Here’s a little known fact about me—I LOVE old movies.
If it’s shot in Technicolor, begins with a Overture, and is shown on Turner Classic Movies, then chances are, I am a fan of it. I have loved old movies ever since I can remember. It all started with the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s which I first saw when I was fifteen years old. Holly Golightly and her tale of being a woman of the night living in New York City intrigued me. It was then that I began watching old movies, especially those starring Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood, and Doris Day.
Thanks to my DVR, I have tons of old movies that I can watch at my disposal. My favorite remains Peyton Place, the soap opera like tale of a small New England town during the brink of World War II. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this film, and pretty much know the script by heart. I also love Splendor in the Grass, A Summer Place, Carmen Jones, and the gold standard of old movies, Gone With the Wind. I adore that movie so much that when I was in Georgia earlier this year, I dragged my friends to Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mead’s house on Peachtree Street. It’s the house where she wrote the epic novel which was turned into a award winning film, and it was not too far from that house where she died a few years later after being hit by a drunk driver.
I don’t know what it is that connects me with these old films. I come from a different generation of people, and most of these stories do not resonate with me personally. But I think I long for the days back then when it was a simple time. The story lines, no matter how fluffy, had deep meaning and were written and directed in such a way that isn’t prevalent in movies of today.
The fabulousness of Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The lovesick angst in Splendor in the Grass. The Civil War torn South of Gone With the Wind. They all make me feel something.
Now excuse me while I cue Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun. Another epic. Another masterpiece. Another classic film.
