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Friday, 16 September 2011

Classic Film Q&A With... My Grandparents!

For the second instalment in my "Classic Film Q&A With..." series, I interviewed my Grandma (my Dad's Mum) and my step-Granddad, both of who have been mentioned on my blog in the past when I've had interesting classic film conversations with them. Once again I'll be using the pseudonym "Gordon" for my step-Granddad. Hope you enjoy!
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Which genre of film do you most like to watch?

Grandma: Oh, I like a thriller!
Gordon: I like things like Knights of the Round Table...
Me: Like swashbucklers?
Gordon: Yes.

What is your favourite classic film?

Grandma: My favourite is Gone With the Wind.
Me: That wasn't obvious at all! (she's always talking about it ;D)
Gordon: I like a lot of films. The Count of Monte Cristo and Moby Dick.
Grandma: I like Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando. And On the Seafront too.
Me: On the Waterfront...
*everyone starts laughing*
Gordon: A Tale of Two Cities was good too.


Your favourite actor and your favourite actress?

Grandma: James Dean...
Gordon: Who was him who played in those swashbuckling films?
Grandma: Errol Flynn?
Gordon: No, there was another one.
Me: Tyrone Power?
Gordon: Yeah! I liked him.
Me: What about your favourite actresses?
Grandma: Bette Davis!
Gordon: Marilyn Monroe.
Grandma: But she couldn't act much. Bette Davis was the best actress I think. And Vivien Leigh and Lauren Bacall.
Gordon: Her with the red hair...
Grandma: Maureen O'Hara! And there was... Rachel Roberts. She was a really good actress.


What is the first classic film you remember watching?

Grandma: Gone With the Wind.
Gordon: (The Adventures of) Robin Hood was the first I think I saw.
Grandma: We were all crying when we went to see Gone With the Wind.


Your favourite musical?

Grandma: Oh, that one where he sings... *starts singing* some enchanted evening!
Me: South Pacific!
Grandma: That's it. What about you, Gordon?
Gordon: I like Oklahoma!.
Grandma: Oh, and Seven Brides For Seven Brothers! I love Howard Keel singing in that.
*we all start singing Bless Your Beautiful Hide*


Your favourite decade for films?

Grandma: Oh, definitely the 1950s.
Gordon: Yes, the 1950s.

~Musical Interlude during which we sing George Formby songs~

Joan Crawford or Bette Davis?

Grandma: Bette Davis. Joan was a very bad woman. She used to kill (she didn't mean she used to murder them rather, abuse them) her adopted children!
Me: She didn't! There is plenty of evidence of old Hollywood actresses who were friends saying that they never saw the side to her* that her daughter said about... *long winded rant about the subject*
Grandma: Eee, she must have made it all up... and she wrote that book about her! 


Favourite Hitch film?

Grandma: Pyscho and The Birds.
Gordon: The Birds yeah. 


Do you have anything to say about silent film?

Grandma: I don't know, I never went to one. I can't remember them. 
Gordon: They were just a bit before us.

Who is the King of '60s cool: Paul Newman or Steve McQueen?

Grandma and Gordon: Paul Newman.

Trivia question time! Who said "The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."?

Grandma: Alfred Hitchcock. (She got this straight away. Needless to say, I was very impressed!)


* I know there are other actors and actresses who said they did apparently witness abuse, but... I will always be very dubious. That being said, Mommie Dearest is a highly enjoyable film as long as you don't take it too seriously. THIS AIN'T MY FIRST TIME AT THE RODEO!
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Thanks for reading! I had such fun with this interview and there were so many little anecdotes that  I didn't include just because I couldn't do them justice when I typed them out. You may have noticed I missed out a lot of the questions about how well they knew my love of classic film. This was because, whilst everyone in my family knows I love the classics, pretty much only my immediate family could answer those questions. 

Sorry I haven't posted in over week. My laptop fan decided to die over the weekend and then come back to life so I couldn't really write any posts. Hopefully I'll be back to posting more regularly again soon. Also, thank you to all the people who volunteered to write Box Set Monday posts, I'll be sending you emails soon to work it all out! :)

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