic Movie Thread



## Thx (Jul 3, 2015)

Hello fellow classic movie lovers,

 I guess I have been a lover of classic film (mostly 30s, 40s, 50s...) ever since I would sit on the arm of my dad's easy chair watching "Boy's Town" with him.

But it was in the mid-1980s watching AMC when I started seeing them every night instead of the network sit-coms I just didn't like.

Since then I have seen several thousand classic movies and have a DVD archive with about 1200, so far...

I have also read about 150 or so Hollywood bios of every big star I could get my hands on like Henry Fonda, Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, Kirk Douglas (< "The Ragman's Son" ) and movie moguls and production heads like Sam Goldwyn and Dore Schary. 

One of my favorite classic films is "Tales of Manhattan" with Charles Laughton and Edward G. Robinson and about two-dozen other stars like Ginger Rogers, Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth and Eddie Anderson along with some of our favorite supporting actors like James Gleason and Eugene Pallett. 

It was Charles Laughton and Edward G. "Manny" Robinson's parts though, that make me say this has some of the most powerful performances ever put on film, see if you don't agree...






I also like it because it is set in Manhattan like my two favorite films of all time: #1 The Out Of Towners", #2 "Midnight Cowboy."

I also like movies produced or set in the Great Depression era like "Paper Moon."

So please, add all your favorites and tell us why you like them.

Also, plenty of room for documentaries about Hollywood and the stars of old, I have several to post.

Thx opcorn:


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## Thx (Jul 3, 2015)

For several decades now, as mentioned, I have been immersed in the "talkies". 

Like many, I kept putting off delving into the silent era, only gathering bits and pieces of info to further whet my interest.

But for the last couple years I find myself drawn more and more into the silent era like the proverbial moth to a flame.

And here is the greatest, the most comprehensive series of documentaries on the silent era ever!

It is simply magnificent!

There are 12 to this series, "Hollywood" narrated by James Mason who was superbly cast for it!

 So don't miss this if you can at all help it gang, and I'll meet you back in the talkies.

*Roll 'em!*






Thx opcorn:


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## Thx (Jul 13, 2015)

Thx opcorn:


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## AZ Jim (Jul 13, 2015)

You will find that you cannot duplicate your own enthusiasm in others here or elsewhere.  Just let the thread cook and it may or may not take off.


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## Thx (Jul 13, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> You will find that you cannot duplicate your own enthusiasm in others here or elsewhere.  Just let the thread cook and it may or may not take off.



Yes, I wondered if there might not have already been a classic movie thread, is it so far-fetched to assume a "senior" forum would have such an interest?

Anyway, we'll just leave it there then.

Thanks for your post, geez, for awhile there it looked like it wouldn't even get one...


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## SeaBreeze (Jul 13, 2015)

I remember going with my mother to see this in the movie theater when I was very young.


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## NancyNGA (Jul 13, 2015)

Hi Thx!   Here is one I always liked.  Maybe because Ernest Borgnine was so out of his usual character.


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## applecruncher (Jul 13, 2015)

Mom and I watched this tearjerker.


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## applecruncher (Jul 13, 2015)

My favorite Jack Lemmon movie; cracks me up.


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## applecruncher (Jul 13, 2015)




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## Warrigal (Jul 14, 2015)

:lol: I thought this was about classic Sci Fi movies.
My favourite has to be The Time Machine with Rod Taylor.






https://youtu.be/36UQCZEsY9g


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## Lara (Jul 14, 2015)

Does a Classic Non-Classic count?…*"The Artist"*


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## oldman (Jul 14, 2015)

The original, "Blue Dahlia." My *favorite* all time classic. Great stars and great acting. The movie keeps the person watching not to look away for a moment. Now, that's a great movie.


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## Thx (Jul 14, 2015)

Well I knew there were some classic movie fans here after all by jingo! 

