Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Old Movies

Yesterday I downloaded and watched. "To Kill A Mockingbird", the 1961 adaptation of the 1960 book by Harper Lee. It chronicles the adventures of a small town lawyer (Gregory peck) and his two children when faced with defending a black man against a charge of rape in the racially prejudiced society of the day.

It is a simple story that brings out complicated prejudices and interactions between people and their lives in a small southern town, the story of a noble, principled man standing up for what is right. It is a story of loss of innocence.

I knew the history and the basic story line of the movie but had never actually seen it before yesterday. It is filmed in black and white which makes it all that more powerful. If you are like me, get hold of a copy and watch it, you will be glad you did.

I am off to find some other oldies, like "12 Angry Men".

11 comments:

  1. I've watched that movies a few times, Croft, and it gets better with age. Atticus Finch - gotta love that name for a lawyer.

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  2. Some of the old movies are the best and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has brought a resurgence of viewers. I especially like the older westerns - "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence", "Shane", etc.

    It's interesting to watch remakes of originals, like "The Flight of the Phoenix." The remake of that movie pales in comparison to the original with Jimmy Stewart and Richard Attenbourgh.

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  3. One of my favourite movies; I have the deluxe box set. :) (I also have 12 Angry Men lying around.) I reread the book recently and am amazed by how much of it the movie captures. I have fond memories of being in a room with Gregory Peck and hearing him tell stories about filming the movie. There's one scene where Atticus is walking home and speaking with the neighbours that made Harper Lee cry, Mr. Peck had captured Atticus so well.

    When I was in high school, I had to read TKAM and John Grisham's A Time To Kill, then write an essay about how trials of black men have progressed (or not) in the time between the two stories.

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  4. Another one I saw recently (on Netflix) that you might be interested in is Gentleman's Agreement, where Mr. Peck plays a reporter who goes undercover as a Jew.

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  5. Hmmm...your to do list must be all crossed off. Good for you.

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  6. Both are good movies. There is a theater production of 12 Angry Men (12 Hombres en Pugna) here in Monterrey. YouTube has lots of old movies, we have been on the 50s B science fiction for the last two months. I didn't know Earth had been invaded by so many different bugs! Yikes!

    Find me a good download for Grapes of Wrath. Looks like it is heavily protected. I have had no luck.

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  7. My favorite book and favorite movie.

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  8. Sure do love some of those old classic movies, we like to watch them when we can.

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  9. Last night we watched "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" 1948 with Humphry Bogard. I think you'd enjoy it, and not only because off the Mexican element and some of the unsubtitled Spanish discussion in the movie. We liked it.

    By the way, looking at your map off to the side...you really need to get to the Canadian Maritime provinces!

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    1. I have "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" but have not watched it yet. Yes, we really have to get to the east coast! Norma has been to Nova Scotia to run an election but did not see much outside the headquarters. I probably should not have included Quebec on the map as it has only been across the river from Ottawa and Montreal for a few hours.

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