Old Classic Movies » Classic Movies From the 40s & 50s

1943 Casablanca review

admin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:36:19 +0000

The classic movie, Casablanca, was released in 1943 when it rapidly gained popularity as one of the best movies of its time. The movie of Casablanca was set out to be one of the most organized films in the world, though even some Hollywood producers still claim that it was a total train wreck. Its rise in popularity was not obtained by accident, but rather it was planned by those to not necessarily become one of the greatest classics of all times, but at least a great organized film that people could thoroughly enjoy.

Casablanca had many aspects featured in the classic movie from romance, mystery, comedy, topical events, and intrigue. Many film makers have tried numerous times to mimic the film of Casablanca but all have been unsuccessful and realizing that the combination of all of these things in one films would be extremely difficult to duplicate. Many people even claim that the classic movie will NEVER be duplicated, no matter how many attempts there may be to do so by film makers in the world.

The movie was released in 1998 in the newer modeled digital format, which many people were ecstatic about with desire to see the classic all together. It was released by MGM and many claim that the released version is not the highest quality, though it is light years ahead of VHS movies. Many people were in hopes that the release would have been of a better quality, though were very happy to receive what they did at least.

The best films all started with the best scripts, and just like the best, Casablanca was a prior script that was acted out in a play, and then later transformed into a movie. The script and screenplay wasn’t perfect, though that was to be expected in a live act. The 1943 Casablanca was one of the old classics that will forever be remembered and adored by many people as well.

1957 the Bridge on the River Kwai

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:40:22 +0000

In 1957, The Bridge on the River Kwai was produced and to many people’s disliking, it would turn out to be one of the most memorable movies for all time. There was so much meaning in the movie as it took the setting of WW II from 1942 to 1943 which also acted as a way to give the general public people an insight to the things that were going on in the war. The film was made by a man named David Lean and it was based on the novel book that had previously been written called “The Bridge over the River Kwai,” which was written by a man named Pierre Boulle, a French writer.

The historical setting of the movie featured a few of the most commonly know actors and actresses of their time with William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, and Jack Hawkins. These people that acted in the movie really brought the storyline to life in their passion that they put into this movie. The movie was actually a work of fiction, with a few realistic features, though with the acting jobs and historical settings that were represented in the classic movie, many would have sworn that the movie was nonfiction.

After years and years of the movie being replayed in homes and schools throughout the world, the classic movie was eventually chosen in 1997 to reserve a spot within the U.S. Library of Congress of the National Film Registry. The decision for this was based upon the film being determined to be historically, culturally, and aesthetically significant. This definitely marked a place in the history books for the classic movie that will never be forgotten. It started off rough in nature and many believed it was unsuitable for children, though over time, the thought process determined that even children should have a great feel for fiction and nonfiction in the war battles.

Singin’ in the Rain 1952

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:27:04 +0000

The transition from the silent film era to the newly arrived technique of the ‘talkies’ proved to be the ruin for many well established stars that were great on the screen, but who had no professional training in the theater, or otherwise, and had horrible speaking voices. Thus, a star of the magnitude of Lina Lamont, suffers a hard blow to her career and ego.

That’s the basis of one of the best movies about old Hollywood of all times: “Singin’ in the Rain”. The film is one of the classics it is because of the marvelous direction of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, two men who knew a lot about musicals. The screen play is by one of the best people in the business, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

MGM was the studio that employed all the stars one sees in the film, and what a cast they put together: Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Cyd Charisse in a dancing part, Millard Mitchell and Rita Moreno. As if those names weren’t big enough, there is the fantastic musical numbers that even, viewing them today, have kept their freshness because of the care in which this film was crafted.

“Singin’ in the Rain” is one of the best musicals of all times. It’s right up there with the best of them thanks to the vision of Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen and it will live forever as more people discover this wonderful example of entertainment.

Ben-Hur 1959

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:37:25 +0000

It’s hard to deny that William Wyler’s lavish version of “Ben-Hur” is sometimes a bit overdone, but it nevertheless remains an entertaining and worthwhile classic. The material does justify the big-budget approach, since the story contains several interesting themes as well as plenty of action sequences. While some parts could have been stream-lined with little loss, in order to make the movie as a whole flow more smoothly, in general the film as it is keeps a good balance between action and substance. There are some very good dramatic moments in addition to the action highlights.

Charlton Heston is well-cast as Ben-Hur, a role that plays right to his strengths. The strained relations between Ben-Hur and Messala provide one set of themes for the story, as well as driving much of the action. Heston handles his end of it pretty well, although Stephen Boyd could have been a little less static in his portrayal of Messala. Jack Hawkins works very well as Quintus Arrius, and his scenes with Heston are used well in establishing some of the inner workings of Heston’s character. Hugh Griffith also has a couple of good scenes as Sheik Ilderim.

The chariot race and other action sequences usually get most of the attention, but there are also some worthwhile ideas in the story (which are really the focus of the original novel) that are developed well enough. There is also a very good silent movie version of “Ben-Hur” from 1925, which at times takes a different approach from this version, and which is well worth seeing in itself for those who like the story.