Confessions of a Classic Filmophile

I love old movies. I don’t know how it happened; I must have been flipping through the channels on my television one day and came across some wonderful old black and white film that captured my imagination as a child. Since that time, whenever it was, I have seen many films and marveled at how superior many of them are in comparison to those made today. Yes, we can see the advancements of special effects in many action films, but the quality of scripts, character development, and the overall attention to detail were so much better in the past, in my humble opinion. There are good independent films being made, and once in a while a mainstream film does get it right, but the latter doesn’t happen often enough.

I remember watching The Gladiator with Russell Crowe and being unimpressed. I saw better war scenes and gladiator battles in classics such as Spartacus, The Sign of the Cross, and The Fall of the Roman Empire. There were no computers back then to create special effects, such as filling a crowd scene with computer-generated people. The acting was also surprisingly better in these earlier movies, at least I think so. Most popular actors today really lack the personality, intelligence, and charisma of some of their great predecessors from Hollywood’s Golden Age, such as Cary Grant, Bette Davis, Sidney Poitier, and Audrey Hepburn, to name a few.

I almost feel sorry for people who don’t know how good and entertaining movies were, but I’m glad that I know. I have the TCM channel, the Internet, my local video store, and other resources to find and watch classic movies when I have time. I rarely go out to see new movies in the movie theaters, mostly because the prices are sky-high and I want to be sure that the ones I do choose to see are worth my money.

Am I a film snob? Maybe, but I just prefer good stories that can be about anything, as long as they are shot, acted, and directed well.

What are your thoughts on this subject?