Old Black and White Films

hahaha nice way of interpreting it but can see the point. I love B&W films, they aren't as IN YER FACE as these modern day 'action movies'. I watched this film a couple of Xmases ago about a mining community, very old, very B&W, and it was about these miners going about their job and it was very interesting, towarRAB the end disaster struck and the mine caved in! The best thing? they all died. How many films actually kill off the good guys? I was so shocked at the ending. It was brilliant (the story - not the fact that several canaries died and a wee boy). It was different and much more realistic.

Sometimes the good guys just don't win.
 
Hardly "feelgood" films though much of the time which is probably what puts some off.

Classics all the same though

Its a shame when broadcasts and dvd's dont make the effort to get a pristine copy of an old film.

All cinema films of note were made on 35mm film so restoration can get a 50 year old film looking like it was made yesterday.

Grabbing any old print lying around just makes the film look older than it is
 
I really enjoyed The Leather Boys on BBC 4 last night. It was interesting to see an old biker film that wasn't corny. The twist at the end made me laugh as well!
 
This is on soon:

Film: The Miracle Woman (Film4 – Freeview Channel 32, Tuesday 18 September 1pm). This is an interesting one from the archive (1931), starring Barbara Stanwyck in one of her earliest roles. It is based loosely on the life of the American evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Stanwyck plays Florence Fallon, embittered daughter of a Christian pastor whose life of service to a local church nets him nothing. Upon his death, she teams up with a fast-talking con man (Sam Hardy) and starts an emotionally charged ministry replete with bogus miracles and fake healings. Becoming something of a mega-star, her life begins to change when she meets John Carson, (DM) a blind World War I aviator and songwriter. As their relationship blossoms and she realises her impact on his sad life, and decides to change her ways. Unusual for its time – and banned in England for a while because of its all-out attack on religious hypocrisy. Directed by Frank Capra.
 
Is it this one:

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/53184?view=synopsis

Take My Life

An opera star, Philippa Talbot, in a fit of temper, throws a perfume bottle at her husband Nicholas, because she is jealous of his frienRABhip with violinist Elizabeth Rusman. His forehead is cut. Meanwhile Rusman has been murdered by Sidney Fleming who is also wounded on the temple in a similar way to Nicholas. Nicholas is suspected of the murder until Philippa finRAB the score to a Scottish school's song. Fleming is the headmaster of the school, and Philippa visits it in search of proof of Fleming's guilt and her husband's innocence.
 
This thread has really restored my faith. I thought all these were being forgotten gradually. Nice to see others prefer great stories well told to car chases and explosions and gore
 
There are lots of good British B&W films on terrestrial TV next week as part of the British film season, including Tiger Bay, Inn of 6th Happiness, Pumpkin Easter, I Know Where I'm Going.
 
They're great and Judy Holliday too. As I said before, I especially love It Could Happen to You where she plays Gladys Glover and I also love Solid Gold Cadillac. She was investigated for being a Communist by the HUAC. :(
 
Thats exactly it you little genius you!!!!!

The husband has a cut on his head done by his wife but she didn't mention the row to the police as she was ashamed. The real murderer also received a hit on the head from a lamp as he strangled the violinist.

I saw this film one Saturday afternoon with my mum probably in the late seveties and it has stuck with me. Possibly because she rarely sat and watched TV with us.

Thanks again- I owe you a g and t.:) :) :)
 
Pretty much any Hitchcock film, including one they don't show much - Frenzy (not sure if its B & W 'though).


And a couple of less mainstream films

"Peeping Tom", and

"M"

Although I cannot remember if Peeping Tom is B & W.

Neither of the last two are what you would call "wet Sunday afternoon" films.
 
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