Tag: classics

  • Little Women

    Little Women

    1949, 2h 1m


    Genre: Classics, Drama
    TMDB Rating: 74%

    Our Comments: 09-29-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). The checkmark means we own it. We enjoyed the loyal and loving relationships in the family and among neighbours. This is a tight-knit family that faces its ups and downs. Jo, played by June Allyson, doesn’t like change, and resists it. Yet so much change happens in the unfolding life of this family. The movie presents a complex and interesting thread of day-to-day life, defining moments, personality conflicts, illness, loss, and romance. The conclusion of the message is that there will be changes and challenges in life, but the human spirit must endeavor to prevail. We overlooked some of the melodrama, given the time in which the movie was made. To be sure, this is a film that has merit. It’s very good! We were torn between giving it a 3.5 or 4 star rating. We settled on 3.5 plus!

    The movie is based on the book. And several versions have been put to film. We will try some of the other releases of Little Women. There are several.

    TMDB: “Louisa May Alcott’s autobiographical account of her life with her three sisters in Concord Mass in the 1860s. With their father fighting in the civil war, the sisters: Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth are at home with their mother. Jo is an outspoken woman for her time. The story is of how the sisters grow up, find love and find their place in the world.”

    Enjoyment Rating: 3.5+ star

    Clean Rating: 5

  • Pillow Talk

    Pillow Talk

    1959, 1h 42m


    Genre: Classics, Comedy
    TMDB Rating: 72%

    My Comments: 08-21-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). Borrowed the set from ASB. A lovely little romp through Big City 1959 through the lives of two people sharing a telephone party line. Rock Hudson plays the playboy at the other end of Doris Day’s line. It’s a funny movie, with a pleasant glimpse back to the late 50’s: scenery, decor, and social setting of the time. Even back then, the sexual revolution was already emerging. And this leads us to the moral dilemma with this movie. A modest adult can certainly deal with the many compromised attitudes and innuendos (both sexual and in the portrayal of alcoholism), but this movie is probably not for impressionable young teens.

    Overall, we enjoyed the movie for its classic feel, its lively energy and comedic delightfulness, but were a bit disappointed in the lack of innocence you usually get with a 50’s film.

    TMDB: “Playboy songwriter Brad Allen’s succession of romances annoys his neighbor, interior designer Jan Morrow, who shares a telephone party line with him and hears all his breezy routines. After Jan unsuccessfully lodges a complaint against him, Brad sets about to seduce her in the guise of a sincere and upstanding Texas rancher. When mutual friend Jonathan discovers that his best friend is moving in on the girl he desires, however, sparks fly.”

    1. Michael GordonDirector

    Enjoyment Rating: 3.5 star

    Clean Rating: 3

  • Send Me No Flowers

    Send Me No Flowers

    1964, 1h 40m


    Genre: Classics, Comedy
    TMDB Rating: 68%

    My Comments: 09-18-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). Borrowed the box set from ASB. A clean and hilariously funny classic comedy. From George’s hypochondria to Judy’s relaxed acceptance of it to misunderstandings, it’s a great little farce. Tony Randall as the guy next door does an incredible job and has you falling off the couch in laughter. This is a great little film!

    TMDB: “At one of his many visits to his doctor, hypochondriac George Kimball mistakes a dying man’s diagnosis for his own and believes he only has about two more weeks to live. Wanting to take care of his wife Judy, he doesn’t tell her and tries to find her a new husband. When he finally does tell her, she quickly finds out he’s not dying at all (while he doesn’t) and she believes it’s just a lame excuse to hide an affair, so she decides to leave him.”

    Enjoyment Rating: 4 star

    Clean Rating: 4.5

  • State Fair (1945)

    State Fair (1945)

    1945, 1h 40m


    Genre: Classics, Romance
    TMDB Rating: 66%

    My Comments: 09-05-2023 (approx date) at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). Sweet and innocent classic musical, romance. Pleasant story line, some interesting complexity to it in that the story follows both the young man and his sister, who each fall into their own separate romances at the state fair.

    TMDB: “During their annual visit to the Iowa State Fair, the Frake family enjoy many adventures. Proud patriarch Abel has high hopes for his champion swine Blueboy; and his wife Melissa enters the mincemeat and pickles contest…with hilarious results.”

    1. Walter Lang: Director
    2. Oscar Hammerstein II: Screenplay

    Enjoyment Rating: 3.5 star.

    Clean Rating: 5

  • My Sister Eileen

    My Sister Eileen

    1955, 1h 42m


    Genre: Classics, Comedy
    TMDB Rating: 68%

    My Comments: 07-23-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). Not sophisticated but adorable 50’s musical comedy romance. There’s joy here.

