Old movies on TV
I appreciate that this will make me sound like Norman Tebbit, or worse Rick Wakeman, but when was the last time you saw a classic Woody Allen movie on TV? And by 'classic' I mean funny obviously. Or a spaghetti western? Or something weird from the fringes of early 70s cinema? I appreciate that all the 12 and 13 year olds today are probably out on Saturday nights selling each other drugs on street corners, but in my day I was generally quite happy to stay in and watch some great movies - usually on BBC2 - some of which to the best of my knowledge have never been shown since. I was trying to explain 'Play It Again Sam' to my godson (15) and realised that he had absolutely no points of reference. He had never seen a Humphrey Bogart movie, and never seen anything by Woody Allen.
Maybe I'm living in a particularly dull TV region, or perhaps simply living in a dreamworld, but shouldn't it be possible to screen some of these movies? Or shall we just stick with the bingo at three in the morning?
With the multitude of digital TV channels it amazes me how limited the rotation of movies actually is. How many times do we need to see 'Indian Jones & the ...' or 'Harry Potter & the ...'? Couldn't they just once show "Freebie & the Bean"?
Mid-70s, BBC2 Saturday nights. When they weren't showing horror movies, which were generally great - "The Crazies" anyone? - it was "Zabriske Point", "The Magic Christian", "Steelyard Blues", "Silent Running" or "Barbarella". I'll leave you to work out which made the biggest impression on an impressionable 13 year old.
Not all masterpieces - I'm thinking "The Bedsitting Room" here - but worth the watching.
I realise the majority won't give a toss - that was the case in my day too - but it seems to me that an entire generation of people have missed out on the possibility of stumbling across some fantastic movies - "Love & Death", "Dark Star", "Two Lane Blacktop". Is there a programme scheduler in the house?
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And whatever...
...happened to Laurel and Hardy shorts in the mornings? There's a generation missing out on these comic gems isn't there?
I think you're spot-on, Steven, but I saw That'll Be The Day (one of the fondly-remembered must-sees of '73) the other night and was quite horrified at how bad it was, so I wonder how Freebie and the Bean would come across now?
And now I find myself subdued with melancholy over the fact that my paperback copy of Steelyard Blues must now be a long time in the landfill - even though I never threw it away.
Laurence Harvey
I remember watching "Room at the Top", on Channel 4, and finding it a life changing experience. They just don't show movies like that on the telly anymore. Even TCM don't show classics anymore!
I had the same experience
with "Magic Christian" actually. Fondly remembered, but actually rubbish. On the other hand "Electra Glide In Blue", another 1973 must-see, remains superb.
Coincidentally I recently addressed the Laurel & Hardy deficit by way of a 21 DVD collection at HMV in a handsome box, currently yours for a knocked down £50. Admittedly I could have lived without the Spanish language version of 'Saps At Sea', but still ... a bargain surely.
Indeed
Top post StevenC. I discovered many left-of-field films at that impressionable age. 'Tommy', 'The Draughtman's Contract', many Woody Allens, 'Rollerball', my list goes on and on.
These days, if a half-decent film is on, it's been scheduled in the middle of the night because Britain's Stupidest Traffic Wardens was on at 9. And I usually can't be bothered to tape it because, well, it'll never get watched. (I have a VHS recorder, history buffs).
I hope I will make an exception for 'Capricorn One', on in an hour's time. The first grown-up film I saw in a cinema.
'The Draughtman's Contract'
Amazing soundtrack by Michael Nyman recently remastered in 2004. I listen to it all the time. I recommend buying it. As close to rock as classical music is ever going to get.
While we're on the subject
Tom and Jerry!! Saturday just before 6pm on a saturday, BBC1 (double bill if you were lucky)
That magic name Fred Quimby meant 10-15 mins of cartoon heaven!!!
THOMAAAAAS!!!!!!
Early 80s
BBC2 did a science fiction series of films - including Logan's Run, Westworld, Silent Running, A Boy And His Dog (amazing movie!) and yes Barbarella. They also showed a series of Hammer Movies which was great. When was the last time you saw one of those on TV?
La Cabina
I've just watched La Cabina on You Tube. It's the Spanish movie were the guy get's stuck in a phonebox. Priceless. All of a sudden I'm 11 years old and crapping myself again. Very scary, even to this 38 year old!!!
At last!
This is something I'm prone to banging on about at great length. We didn't get a TV until c.1975, when I was 13, and when we did, it opened up a whole new world - not so much of telly, but of old films. Especially memorable for me are things like seasons of 1940s Raymond Chandler films (The Blue Dahlia, The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely…) on BBC2 on weekday nights at 9pm. Or even Busby Berkeley seasons! Now it seems we'd rather watch smug couples looking for a house to buy.
