Wednesday, February 08, 2006

B/W Gems - I

"Black and White" and/or "English" movies were not my cup of tea during my younger days. But it all changed when I got the chance to watch(left, right and center!) some wonderful old b/w English movies some years back. The movies of this time are simple(no graphics, no jigna work!), touching(but not melodramatic like our Indian counterparts), short and sweet.

Guess, I will start with Romantic Comedies(february aache!)! The Star who pops to everyone's mind associated with this genre is Cary Grant. With his classy looks and casual acting, he captivated everyone. He along with director Howard Hawks made some of the best Screwball Comedies!

I was a Male War Bride with Ann Sheridan

Bringing up Baby, The Philadelphia Story with Katherine Hepburn

The Talk of the Town, Only Angels have Wings with Jean Arthur

His Girl Friday with Rosalind Russell

Charade(Not a b/w movie but a cute romantic thriller) with the ravishing Audrey Hepburn

And for the Hitchcock fans, Grant did North by North West, To catch a Thief, Notorious and Suspicion.

So, the next time you find an old b/w movie with Cary Grant on TV, don't flip the channel!!!

P.S. - On a related note, I found this - Rare photos of India's Past in the BBC website today.

5 comments:

NaiKutti said...

i haven't watched even one of those you have listed :-), for that matter haven't watched many b/w english films. some of those i watched were pretty good (for e.g., psycho :-))... but now even if i want to watch, none of the tv channels relay them!!!

Raju said...

oh.. I love those old gems.. I am amazed at what kinds of movies they were producing when we were still in Harichandra, Kalidas, Valli, etc. age. I have 'To catch a Thief' at home to watch. I will probably watch it this weekend..

There is a whole set of Disney movies based on the 'Midvale/Midfield' college, all of which were terrific laugh riots.. (The original flubber, and those Kurt Russell classics).

Me too said...

Karthik, I'm not surprised. I wish I could do something about it! BTW, don't you get TNT, TCM channels?

Raju, absolutely! Since you are a movie buff and have the chance to watch these on DVD and/or TV, you should certainly try to catch some of them!! I strongly recommend "I was a Male War Bride" and "Charade".

Yours Truly said...

*wonders if this is Greek/Latin and finally makes out it is English*
*scratches head*
*remembers proverb Dont talk about anything that u dont understand*
*also remembers today is Friday*
*smiles and waits for Friday melody post*
:)

Me too said...

YU, :)
Just a 'yaam petra inbam peruga ivvaiyagam' post!!