It's Christmastime! A Gift Guide For Classic Film Lovers.

I've seen a few of gift guides popping up on various blogs and decided that I'd jump on the bandwagon and give it a go. Whether you're buying for someone who is already a huge classics fan or whether you're trying lure someone into the world of classic film, this list is for you!  

1. Yul Brynner: A Photographic Journey

I've been eyeing this up ever since it was first published last year. And, although I've not actually seen it in the flesh, I have seen many of the photos people have scanned from it and can vouch for their extreme wonderfulness. The photos are absolutely breathtaking and I guarantee you that the classic film fan in your life will absolutely love this!

2. Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection

Contains: Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Evelyn Prentice (1934), Double Wedding (1937), I Love You Again (1940), Love Crazy (1941).

You can't beat a bit of Loy and Powell and this box set is chock-a-bloc with five of their always wonderful films.

A cheaper alternative: The Thin Man Complete Collection

3. Forbidden Hollywood Collection (Vol.1, Vol.2, & Vol.3)

Vol.1: Baby Face (1933), Red Headed Woman (1932), Waterloo Bridge (1931).

Vol.2: The Divorcee (1930), A Free Soul (1931), Three on a Match (1932), Female (1933), Night Nurse (1931).

Vol.3: Other Men's Women (1931), The Purchase Price (1932), Frisco Jenny (1932), Midnight Mary (1933), Heroes For Sale (1933), Wild Boys of the Road (1933).

You don't get much better that a box set full of Pre-Codes. Oh, but wait, what about THREE box sets full of pre codes? Now you're talking. Someday these beautiful babies will be mine. MINE. 

4. That's Entertainment! Deluxe Four Disc Collector's Edition

I think everyone has seen parts of That's Entertainment! on tv around Christmas every year but this four disc set is just fabulous and I know I would love to find it sitting under my tree. Apparently, although Amazon says that the four disc set is Region 1, in actuality it is region free so I would definitely shell out the extra money for this superior (or so I'm told) set as opposed to the Region 2 three disc set.

5. Brief Encounter Blu Ray

I personally don't own a blu ray player yet but for anyone who does, this is a must. Can you imagine how much more depressing and heartbreaking this film must be in HD? I feel tears welling up just thinking about it.

6. The Sound of Music Gift Set

Does this really need to be explained? I thought not. 

A cheaper alternative: The Sound of Music 45th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray + DVD)

7. Alfred Hitchcock 14 Disc Box Set

Contains: Saboteur (1942), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), The Trouble With Harry (1955), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), Pyscho (1960), The Birds (1963), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972), Family Plot (1976).

I gave this to my brother for Christmas last year to try and get him into classics. I'm not sure it worked but it's still a really brilliant box set. 

8. The Red Shoes Criterion Collection

When I eventually buy my first Criterion DVD, I just know this will be one of my top choices. I saw The Red Shoes for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was more magnificent than I could have imagined. And come on, just look at the DVD cover! Who wouldn't want to have that in a place of prominence in their house? 

A cheaper alternative: The Red Shoes - Restored (Blu Ray)

9. Billy Wilder Collection Vol.1&Vol.2

Vol.1: Some Like it Hot (1959), One, Two, Three (1961), Irma La Douce (1963), Kiss Me, Stupid (1964), Avanti!(1972). 

Vol.2: The Seven Year Itch (1955), Witness For the Prosecution (1957), The Apartment (1960), The Fortune Cookie (1966), The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970).

Billy Wilder. That is all. No, but in all honesty, as well as looking pretty snazzy, I think I'm safe in saying that these box sets would go down very well with most classic film fans.

10. Tracy and Hepburn the Definitive Collection

Contains: Woman of the Year (1942), Keeper of the Flame (1942), Without Love (1945), The Sea of Grass (1947), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), Desk Set (1957), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? (1967).

This box set is just exploding with awesome. There have been many Tracy&Hepburn box sets made but this is the only one so far to include all 9 of their films. 

A cheaper alternative: The Tracy and Hepburn Signature Collection 

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Hope you enjoyed drooling over this list! (It's OK, I did too ;D) Speak to you soon!

guitars (and other twangable instruments) in classic films

Last week I started teaching myself the guitar (it's not going too badly, in case you were wondering ;D) and that gave me an idea for a post: Guitars (and similarly shaped and strung instruments :P) in classic films.

Hmm, let's see if I can make it easier...

From: The Sound of Music (1965)

Two drifters off to see the world

From: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Put the blame on Mame, boys

From: Gilda (1946)

Oh! I really think you're swell!

From: The Parent Trap (1960)

Now you sing, Schmidt! 

(Starts around 4:20)

From: Lilies of the Field (1963)

I don't care if it rains or freezes 'long as I got my Plastic Jesus

From: Cool Hand Luke (1967)

I spent ages trying to think of other instances of guitars (and banjitars ;D) in films, but whilst I could think of many other instruments, guitars just weren't there. If you can think of any more, PLEASE let me know because I know there must be so many obvious ones that I've left off. 