Thank you each for your contribution, and as Henry Hull said in the move Lifeboat: "Now we're back in business!" :adoration:


Here's one I saw last week: "Whirlpool" 1949 with Gene Tierney, Richard Conti, Jose Ferrer and Charles Bickford...







Pretty good thriller.

Thx opcorn:


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## Thx (Jul 14, 2015)

NancyNGA said:


> Hi Thx!   Here is one I always liked.  Maybe because Ernest Borgnine was so out of his usual character.



You know what Nancy, I have set this thread at several other forums and overall, "Marty" is mentioned more than any other favorite.

So many "bad guys" like Ernie Borgnine were actually gentle and sensitive souls, huh folks? 

Take this guy for instance, William Smith, we know him as a tough, muscle-bound  biker or hombre or something...







He speaks five languages and does poetry...

http://www.williamsmith.us/

Thx


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## oldman (Jul 14, 2015)

At Christmas time I have to watch "Holiday Inn." Great, music, great dancing and just an all around great seasonal favorite that has always been a must see next to "A Wonderful Life." 

I also like watching the old Bogey bad boy movies that he made, along with or without Cagney. Boston Blackie was another cop favorite. Just too many to mention.


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## NancyNGA (Jul 14, 2015)

Thx said:


> You know what Nancy, I have set this thread at several other forums and overall, "Marty" is mentioned more than any other favorite.



That is very interesting, Thx.   I thought this was a pretty overlooked little movie, even a bit corny in parts, but sweet.   I certainly would not give Marty the brush off.


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## applecruncher (Jul 14, 2015)

Ernest Borgnine won the Oscar for Best Actor in "Marty" - 1955.


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## Pappy (Jul 14, 2015)

The one I still enjoy is The African Queen. Bogey and Bacall were outstanding in this classic.


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## Thx (Jul 14, 2015)

oldman said:


> At Christmas time I have to watch "Holiday Inn." Great, music, great dancing and just an all around great seasonal favorite that has always been a must see next to "A Wonderful Life."
> 
> I also like watching the old Bogey bad boy movies that he made, along with or without Cagney. Boston Blackie was another cop favorite. Just too many to mention.



My personal favorite classic Christmas movie oldman is "The Shop Around The Corner"






I like Felix Bressart, the guy we see there with Jimmy Stewart.

Also, Frank Morgan is one of my favorite supporting actor/stars and I kind of like William Tracy, the one who plays that fresh kid "Pepi". 

I like crime drama as well, it's probably my favorite classic genre and have a few Boston Blackies in my collection. 

Thx


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## Thx (Jul 14, 2015)

NancyNGA said:


> That is very interesting, Thx.   I thought this was a pretty overlooked little movie, even a bit corny in parts, but sweet.   I certainly would not give Marty the brush off.



It surprised me some too, but folks just love the powerful performance by Borgnine there, it had a lasting impact that's for sure.

Thx


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## Thx (Jul 14, 2015)

Lara said:


> Does a Classic Non-Classic count?…*"The Artist"*



Sure, why not?

I actually got to be an extra in a 1940s "period piece", Steven Spielberg's "1941" with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.

It was the riot scene that begins here and spills out into the street where my friends and I were among 600 extras they were trying to make look like thousands.






It wasn't exactly easy, 12 hour nights and a lot of standing around waiting (just like a GI, "hurry up and wait, lol)

But I managed to have a lot of fun too and we wandered all over the Burbank lot.

(Oh, I see you got that video posting down, right on. )

Thx


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## Cookie (Jul 14, 2015)

For the ladies - Doris Day is still alive and well, here's one I always loved:


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## applecruncher (Jul 14, 2015)

Thanks, Cookie!  Here is my Doris Day favorite...with yummy Cary Grant. :love_heart:


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## applecruncher (Jul 14, 2015)

This may not really be a classic to anyone but me, but I've loved "Valley of the Dolls" since I was 17.  (Sharon Tate's last movie.)


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## applecruncher (Jul 14, 2015)

Madame X - Another Lana Turner tearjerker:


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