I've been in love with New York city since I first followed Holden Caulfield down its hallowed streets the summer I turned 14.
That's part of why I signed up for a short film series at the ROM entitled "New York: City of the Screen".
The course is run by a professor from Ryerson -- a guy who looks like he can't believe he's being paid to watch and talk about movies all day. He got so excited that he couldn't stop hitting the microphone with his wildly expressive right hand.
When one of the participants in last night's course asked him why he chose to study film, he recounted the story of the first movie he ever saw: The Greatest Show on Earth.
If you haven't seen it, run out and rent it.
It's a Cecil B. DeMille epic about the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus that includes train crashes, elephants, high wire acts and plenty of over the top drama. It's wildly colourful. Perfect for a cold Sunday afternoon. Charlton Heston plays a trapeze artist...if you need any more of an incentive.
Our movie loving professor saw the movie 11 times, on 11 successive Saturdays. That made me love him.
Last night's movie was a rare little gem from 1945 called "The Clock," directed by Vincente Minelli and starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker.
It was Judy's first movie after Meet me in St. Louis and Garland and Minelli got married after the filming of "The Clock".
I won't give the story away, but it's a lovely homage to New York, and you can see the ending coming a mile away, which is oddly comforting.
What's wrong with predictability. If you know everyone's going to end up happy, you can just relax and enjoy yourself.
The next film in the series is Rear Window on Tuesday the 27th.
Is there any better way to spend a Tuesday night than with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly? I have an extra ticket, so if any of my little blog reading friends would like to join me for Hitchcock on the big screen, let me know.
2 comments:
Oh, I SO want to go with you! Unfortunately I have plans on the 27th... boo! I've seen Rear Window... in my Film Studies course in Uni. The entire course was on Hitchcock films and we looked at them from a feminist perspective. So good.
Funny - Rear Window. I've answered trivia questions about that movie, but never actually seen it.
But you just gave me a spare ticket last week.
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