[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"]
[/caption]I watched two classic movies as I wrapped gifts yesterday. I have yet to be able to just sit down and watch a movie without being "productive" with my time. There is never enough time in a day! The first movie was The Shop Around The Corner. (Margaret Sullivan, Jimmy Stewart). I love the old, black and white movies. I really do. I don't know if it is the simple scenery, the fact that everyone is dressed so beautifully, or that a movie can be interesting without any offensive language or suggestive situations. Sigh. It was just a different time. The Shop Around The Corner pretty much took place in the store...so there wasn't a lot of scenery, but what a great movie! (the movie You've Got Mail starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks is a take off of this movie) Speaking of scenery, I have a keen eye for all the props. The old cash registers, cigarette boxes, ladies' hats, and how store windows used to be "dressed" for the holidays.
Then I watched Christmas In Connecticut starring Barbara Stanwyck. It is sort of a comical Good Housekeeping, circa Christmas 1945. Snow, a navy man, sleigh rides, and a farm in Connecticut. Who wouldn't fall in love?
Today I am working on my laundry. What can I watch in between loads of whites and colors? Maybe It's A Wonderful Life? (side note: google Jimmy Stewart discussing It's A Wonderful Life. It was in a 1977 interview. It will give you a new perspective about this movie. Seriously, you should check it out.) Or Miracle On 34th Street--the 1947 version, of course!
Well, I better go. I heard the dryer just buzz. Time for another load.
Related Articles
- Christmas film seasons and special screenings (guardian.co.uk)
- The Jimmy Stewart Museum Faces An Uncertain Future (luxist.com)
- Eighteen Classic Christmas Movies From The 1940s (socyberty.com)
- It's A Wonderful Life [Retro Review] (mutantreviewers.wordpress.com)
- Picture Fades for Shrine to Jimmy Stewart (online.wsj.com)
- Guide to Christmas Movies (brighthub.com)
- Critics' Picks Video: 'The Shop Around the Corner' (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)
- Five films for Christmas (telegraph.co.uk)
- The Shop Around the Corner - review (guardian.co.uk)
- The Best Christmas Movies Ever (socyberty.com)
- Frank Capra at the BFI - review (guardian.co.uk)
- Christmas Favorites (passingthru.com)
- Ten Christmas Movies to Watch Every Year (media.gunaxin.com)
