Way back in March, over spring break, Eldest Daughter and I held our own movie festival. She had some recommendations from friends who were fans of old movies, and we watched several of the movies on her list. For some of the movies the other young adults in the house joined us. Here are my impressions:

Some Like It Hot: I’ve never seen Marilyn Monroe’s finest(?) hour, and I didn’t get to watch it with the young adults. I think, however, they were shocked by all the cross-dressing. Young people these days are so easily shocked —just not by the same things that give me pause. The movie sounded rather Shakespearean to me: all those boys posing as girls and vice-versa?

Rebel Without a Cause: I hadn’t seen this one either, but I now agree that James Dean is the essence of 50’s cool and that Rebel is an iconic movie. Teen rebellion, teen angst, parental helplessness and hypocrisy, romantic love as saviour —Rebel Without a Cause has all the themes and concern of the sixties in a harbinger of things to come. Two things are mildly bothersome: the supposed high school kids looked like college kids at least, and Natalie Wood simpered and pouted too much.

Young Frankenstein: I did see this movie back in the day, and I remember thinking it rather dull and un-funny back then. It didn’t improve with age, and Mel Brooks still isn’t very funny.

The Philadelphia Story: I thought I had seen this movie starring Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Katherine Hepburn. But now I’m not so sure. I certainly don’t remember all the brilliant dialogue and the underlying tensions that make the movie more than just a romp. Excellent.

Annie Hall: I don’t like Woody Allen any more than I do Mel Brooks; however, Woody is a bit funnier. Still, all the sexual obsession and Freudian angst and casual drug taking and political posturing both make and ruin the movie’s humor. If it’s funny to laugh at self-centered idiots whose analysts are so confused that they have their own analysts . . . I guess the point is that we’re all to some extent self-centered idiots, and that pseudo-intellectual New Yorkers take self-centered idiocy to new heights.

A Streetcar Named Desire: I prefer The Glass Menagerie for my dose of Tennessee Williams. Streetcar was too sad. I felt really sorry for Vivian Leigh’s Blanche du Bois, and Marlon Brando’s character was an ape and a brute.

On the Waterfront: I really liked this movie; I almost began to see the appeal of Brando. In On the Waterfront he still plays a tough guy, but he’s a bum with a heart. I can see why this movie won eight Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor. I often hear Christians talk about “taking back Hollywood” and making Christian-themed movies. They need to take a look at this 1954 sermon on film about courage and repentance and redemption and standing against evil. The Christianity in the film is overt and obvious, yet not offensive or sanctimonious.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: I have seen this Robert Redford/PaulNewman flick more than once, and I’d say that even though it’s very 60’s/70’s in some ways, it wears well. I still laughed and so did Eldest Daughter. Newman and Redford, frozen in time by the miracle of film, are still just as good-looking and charming as ever.

Eldest Daughter said her favorites were Some Like It Hot, On the Waterfront, and Annie Hall. She thought Rebel Without a Cause was “creepy”. I guess she has a point about Rebel, but I thought it definitely fit the “iconic” tag.

See my list of 105 Best Movies Ever —to which I need to add On the Waterfront, Marty and Rebel Without a Cause to make 108.