What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[LizzieMaine]

I saw a movie the other day, I think it was 1930's "Street Scene" or it could have been in 1951's "Love Next," but in some throw-away line a father noted to his wife that "the kid" was to do as told and not complain, period, full stop with the implication being that is how kids are raised.

Cultures have norms and while I have no doubt (and have seen evidence that) there was a wide range of how kids were raised back then as there is a wide range now, there is also a cultural norm or narrative - the "publicly acceptable" way to raise kids - that almost everyone, at least to some degree, represents is how they raise their kids.

Growing up, my parents - like most of the parents in my neighborhood - thought nothing of leaving their six, seven, eight, etc., year-old kid (not baby) in the car for - pick a number - ten, twenty or thirty minutes (not two or three hours) to run an errand or two. In the summer, the window was cracked. That was an acceptable cultural thing to do. Today it isn't and, depending on the facts and circumstances, could be viewed as abuse.

One of the fun and interesting things about old movies is to see those cultural norms change.

2Jakes' line, noted above, says it very well as, growing up, it wasn't even a consideration in my house that I would complain about almost anything. Gratitude or, at least, quiet acceptance was expected and while each house was different to a degree, that was pretty much how all but a few of my friends were raised*. Today, it seems the complete opposite where kids are encourage to - if not complain - at minimum, express their own point of view and objections with parents - publicly, at least - embracing this approach.

That's it, just doing what we do here: pointing out Golden Era norms and changes over time.


* Growing up, I was always uncomfortable with the few friends I had that were allowed to talk back to their parents because I kept expecting the parents to get angry and put a stop to it quickly. Even though it didn't happen, I - even to this day - am uncomfortable when a child talks back or is (what would have been when I was growing up) rude to his or her parents. I never, ever say anything to parents or kids (even ones I know well) when this is happening (not my business), but I am still very uncomfortable when it happens.

The main difference, I think, is that there was a time when people viewed children as miniature adults because of a combination of myths, superstitions and lack of understanding of basic neurological science. We know a lot more nowadays than we did eighty years ago about the actual biochemical process of child development, and the many ways in which the brain of a child differs physically from that of an adult -- a kid is simply not physically able to process information or control reactions in the way that an adult does because the parts of the brain that would allow them to do this simply haven't evolved in their heads yet, and you can't hasten that process along by harsh discipline. Science doesn't work that way.

Insisting that a child repress their natural emotional responses at all times and behave "like an adult" is as damaging to that child as forcing a left-handed kid to write right handed. Terrorizing kids with a "sit down and shut up or I'll belt you" as a philosophy of child rearing has left a lot of damaged people behind. You can beat a dog to make it stop barking, but there's a good chance that dog will eventually tear your throat out. That we've, mostly, come to understand this is a very positive sort of cultural change, one driven by science rather than one driven by "I said so, that's why. Now sit down and shut up."

I think the fact that we have so many older people today in positions of authority who are clearly the product of severe emotional and developmental damage which they act out every day in public makes all this quite evident. I'd rather hear a kid have a tantrum in a grocery store any day of the week than watch yet another elderly man have a tantrum on C-Span.

 

[2jakes]

Working for a tv news station for years;
I’ve seen tantrum-throwing kids whose lives have ended at
a very young age from overdose.

I’ve also seen kids in prison for committing horrendous crimes who
have been abused.

It’s sad when I see a kid having a tantrum in the grocery
store or a man in prison repent on his last day in death row.

Regretfully...bringing life into this world does not come with
a set of instructions!

 

[ChiTownScion]

I'd rather hear a kid have a tantrum in a grocery store any day of the week than watch yet another elderly man have a tantrum on C-Span.

And that's why I will never retire to one of those warm, sunny retirement havens. Florida, Arizona, OC California, etc. : you can have it.* The last thing I want to deal with when I'm old myself is crotchety old fogies. Give me young, radical, artsy, funky- and a little bit eccentric.. and you can even throw in a crying baby once a month or so. The last thing I need to hear in my own "golden years" is griping about how rotten young kids are, how the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and so forth: I need the optimism and vibrancy of youth to keep me going.


