/ot/ - off-topic

I fucking love old Hollywood anon, I wouldn't even know where to begin with favorites. One that I watched again recently is Now, Voyager. Bette Davis is probably my favorite classic actress and her role in this film just makes me so weepy.

>>89993
Ooooh I love Bette Davis! She's one of the classic movie actress who's not afraid of looking 'ugly' for her role. My favorite Bette Davis movie is still "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?". And whatever happened between her and Joan Crawford behind the scene made this movie even better in my opinion. Spoilered the movie poster in case it's scary for some people.

I haven't watch "Now, Voyager", but the title sounds familiar though…I should look into it, thank you for the suggestion anon!

The story and acting in movies older than around 1995 just feel off. I can never get into them. Anyone else feel this way?

>>90000
I agree. Also, nice get.

>>90000
It does feel strange though, and the way they talk are funny, especially in American old movies. Like, they have accent, but not exactly an American accent, nor British, but oddly sounds like in-between(??). I know it's confusing, I don't know how to explain this well. If I hear it, I know straight away though.

>>90010
Well, considering America is a fairly young country compared to the rest of the world I imagine it's just the evolution of the language. Older movies just sort of have a dreamy quality to me.

Moving along, I do like classic musicals as well. My Fair Lady is one of my favorites.

Quite into cult 60s/70's. Just love the the general feel of those eras.

My favourite would be the original wicker man but I highly recommend the collector.

I love me some Clark Gable

>>90011
Audrey is so beautiful in this film.

>>90010
>>90011
That accent you're referring to is called the Transatlantic or Mid-Atlantic accent. (Hence why it doesn't sound entirely American or British, it rests in the middle.) It isn't a matter of an evolving language, as it was actually taught to children in school, and especially actors and actresses. We only don't hear this accent nowadays because the pronunciation simply ceased being taught. Kind of like how cursive writing seems to have gone out of vogue in elementary academia. I agree, though, that it does give a dreamy quality to old films. I still really wish people talked this way today, it sounded so elegant to me.

>>89999

>spoilered the movie poster in case it's scary for some people

Did I click on Tumblr by mistake.

As much as enjoy old British and American movies, I can't enough of old foreign cinema, particularly East Asian cinema.
It really is like peering into another universe for a moment in time.

Oh guys, can you imagine if film had been invented in the 1400's or 1500's instead? I'm devastated that as humans we'll never get to witness our foundations and evolution.

I really liked Bringing Up Baby and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is great too, it's not an enjoyable story by any means but the acting is top notch.

>>89999
Love this one too.

>>90032
Do you have any recommendations for old Asian films? I've only seen Kwaidan, which is a pretty gorgeous movie for its age.

>>90025
Thanks for the cool trivia.

>>90025
I just googled Transatlantic accent and you're right, that's the funny talk I referred before! And it seems Katharine Hepburn is the most famous for this accent, like the one in the video at 1:30, "Cahm around abowt nooon tah-morrow, I mean tah-day."

>>90011
The songs in this movie is very pleasant for me, but I wish they let Audrey sang the whole soundtrack, not dubbed. I find her voice suitable to her character more than the one who dubbed her.

>>90012
Wicker Man creeped me out though, but it's a very good movie in my opinion. Haven't watched The Collector, I think I'm going to sought this one too.

>>90014
OH YEAH! It Happened One Night is also a funny movie, one of my favorite! Gable and Colbert certainly have good chemistry in this one. Off topic, I'm grateful I watched Clark Gable's movies before I found out what he did to Loretta Young. After that I was kinda hesitant to rewatch any of his movies again, but it's only me though.

>>90032
Oooh Rashomon! This is the one that most directors in the world said "one of the greatest film ever made", right? I need to watch this.

For foreign cinema, I used to watch Mandarin old movies whenever it's on TV. most of them are comedy though, and played by Jackie Chan. I don't know the more classic ones, but "Police Story" is one of my favorite.

I've seen this movie way too many times

I've been watching old doctor who episodes

>>90011
Ha, I figured My Fair Lady would be here. I tried to watch it for Jeremy Brett (Freddy) but Higgins' character was too disgustingly misogynistic and patronizing to get through.
Audrey was delightful to look at though.

Here's my contribution. Not an excessively memorable film, but this scene remained in my mind for long after, given the subject - the film was ahead of its time.

Do movies from the 70s count as old? If so I love the apartment trilogy: Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant.

One of my favorite old movies is 'Rebecca'. I feel like it speaks across time to the farmer within me. i'm also a big fan of the book (and also Daphne Du Maurier's other short stories, like 'The Doll', what a fucking creepfest)
I also really enjoyed 'That Hamilton Woman' (Vivien Leigh will eternally be an idol of mine) and the dresses are GREAT
I'm probably going to try to torrent Marie Antoinette (the 1938 version) later today as well.

>>90389
almost forgot:
Gilda & Gigi are also two movies with fabulous female leads, although Gilda ends quite a bit more tragically if I remember correctly.
God, I just want to end up a silver screen femme fatal, leaving a trail of broken men in my wake. life goals.

