Chaplin in a 1915 film.
What do Lassie Come Home, The Great Dictator and North by Northwest have in common? Beautiful set design.
Thanks to my HD Tv I’ve discovered an appreciation for another side to movies. Set decoration.
This New Year’s Eve Turner Classic Movies played Marx Brothers Films, starting with a rather poor copy of Animal Crackers.
I have only recently discovered an appreciation for the Marx Brothers. (My mother loved them.) Problem is, my husband doesn’t get it (much as he doesn’t get Blackadder) so we switched to North by Northwest on another channel. AMC, maybe. (Actually, he complains that a co-worker runs around imitating Groucho, so he’s been turned off.)
The Marx Bros. movies have wonderful deco sets. And I love the way Margaret Dumont’s pearls circled her body in Animal Crackers.
North by Northwest, well, it was nominated for best set design. I can watch it over and over for the art of it all.
But Lassie Come Home, also on Turner Classic, lately, also had lovely simple sets. And what a great opportunity to purge yourself of toxins by crying!
And the Great Dictator, which I watched recently the first time, had inspired sets, from what I could see. Odd, I’m finally learning to appreciate Chaplin as I ‘ve come to love Groucho.
Better Late than Never.
I grew up watching movies on tiny 20 inch black and white TV’s. I missed a lot, it seems, growing up.
Today, I decided I wanted to see all those famous British Movies. I taped Gregory’s Girl off Turner and found that some other ‘best British films’ like the Sporting Life and Brief Encounter and Thin Man are soon playing on that channel.
I wish they’d play Georgy Girl, so I can tape it.
January is a crappy month. Thank God for my HD TV.