New Poll: Who's Your Favourite von Trapp Kid?

As I've mentioned so many time before, The Sound of Music is one of my favourite films and when I was growing up I used to measure my age with the ages of the von Trapp children. Now I'm sadly older than all of them (at least I got someone to sing Sixteen Going on Seventeen to me before I turned 17), although most people would probably place my mental age somewhere between Gretl and Marta. My favourite growing up changed several times. First it was Gretl (and Liesl because she was so grown up!), then Louisa, and for the past few years it's been Brigitta. She is hilarious and brilliant and I want to be her! So, let me know who your favourite is by voting in the poll in the sidebar :)

Fifteen Movie Questions Meme

Clara over at Via Margutta 51 answered the 15 Movie Questions Meme yesterday, so I decided I would jump on the band wagon and join in the fun!

1.  Movie  you love with a passion.

This is so hard to answer! There are a whole bunch of films that I absolutely adore and can watch over and over again, but I'm going to go with The Sound of Music and Anne of Green Gables. 

2. Movie you vow never to watch.

I was going to say horror films because (besides a few early horror films) I have never watched one and don't intend to any time soon. However, I'm reluctant to say I'll never watch something, and barring a whole genre of films from my tv screen is pretty stupid. That being said, I can say that without a shadow of a doubt I will never watch the horror that is High School Musical (or any of it's sequels).

3. Movie that literally left you speechless.

Like Clara also said, I don't ever remember being speechless after watching a classic film. Probably the nearest I ever came to being speechless was when I rewatched Titanic (1953) last year, but after a few minutes I just started crying! However, more modern films such as Schindler's List and Sophie's Choice have all left me speechless. 

Come to think of it, there have been some classic films recently that have left me speechless. Splendor In the Grass, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, On the Beach, and The Birds.

4. Movie you always recommend.

Depending on the person, I usually lure them with something they've heard of that isn't too old (ugh, how I detest that word!) and that they've probably heard of aka Breakfast at Tiffany's (cliché, I know. Everyone thinks that it's the epitome of classic Hollywood and every man and his dog has the poster. But it's nevertheless a great film and well worth watching.), The Sound of Music etc. and then throw them The Thin Man, maybe The Quiet Man, and perhaps It Happened One Night. Basically, that is how I try to convert people to classic film. Oh wait, that wasn't the question...

5. Actor/actress you always watch, no matter how crappy the movie.

Deborah Kerr. I suffered through the-film-that-must-not-be-named (*cough*The Gypsy Moths*cough*) because of Deborah. I WAS SCARRED FOR LIFE! I kid you not. Do not watch that film. Ever. It is a travesty against all that is good and Deborah. Fuuuadlkajsd.

6. Actor/actress you don't get the appeal for.

Grace Kelly. I've tried to like her but I just don't understand her appeal. To me, she is the same in every film she appeared in. You could switch her characters in Mogambo and Rean Window for example, and you wouldn't notice any difference. She was just so... beige. Whilst I certainly don't argue that she wasn't a great beauty and a huge fashion icon (and still is today), I'm afraid I just don't find anything about her remotely interesting. Ah well, it's my loss I suppose!

7. Actor/actress, living or dead, you'd love to meet.

Those that are no longer with us: Deborah, Greer, Stany, Audrey, Roz, Helle Virkner, Jean (Simmons), Marlene, Lucille, Irene, Arlene, Errol, Eve, Gregory...

Still living: Eleanor, Glynis, Maureen (I could have been meeting her in June if not for my stupid health!), Celeste, James Garner, Olivia, Joan, Lauren, Peter O'Toole...

8. Sexiest actor/actress you've seen. (Picture required!)

I don't think anyone did sexy in Old Hollywood quite like Gregory Peck and Marlene Dietrich.

9. Dream Cast.

Oh my. To be honest, if Deborah and Greer had made a few films together I would have been beyond happy.  I mean, you can hardly class Julius Caesar as them being in a film together. 

10. Favourite actor pairing.

Last year I did a post about my 10 favourite on-screen couples. It hasn't really changed much, I don't think. Greer and Walter in anything, Roz and Cary in His Girl Friday, Greer and Ronald in Random Harvest, Irene and Cary, Myrna and Bill, Ginger and Fred, Maureen and John, Deborah and Cary, Kate and Spence... so many! 

11. Favourite movie setting.

Anything that takes place out in beautiful countryside is heaven to me. Some of my favourite film settings are the Salzburg and the surrounding areas in The Sound of Music, Prince Edward Island in Anne of Green Gables, Ireland in The Quiet Man, Alabama in Fried Green Tomatoes, and anything set in France or Italy.

12. Favourite decade for movies.

I couldn't really pick, but I tend to watch a lot of films from the '50s. 

