How to Get into Old Movies...Part 3

Part 3: Compare Old Movies to Their Current Day Remakes

Whenever anybody brings up seeing movies that he or she believes everybody should see, my girlfriend often makes the joke that there are only two movies she has ever seen: [random movie] and The Women from 1939. This always makes me think that if the cinematic powers that be were willing to pony up a remake to The Women (not a knock at all), it's amazing that just about every classic movie hasn't been remade in some way, shape or form.

That being said, it is amazing how many old movies - both great and not so great - have been remade or aped in some way. Some have been shot by shot, such as the 1998 Psycho with Vince Vaughn. Some have updated the effects and made the story more topically relevant to the current state of the world, like 2008's The Day the Earth Stood Still. Some have merely copied the historical topic, such as 2006's 300 and 1962's The 300 Spartans.

Now not many people realize that many of these new movies have cinematic ancestors. Therefore, this could be a perfect opportunity to usher in an old movie or two for a friend.

If your friend is a female, I would suggest watching the 1994 version of Little Women, alongside either the 1933 version with Katherine Hepburn or the 1949 version with Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh. For guys, I might suggest last year's version of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, along with the Walter Matthau original. If your student is a little younger, try comparing last year's Race to Witch Mountain with the Disney original Escape to Witch Mountain.

"Watch something with color..."

A few months ago, my roommate walked into the room and saw me watching the movie, "Born Yesterday" on Turner Classic Movies. Well, to me it was "Born Yesterday." To him, it was just some black-and-white movie.

This was when the lecture began. He explained to me that it isn't right for somebody my age (22 at the time) to watch anything that lacks color, that black-and-white essentially equals boring. In a way, I see where he is coming from. The way we view movies now is different from how we watched movies years ago. The way actors act now is different from the way they did before.

The truth is that I have a deep appreciation for all movies - old and new - especially those that have the uncanny ability to spark some sort of emotion or feeling from deep within, whether that emotion be happiness, sympathy or confusion. While many new movies are great at this, older movies have that special something.

The brilliant thing, to me at least, about movies from the '30s, '40s and '50s is the obvious reliance on acting and performing and drawing as much storytelling power as possible, sometimes from the simplest of film concepts, scripts and even sets. On top of that, it is almost mesmerizing to see an old movie for the first time that has dramatic themes similar to movies you may see nowadays.

I would like to use this space to, first, do what just about every classic movie blog does: analyze classic movies and explain why they are so important to us. Second, I would like to apply an added perspective as a young fan to the mix to give everybody a taste of why and how a young person can enjoy movies that were made almost a half a century before he was born.

I hope you enjoy.

-Steve