Ol' Timers

I made reference in my last post to the fact that I love old movies of the '30's & '40's. I am lucky that I grew up in a family that respected and enjoyed these movies because I think I developed good taste in acting and writing in part because of this education. While Whit and I were in Napa, we were thumbing through books about the film stars of this time. One book was about character actors and it was full of amazing, interesting faces. There were so many unique, fun, strange actors - I love it, I wish our movies these days utilized more character actors and less bore core pretty people. Not to say that old movies didn't have their pretty people - their pretty people were outstandingly gorgeous.

What are my favorite movies from the '30's & '40's? Well, I'm glad you asked. In no particular order:

The Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby
I mean how to pick between Nelson Eddy & Jeanette MacDonald movies, hmm...well, Naughty Marietta started it all for me, so that. But I also love Rose Marie and Maytime (sobbed like a baby in Maytime)
Oh, and then how to pick between Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movies. Yikes. Really can't, so: Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, Swing Time, Shall We Dance.
Gone With the Wind
Holiday

Holy cow, I just realized I can't do this - I have a billion titles coming into my head. Can't. I'll stop there and let my last selection spring board me into the next paragraph.

I've had my crushes on many of the old timey stars over the years (Nelson Eddy, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, William Holden, Gary Cooper...), but my number one now is Lew Ayres. He never got as big as those other dudes, but I like getting to know some somewhat more obscure actors from the time. I first saw him some years ago in Holiday (and watched it again last weekend) and his performance in that movie has remained with me. He plays Kathryn Hepburns' drunk brother - and is absolutely heartbreaking(FYI - Kathryn Hepburn is probably my favorite lady star - so strong and heartfelt and interesting). I've been watching more of his performances lately (whichever I can find - it's hard) and loving him more and more. He is super relaxed in front of the camera, has an interesting energy, always seems to have a bit of a joke behind his eyes and, of course, he's super adorable and charming. Here are a couple pictures of Lew, for my own enjoyment!