And what about Film International on Saturday evenings? Oedipus Rex, Exterminating Angel… When did BBC2 last show a season of foreign films?
And, yes, Laurel and Hardy - I now marvel at the fact that at primary school in the playground we used to recreate classic Laurel and Hardy routines - how many kids today have even heard of them?
I can't get TCM, but Film Four only ever show old films in the afternoon - in the evenings it's the same old 80s-and-after second raters again and again.
It really is appalling etc.
Still, thank god for LoveFilm. Although when is someone going to issue the DVD of Live Now, Pay Later?
In the BBCs defence
BBC4 does show a good deal of foriegn films. (damn site more than ITV have ever done!!)
It's our perception of time that's wonky, I think
Bear with me here, because what follows does your head in a bit.
Alien and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which do still get fairly regular outings on telly, were made in 1979 and 1981. That means that they're just as old today as Rita Hayworth in The Lady from Shanghai or Bogie in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre were for us back in 1979-81. Using the same "x-years ago" yardstick, we find that back then a classic Hitchcock flick like North By Northwest or Marnie was no "older" than Die Hard or The Mission are now, even though they certainly seemed old at the time.
Conclusion: I think "old" movies still do get an airing on TV, but "old" is a relative concept, and its meaning shifts with us as we get older ourselves.
In our land
we have an invention called the DVD. Saves waiting around to be 13 again.
But there's a difference...
...between deciding to put something on and having something just fall into your lap.
Exactly ...
it's the joy of stumbling across something unexpected. Anyway, how would any 13 year old today know what DVD to buy?
And while I take Archie's point about the perception of time, it maybe explains but doesn't excuse the discarding of 50 years of cinema in favour of 'Police Camera Action'.
Film Fun
Harold And Maude on BBC 2 on a Saturday night. Joy oh joy.
And what about Play For Today? It spawned some truly wonderful writers who these days have to learn their trade on The Bill.
Seasons
Does TV show seasons of films any more? I remember a fantastic, I think complete, Hitchcock season on Channel 4 in the late 80s every Sunday night for months. It was the only time I'd seen lesser known stuff, like the early British films and the ones that rarely get shown like Stagefright or Foreign Correspondent. I remember actor seasons as well, often over Christmas - people like Bogart, John Wayne, Cary Grant etc. I must admit I've given up on looking through TV schedules now to see if there are any interesting films on. We sometimes create our own seasons thanks to Lovefilm and the fact that you can often buy 4 videos for a pound in charity shops. Not the same as stumbling across something unexpected though.
Can I add to the Laurel and Hardy theme, the name Harold Lloyd. Man I loved those films.
Hammer Horror
And, oh, aren't today's under 10s missing out by not being allowed to stay up late on Friday to watch the Hammer Horror double bill?
This is a common memory among my friends, and we sometimes get together for wine + vampires of a Saturday night at own of our houses. Sadly(and I'm not being facetious here - I really do think it's a shame) whichever kids live in the houses are usually in bed and don't get to shore the wonderful ketchuppy gore with us.
School for Scoundrels
the proper one, with Alistair Sim, is on Channel 4 at 12:40pm today.
Moviedrome...
With Alex Cox (not the camp Northern Irish guy - whatever happened to him?)was a godsend when I was about 14. Seeing stuff like Badlands, The Fly, Performance etc with a usually very amusing introduction was worth the licence fee (which of course my parents paid for anyway).
Bring it back I say.
By the way I'm going to see THX 1138 at the local 'arthouse' tonight. Is it any good?
Gave up 10 minutes in so that says something
Someone once said that it's better on TV with adverts as they get sucked into the movie, as though they're an extension of the story.
Good call
I'd forgotten all about Moviedrome - there was an accompanying book with his introductions as essays. I sent off my SAE for it - how quaint. It was really good, now I have to remember who I lent my copy too? I do have the book from a series Robert McKee introduced on BBC2 with great films like Casablanca and Chinatown. That was the kind of television we just took for granted really. I always hoped TCM would do that - or Film Four. Wonder if we'll ever get a BBC Film channel?
In todays TV climate
The only way I can see old movies making a comeback is to get celebrities to introduce them and talk at length about what the film means to them and then show the thing. People would tune in just to hear the spiel.
For the producers the hardest part would be convincing Jason Donovan that Paths of Glory is his favourite film.
I honestly think it would work. Getting some egghead showcasing films or anything else is a thing of the past. Nowadays sex and celebrity are the only currency.