    TMDB: “Ruth and her beautiful sister Eileen come to New York’s Greenwich Village looking for “fame, fortune and a ‘For Rent’ sign on Barrow Street”. They find an apartment, but fame and fortune are a lot more elusive. Ruth gets the attention of playboy publisher Bob Baker when she submits a story about her gorgeous sister Eileen. She tries to keep his attention by convincing him that she and the gorgeous, man-getting Eileen are one and the same person.”

    Enjoyment Rating: 3.5 star

    Clean Rating: 4

  • The Party

    The Party

    1968, 1h 39m


    Genre: Comedy, Classics
    TMDB Rating: 73%

    Our Comments: √ 06-09-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS, NS?). One of the funniest movies out there! One blunder and mishap after another are carefully coreographed by Blake Edwards and masterfully executed by Peter Sellers. Very very funny. Enjoyment rating: 4 star

    TMDB: Hrundi V. Bakshi, an accident-prone actor from India, is accidentally put on the guest list for an upcoming party at the home of a Hollywood film producer. Unfortunately, from the moment he arrives, one thing after another goes wrong with compounding effect.

    Enjoyment Rating: 4 star

    Clean Rating: Not rated

    About Clean Ratings: see this page.

  • The Andy Griffith Show (TV Comedy)

    The Andy Griffith Show (TV Comedy)

    1960 to 1968, 249 episodes

    Andy Griffith statues, copyright Paul Singer.

    Genre: TV, Comedy
    TMDB Rating: 8.4
    Clean Rating: 5
    Watched It On: iTunes and DVD

    Watching the entire series again, beginning April 27, 2023 following a visit to Mt. Airy. Visited Mt. Airy again Jan 2024 and thus we watched a couple of episodes that month in Venice, FL. An ongoing pleasure.

    My Comments: The series ran from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968. 249 half-hour episodes across eight seasons. 159 episodes in black & white and 90 in color. The producer of The Danny Thomas Show, Sheldon Leonard, and Danny, asked writer Arthur Stander (who’d contributed several of the “Danny Thomas” scripts) to create a pilot show for Griffith. The pilot was filmed and aired. This then gave birth to Andy’s own show. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios and other nearby locations in California.

    The fictitious town of Mayberry was based largely upon Griffith’s home town of Mt. Airy (Surry County), North Carolina, with some inspiration from nearby Pilot Mountain (also in Surry County), plus a good dose of imagination. A wonderful place to visit, Mt. Airy hosts The Andy Griffith Museum and many recreations of the show’s locations and some locations that really exist (such as Snappy Lunch diner). The diner is mentioned in episode 7, which aired November 14, 1960, – “Andy the Matchmaker”). You can read about the California studio set and actual town here.

    There’s something very near and dear to our hearts about Mayberry and its gentle, long-suffering, sheriff. Mayberry is where we all want to live. A place of community, normalcy, pleasantness, and bygone simplicity. This is an excellent TV series to enjoy, laugh along with, and relax with.

    Some of our own “Mayberry” moments below. Photos © Copyright Paul Singer.

    Note: Gallery photos by Paul Singer. Do not download or use without permission.

    Andy and Barney with a full jail

    Trivia: to come …

    I give The Andy Griffith show 4.5 stars for watching pleasure and a perfect Clean5 morality rating.

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  • North By Northwest

    North By Northwest

    1959, 2h 16m


    Genre: Classics, Mystery
    TMDB Rating: 80%

    My Comments: √ 04-01-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). Excellent plot, acting, and overall delivery. 4 star.

    TMDB: “Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase. Spine-chilling climax!”

    1. Ernest Lehman Author, Screenplay
    2. Alfred Hitchcock Director

    Enjoyment Rating: 4 star

    Clean Rating: 4.5

  • Casablanca

    Casablanca

    1943, 1h 42m


    Genre: Classics, Drama
    TMDB Rating: 82%

    My Comments: √ 03-31-2023 at our place in Niagara (PS, HS). A masterpiece. Not because it’s iconic, which it is. But because it’s that good. Impeccably interwoven story of war, the plight/fight for freedom, romance, heartbreak, and fate.

    TMDB: “In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.”

    Michael Curtiz Director

    Enjoyment Rating: 5 star

    Clean Rating: 4.5

  • Top Hat

    Top Hat

    1935, 1h 41m


    Genre: Classics, Romance
    TMDB Rating: 73%

    My Comments: √ Watched it many times, including on 03-19-2023 at our place in Niagara, and again on 05-04-2024, (PS, HS). One of our all time favorite classics (in our top 3 or 4); and perhaps in the TOP TWO of Fred and Ginger movies. A cute musical romance in that 1930’s style. A well-crafted classic that just feels right from one end to the other. The misunderstanding of who Fred’s character really is brings about a lot of entertainment. Fred and Ginger have amazing chemistry in this film and their dancing together is sublime. Enjoyment rating: 4.5 star.

    Clean Rating: 5