13. Chick flick or action movie.

Growing up with two older brothers I have come to appreciate action movies. Not so much action moves which consist of a high speed chases, men with obscenely large muscles bursting out of their t-shirts, and the token "hot" girl, but action films which I would classify first as war films and second as action films. I'm definitely more a fan of more recent action films than the pre-1960 ones. There are a few I like, but on the whole, none of them can really match up to Saving Private Ryan etc..

14. Hero, villain or anti-hero?

Anti-hero.

15. Black and white or colour?

This is an impossible question to answer! I love black and white films and scowl at the people who say "I can't stand black and white films.". I also love colour films. Films like Gone With the Wind, The King and I, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing etc. wouldn't have been quite the same without their gorgeous colours. 

Films I Can Watch Over and Over #1

Each time I make one of these posts will write about a film which I can watch over and over again without ever getting sick of it. To be honest, there aren't a huge amount of films that I love this much - or, that I love in such a way that if I put them on when I'm not feeling too good I know will put even the tiniest of smiles on my face. However, these films are pretty amazing in my books and I'm quite excited to share them with you!

The Sound of Music

I'm pretty certain that a lot of people love to watch this film when they're a bit under the weather because it's uplifting (to a point where I'm almost certain it's illegal), it's beautifully shot (I would watch this over and over for the scenery alone. GASP! I long for the day when I can go to Austria myself and see all of that astonishing beauty first hand.), it's Julie Andrews and my Eleanor, it's all of my favourite things put together in one fabulous film. If there could be such a thing as a perfect film, I'm sure that this would be it.

I first saw it when I was 4, and from that day on, I was hooked. I watched The Sound of Music (and The King and I) at every opportunity available and I reveled in it. It just seemed like such an idyllic world to live in. I didn't know who Hitler and the Nazis were back then, I thought that Baroness Schraeder was being kind to Maria by convincing her to go back to the convent (But that's a whole other story. I could rant about how the Baroness is not a horrible person, and how most people would have done what she did, for days!), I didn't comprehend the struggle that Maria was going through when having to choose between her life as a nun and her life with Captain von Trapp, and I didn't understand the tension during The Ländler Ladle Dance. As I grew older, I began to realise that it wasn't such a perfect world. Yes, there was Eleanor Parker, people singing ALL THE TIME AND IN PUBLIC PLACES (can we just pause for a moment to imagine how utterly magical it would be if that actually happened?) Julie Andrews and Julie Andrews' voice, BA nuns, and children that wore curtains, but there were also terrible things happening. Things that drove the von Trapps out of their country. Still, that didn't dampen my love for the film. Rainbows and unicorns still danced around me when I put the VHS in. They will never stop dancing because my love for this film knows no bounds. When I start watching it and I hear the birds chirping and the first faint strains of music, my heart skips a beat and I shiver with excitement. It's a feeling of coming home. The Sound of Music is part of me.

45 Years On, The Sound of Music Cast Reunite...

Photo from dailymail.co.uk

I'm sure that you've all seen, or at least heard about, the reunion of The Sound of Music cast for the 45th anniversary of the iconic film. They did infact reunited 5 years ago for the 40th anniversary, but Christopher Plummer was not present. So, it was with great excitement that I watched the videos of the reunion, which some wonderful person had uploaded onto You Tube. The only thing which could have made the whole thing a little bit more perfect would have been if Eleanor Parker had been included (and if Oprah had thought of some interesting questions to ask, rather than ones which have been asked a million and one times before...). I knew a few months ago that Eleanor wasn't going to be there, but she had been asked so I'm just glad they didn't forget about her. I completely understand her not wanting to appear at the reunion because she has distanced herself from that world for several years now... but a part of me will always wish she had attended, bringing some of that sorely missed Golden Age glamour and elegance to our t.v. screens.

I've seen The Sound of Music well over 500 times (I guesstimated that number a couple of months ago ;D ) and it's been a huge part of my life since I first saw it aged 4. I have so many happy memories attached to it, and one of my dreams is to go to Austria someday, find an alp, to the top of it and then skip around singing "The hills are alive with the sound of music... with songs they have sung for a thousand years..."!! :') This film always cheers me up - even if just for a few minutes whilst watching Do-Re-Mi or My Favourite Things. I can't imagine a life were I don't have a few lines from I Have Confidence to sing when I'm nervous about something, or where I Climb Ev'ry Mountain doesn't make tears stream down my face. I desperately love The Sound of Music.

During the show, it was mentioned that a book is going to be published next year full of the memories of the cast (I think mainly the children) of the film, and also some rare, or never seen, photographs etc. etc. I can hardly wait to get my hands on it!! The blu ray box set that has been released for the the anniversary also looks stunning, but I don't have a blu ray player so I feel it's rather a huge amount of money to spend on it.

Photo from theblurayblog.com

Here are the videos of the reunion - you might want to watch them as soon as you can because who knows when they'll be taking down from You Tube! I warn you, you will most probably need tissues ;)