*And yeah: not everyone in those locales is a geriatric downer. I know that. But my rotten luck, I seem to draw them to me like flies to sugar. Don't need that: I don't want to become that by osmosis.

 

[2jakes]

^^^^^
Which is why on my time off, I can be
found on the tennis courts with the “kids”

 

[Zombie_61]

...Regretfully...bringing life into this world does not come with
a set of instructions!

"You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they'll let any butt-reaming ******* be a father." - Tod (Keanu Reeves), Parenthood (1989)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And that's why I will never retire to one of those warm, sunny retirement havens. Florida, Arizona, OC California, etc. : you can have it.* The last thing I want to deal with when I'm old myself is crotchety old fogies. Give me young, radical, artsy, funky- and a little bit eccentric.. and you can even throw in a crying baby once a month or so. The last thing I need to hear in my own "golden years" is griping about how rotten young kids are, how the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and so forth: I need the optimism and vibrancy of youth to keep me going.


*And yeah: not everyone in those locales is a geriatric downer. I know that. But my rotten luck, I seem to draw them to me like flies to sugar. Don't need that: I don't want to become that by osmosis.

You can't entirely blame them, though. That's probably all they heard growing up, and they're just acting out. If they themselves had been treated with respect as children -- real respect as human beings -- chances are they'd be able to find that within themselves today.

We're a very diseased culture, and we have been for a long time. We sneer at the Britsh for being "cold and repressed," but Americans need to look in the mirror and see what decades of our own fetishizing of hardness, coldness, and emotional repression, especially in men, has gotten us.

 

[3fingers]

I'm not convinced that being old has much more to do with it beyond loosening the filter. A wise old woman I knew always said if you aren't a nice young person, you sure won't be a nice old person. She has been gone for close to 30 years now but I've never forgotten that.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

Illegal (1955) with Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, and Hugh Marlowe. DA Robinson leaves government to become a criminal defense attorney. DeForrest Kelley plays a small but pivotal role; Edward "Chief" Platt and Ellen Corby contribute as well.

The Letter (1940) with Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson; dir. William Wyler. If you've seen it, very few films can match it and you know why. If you haven't seen it, there is nothing to prepare you for it. See it and hold on to your chair.

 

[Zombie_61]

On The Town (1949). Sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra), and Ozzie (Jules Munshin), on a day of shore leave in New York. Co-starring Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, and Vera-Ellen, even most of the musical numbers are goofy fun.

 

[2jakes]

On The Town (1949). Sailors Gabey (Gene Kelly), Chip (Frank Sinatra), and Ozzie (Jules Munshin), on a day of shore leave in New York. Co-starring Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, and Vera-Ellen, even most of the musical numbers are goofy fun.

Usually not a fan of musicals but stayed to watch the entire film to catch a
glimpse of the city from that time period and enjoyed Betty Garrett as an
aggressive taxi driver.

 

[Zombie_61]

Usually not a fan of musicals but stayed to watch the entire film to catch a glimpse of the city from that time period and enjoyed Betty Garrett as an aggressive taxi driver.

Ann Miller allegedly took credit for convincing Louis B. Mayer to film on location because she had "never seen New York". Legend has it they hid the camera(s) in the back of a station wagon while filming the street scenes so as not to draw attention to themselves because Frank Sinatra was at the height of his popularity.

I don't like musicals either, but the use of humor makes this one tolerable.

 

[Fading Fast]

Illegal (1955) with Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, and Hugh Marlowe. DA Robinson leaves government to become a criminal defense attorney. DeForrest Kelley plays a small but pivotal role; Edward "Chief" Platt and Ellen Corby contribute as well...

Can't believe I've never seen this one - the cast is right up my alley (Robinson doesn't know how to give a bad performance, Nina Foch should have had a better career and Hugh Marlow pops up in several of my favorite movies).

