Sometimes I think I was born a couple of decades too late. I love the classic movies set during the forties and fifties…all depicting life as we will never know it. Drama, mystery, romance, romantic comedy, film-noir, the suspense of a WWII movie set in Berlin…all a different time and place coming to life in timeless black & white.
I enjoy a step back in time seeing the vintage homes and furnishings. I love the fashions of the forties and fifties. I remember as a small child my older sisters wearing just such ensembles. I’ve slowly gathered a classic movie collection. Granted most are in VHS, so I must keep a VHS player that works! It’s not an impressive collection…but large enough that, at a moment’s notice, I can enjoy an evening with Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Claudette Colbert, Clark Gable, Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Jean Arthur among others. These are movies that have stood the test of time. These are actors who have set the standard against which today’s actors measure their performances.
I began this post with the idea of choosing my ten favorites. Impossible. Let’s just say the following are among my favorites. If you haven’t seen them, check them out from your local library or video store and spend an enjoyable evening with a few legends…
- Rear Window (1954) with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
- Spellbound (1945) with Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck. Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
- Vertigo (1958) with Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
- Rebecca (1940) with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
- North by Northwest (1959) with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
- The Talk of the Town (1942) with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. Director: George Stevens.
- It Happened One Night (1934) with Cary Grant and Claudette Colbert. Director: Frank Capra.
- It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Director: Frank Capra.
- Christmas in Connecticut (1945) with Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan. Director: Peter Godfrey.
- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) with Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison. Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
- Suspicion (1941) with Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Director: Alfred Hitchcock.
- Roman Holiday (1953) with Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Director: William Wyler.
- Laura (1944) with Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. Director: Otto Preminger.
I found the following clips below on YouTube. The Talk of the Town with Cary Grant is one of my all-time favorites. Watch these short clips and I think you’ll want to see the rest of it! 😉
2 Comments
Janet
Dianne, you are singing my song! Oh, how I love those classics from the Golden Age of Hollywood! Of the films you’ve listed, the only one I don’t have in my own collection is “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.” I love Hitchcock, and you have some of his best listed here. In fact, Abigail and I sat down a couple weeks ago and watched (well, re-watched, actually) “Rear Window.” Shortly after that, we watched “Vertigo.” Abigail had never seen that one before, so the ending really blew her away. With all the superior technology and special effects in movies today, they still can’t beat the great acting, directing, and storytelling of the classics.
Dianne
One of these days, you and your family will have to drive here! I’m not so far now. We can watch classic movies together. There are so many more movies that could make my favorites list!