Very happy to see this thread! I love old movies, especially the old Hitchcocks.
>>90342
I love Jeremy Brett!

>>90389

> i'm also a big fan of the book

I've just been reading it for the first time. The writing is good and the setting sounds beautiful, but I cannot remember the last time I disliked the two main characters in a book so much. Just uuuughh. It's a slog to finish because they annoy me extremely. When the ~revelations~ about Rebecca came out I actually found myself cheering for her.

Why do you like it? I'm trying to keep going, help me see the light.

>>90715
>I love Jeremy Brett!

Yay, another fan! Relevant to the above, I found this on youtube:

>>90842
I suppose that's why I enjoyed it, actually. I hated the husband and thought he got exactly what he deserved, and the narrator is a wet blanket, but in a gloomy sort of gothic heroine manner. Rebecca's the only really powerful character in the book. She gets exactly what she wanted, total sociopath-style, but I love the contrast of her true nature between Mrs. Danver's worshiping attitude. You're perfectly right to cheer for her.
It's funny to me how, when Daphne du Maurier was writing, the behavior of the narrator would have been seen as utterly romantic and faultless, but now we observe her personality and gag.

>>90949
So I've finished it, and glad I did because by the end I was cackling away. I agree with your views. Maxim is the least sympathetic and competent character in the whole book, I pity any woman who might consider him a worthy partner. The narrator - in the end I do agree she is a wet blanket. I initially cut her a ton of slack due to her youth and diffidence - but even after she "grows up" she's still basically useless. She's only there to stand by her man, who she knows is a murderer, only because she realizes he never loved Rebecca. Rebecca is a sociopath but she really wins in the end, doesn't she.

I wonder if du Maurier's idea wasn't in fact to send up the conventional heroine, and support the women who do speak their mind and do what they want? They're the strongest characters in the book (Rebecca and Mrs Danvers) and the only ones who seem fully realized.

By the way - did you think du Maurier was actually going for the ghost angle? Mrs Danvers mentions it repeatedly and it does seem like Rebecca's spirit infuses the estate.

>>90963
I think the issue of the ghost is the most obvious question that Du Maurier wanted to leave in the minds of readers, so she's quite coy with her clues as to whether one answer is more correct than the other.
I usually enjoy ghost stories, but in this instance, I was left with the impression that the 'ghost' of Rebecca was more the narrator's own insecurities and fears, amplified and focused at the urging of Mrs. Danvers and Maxim's behavior, rather than any actual supernatural phenomena. It's sort of telling how in the first chapter, she visits the abandoned manor in her dream and literally describes it as 'soulless at last, unhaunted', now that it is no longer occupied by humans. It's as though Du Maurier is giving you fair warning that the 'haunting' is only as real as the people in the house believe it to be.
Still, there's a part of me that wants to go along with the idea that Rebecca was a ghost, because wouldn't that make for a satisfying ending if she had some hand in Manderley's destruction?

To me, great supernatural horror stories come about when writers find a way to phrase real fears in terms of the supernatural. For example, The Babadook, or Rosemary's Baby: the fear that your child will have something wrong with it, when it's born, like autism or another genetic disorder. Zombie flicks prey upon our fears of isolation, plague, and global epidemics. Slasher/gore films prey upon the fear of pain, and random acts of violence. Ghost stories prey upon feelings of guilt, the fear of retribution, and in this case, the expectations placed upon a second wife to 'live up' to her predecessor, which certainly must have been some pressure when this book was written in like 1930-something. Rebecca almost can be seen as a foil to the narrator in that sense, because she's every bit as strong of a personality as the narrator is weak. In reviewing a few of Du Maurier's short stories, I have to admit that I don't think that this was unintentional. Even though Du Maurier was raised in a well-established household, she has a tendency to portray the women in her stories–even women of lower-class upbringing or dubious virtue–as sympathetic sort of firebrands. Even if they manipulate and seduce men for their own purposes, the tone that Du Maurier describes them with is never critical. In some spots, it even comes across as admiring. I feel as though she thought that a heroine shouldn't necessarily be portrayed as some fainting flower, but a woman who gets shit done.

Any old horror movie suggestions? I saw nosferatu but it didn't age too well…Still better than a lot of modern horrors though (lol cloverfield)

>>91025
So many anon. There are ton of movies from the 70's and 60's to give you your horror fix. The Exorcist, The Hills Have Eyes, Suspiria, etc. The Changeling is a good one, fucking creepy and unnerving as all hell. If you want something even older I'd like to suggest The Bad Seed and Freaks.

>>91025
Don't know if this falls into horror category, but the original "Psycho" still creeps me out every time I watched it.

Singin' in the Rain has been my favorite for years. I caught it on TV once, in the middle of the tap dance scene. It's also very funny.

>>91025
watch carnival of souls! it's good. seconding suspiria as well

>>93026
love this movie. the dancing is phenomenal