I was sitting in the dark office, wondering how I was going to pay for another cheap bottle of whiskey, no less the rent on the dump, when I heard her heels clicking down the hall and saw her silhouette in the frosty glass of the door. She knocked and I said "Come in, the door's never locked." Through the smoke from my cigarette, she looked like an angel in the clouds... a classy blonde angel. She sat in the ragged leather chair by my desk, making the old chair look better than it had in years, and said "I need some help..." "That’s what I'm here for, doll" I replied, wishing I had a little of that cheap whiskey. "I need some help finding information on classic films" she breathed through glossy red lips, lips that should be sipping champagne but didn't belong in a dump like this. "Hmmm, what kind of information are you looking for?" I said, taking the last drag of my last cigarette. "You know... information about films from the Forties & Fifties, about gangsters and dames, about... I think they call it Film Noir." Her voice was like silk, well suited for those lips. "The library..." I stuttered, "I think you'll find what you need there. I'm a detective, not a librarian. If someone was missing, if you needed someone tailed, if someone needed some "convincing", I might be able to help you, sweetheart... but you need a librarian." She quickly stood and threw a couple crumpled dollars on my desk, her eyes glowing in the darkness, eyes that could stop a herd of wild horses. "Thanks for your help" she said as she spun and headed toward the door. "Need my card?" I asked hopefully. "No thanks, the only card I need is my library card" she replied as she glanced over her shoulder. "Maybe I could check out the library with you... after we get a drink" I said, but it was too late - her heels clicked out the door, down the hall and out of my life.
Yeah, that was the life changing incident that made me become a Librarian. If a classy dame comes in looking for information on Film Noir, I now know how to help her. ALD's Donna Keslin has started leading a film series on classic films, and is compiling information about classic films (including recommended films and books) that is located on the ALD website on the "Movies and Music" page under "Classic Film Series." Her series through December is devoted to American Film Noir and the list of resources will grow as Donna covers more movie genres in the program. Check it out!
If you have a classic film that’s your favorite (it can be any genre), we’d love to hear about it. If you've got a favorite hard-boiled detective novel, we'd love to hear about that too!
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7 comments:
Oh man, I love old movies. Some of my favorites are Casablanca, The African Queen and On Borrowed Time (seems like a lesser known one, but it's charming and moving, and stars Lionel Barrymore). I also love The Miracle at Morgan's Creek, a very hilarious (and slightly racy for the time) movie well worth watching. I love discovering rare B&W gems like these.
Here are two lesser known movies in the film noir genre that come to mind: The Man Who Wasn't There- the Coen brothers 2002 movie starring Billy Bob Thornton and Frances McDormand; and for an old classic there's Marilyn Monroe's Niagara- quite entertaining!
So, I am sorry, I guess i don't really give old movies a chance. I think one I tried, years ago, was "How to Marry a Millionaire" with Marilyn Monroe. I think my biggest issue I have with classics is the "size" of the movies. Movies today are so big with sets and outdoor shooting. Many of the classics seem to be shot on one small soundstage with different constructed sets, and it seems to be "closed in". Please, somebody recommend a movie to me that will change this for me. Even a good one like "The Wizard of Oz" was on a soundstage.
Great revision of Chandler, Andrew!! I also love most of the old b&w movies - the funny and not so funny ones: Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic and Old Lace, Laura, and of course all the old Hepburn/Tracy films. Classics one and all!
And for Andrew N., "The Naked Spur" and "Broken Arrow" with Jimmy Stewart (in color but classics nonetheless) weren't filmed totally on a sound stage (I don't think).
Susan C.
O.K., Hotshot with your fedora and smokin' gun, don't think you can fool this babe!! I've seen me some scenes and I could tell you some tales, but a dames got to be true to her code. Catch a flick with hunky, brawny and shady mugs and a fantastically gorgeous broad who set the screen on fire!! Watch it and weep!! It's THE KILLERS with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner
Keep you powder dry--JoAnneP.
I love the old Esther Williams films, Hitchcock, and Bette Davis. The musicals South Pacific and Song of Music are great. However, one of my favorites (don't laugh now) is Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1959, with James Mason and Pat Boone. Are these old enough to be classics? How do you define?
So many movies, so little time...
1939- quite possibly the best year for great classics, includes the following: "Jamaica Inn", Maureen O'Hara & Charles Laughton. Both also in "Hunchback of Notre Dame".
"Wuthering Heights, with Frederick March & Merle Oberon. "Good-bye Mr. Chips", Robert Donat. "Stagecoach", John Wayne. "Gunga Din", Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. "The Four Feathers", fabulous cast of British actors. "Mr. Smith goes to Washington", Jimmy Stewart. And the list continues… Andrew - several of these were NOT in sound stages! There is hope!
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