...The Letter (1940) with Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson; dir. William Wyler. If you've seen it, very few films can match it and you know why. If you haven't seen it, there is nothing to prepare you for it. See it and hold on to your chair.

I'm a big fan as well. Strong story, outstanding acting, wonderful atmosphere and holds up very well to multiple viewings.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Re "The Letter," the Jeanne Eagels version from 1929 is also well worth looking up as perhaps the first "modern" acting performance of the talkie era. A shattering film even though it only survives as a work print, and the fact that Eagels died right after filming it leaves you thinking she would have gone down as one of the towering stars of the 1930s if she had lived.

 

[Fading Fast]

Re "The Letter," the Jeanne Eagels version from 1929 is also well worth looking up as perhaps the first "modern" acting performance of the talkie era. A shattering film even though it only survives as a work print, and the fact that Eagels died right after filming it leaves you thinking she would have gone down as one of the towering stars of the 1930s if she had lived.

Have I missed it on TCM or do they not play that version as I don't recall seeing it listed?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think they played it once, a long time ago. It was a Paramount film, but has since become public domain, so there's a lot of raggedy versions floating around, including one on YouTube that's so dark and foggy it's like watching the movie thru smoked glass. But there's also a restored DVD out there that has a pretty decent picture. Here's a clip:

Eagels was a superb actress on Broadway and in silent pictures during the twenties, but she was one of the many stars of that period who couldn't stay away from drugs. She was a heroin addict and an alcoholic, and that's what killed her -- a great loss to both stage and screen.

 

[Fading Fast]

I think they played it once, a long time ago. It was a Paramount film, but has since become public domain, so there's a lot of raggedy versions floating around, including one on YouTube that's so dark and foggy it's like watching the movie thru smoked glass. But there's also a restored DVD out there that has a pretty decent picture. Here's a clip:

Eagels was a superb actress on Broadway and in silent pictures during the twenties, but she was one of the many stars of that period who couldn't stay away from drugs. She was a heroin addict and an alcoholic, and that's what killed her -- a great loss to both stage and screen.

Wow - awesome clip. Very similar in style to the Davis version but more stagey - no surprises as they had ten-plus years to learn how to do "talkies" in between.

Eagles' acting is impressive - captivating - and she is timelessly beautiful (some stars are of their period, her beauty would work today and in any time period). Maybe it's because I know her drug and drinking history, but her shaky body movements look drug-alcoholic-addict like, but her talent powers through it.

I'll keep my eye out for it on TCM (I want to see a good version) as, at some point, they'll run it as part of some theme their doing - remakes, a new Eagles' documentary, etc. Thank you for pointing it out.

 

[2jakes]

Unable to sleep I finally watched TCM’s offering
of Harold Lloyd silents last night which I had
recorded earlier in the week.
Never realized how fit he was to be able to do all the stunts
in spite of the fact he was wearing a tightly fitted glove
over a prosthetic thumb and finger when filming.
With Jobyna Ralston.

And all this while wearing saddles.
My hero!

 

[Harp]

... Give me young, radical, artsy, funky- and a little bit eccentric.. and you can even throw in a crying baby once a month or so. The last thing I need to hear in my own "golden years" is griping about how rotten young kids are, how the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and so forth: I need the optimism and vibrancy of youth to keep me going.

Last Friday evening I stopped at my bar for a drink and some Belmont Stakes handicapping since I planned
an early morning dash out to the track to lay down a few bets and spend the day elsewhere; next to my table
a kid was explaining to his girlfriend why he sometimes slapped his ex wife around. I almost cut in to tell her
to lose this particular individual, but to each their own...

 

[LizzieMaine]

I wish someone had said that to my mother in 1958.

 

[scotrace]

Last movie I saw was Hereditary, a really well done horror film out just now. A combination of terrifying supernatural phenomena and an equally frightful look inside the minds of a family of schizophrenics. It's easily one of the scariest, goosebumps-making movies I've ever seen. My wife was so scared at one point she cried, and this woman loves scary movies.