BBC2 and C4 showing some good older films in afternoons
Molly Bloom
Posts: 2,318 Forum Member
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I was really pleased to see Shall We Dance starring Fred and Ginger is on BB2 this afternoon, and that C4 have been airing older films during the week.
I would love to see this continue. For too long it seemed like classic films were being totally shunned by broadcasting executives on the "main" channels. I wonder why the tables appear to have turned for the better again?
If we could just get some vintage horror on BB2 or C4 again it would be perfect, although I can't really see myself being that lucky. For now it's just really nice to see a step in the right direction.
I would love to see this continue. For too long it seemed like classic films were being totally shunned by broadcasting executives on the "main" channels. I wonder why the tables appear to have turned for the better again?
If we could just get some vintage horror on BB2 or C4 again it would be perfect, although I can't really see myself being that lucky. For now it's just really nice to see a step in the right direction.
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I have spent some time in Canada and was able to watch a lot of great, older classic films on TCM (USA version). The UK version of TCM is nowhere near as good as the USA.
I agree that the recent output by Channel 4 and the BBC is a step in the right direction.
I love to sit in on a rainy day & watch an old movie.
I'm pleased to see good old films get a showing. I probably won't watch many but I did make a point of seeing The Lady Vanishes (Hitchcock, 1938) this morning. Good stuff.
I'd be delighted to see some old horror or sci-fi. They can't cost much to show and fill a slot with something rather better than most daytime TV: Cheap chat & Property Porn - ugh!
Me too. I agree with the poster who said the UK version of TCM is nothing compared to the US/Canada one.
There's nothing better than being curled up indoors in the warm watching an old film on an autumn/winter afternoon.
I completely agree - it's why I made a big deal out of how great it is terrestrial channels are screening them at an accessible time. Older people will especially appreciate it, like my grandmother.
I like "Movies for Men" but it is a bit of a "hotch potch." I find the vintage monochrome quite good and worth recording, but some of the more recent films from the eighties, were that bad they never made it into Halliwell.
The late night films tend to progress to dire "very soft porn" and should be avoided.
I watched "Smokescreen" with a young Peter Vaughan in it the other day, which for a 1964 film, was quite good.
Personally I'd like to see fewer westerns. I understand they were the meat and drink for many Hollywood studios in the forties and fifties, but most of them are pretty generic.
That's true, Reach For The Sky and The 39 Steps seem to be shown quite a lot too.
Some gritty 50s 60s British Films would be nice, A Taste Of Honey, Billy Liar, The Entertainer, Loot, Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush, Poor Cow, Etc.
Agreed. I have never really liked westerns though so I am biased.
I'd like to see more film noirs and musicals on TV again personally. I absoutely loved the Noir season BBC4 did a few years ago.
You see, I've always steered away from movies4men but it seems like the name is REALLY misleading and I've been missing some good stuff. I'll have to give it a try.
I would definitely like some more film noir and musicals, that's why I like TCM(USA) so much as they always show a good selection of both, including some lesser known movies.
I quite like westerns but think that they are screened too often especially by TCM(UK).
I collect "film noir" particular those starring Bogart, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, William Powell, etc., there's a few hundred from which to choose of that genre.
Some of the female stars could act as well as being great actresses.
"The Shanghi Gesture" was shown again a few days ago, starring Victor Mature and Gene Tierney. "No woman should be that beautiful."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOZ2paXSkWk
The French also made some good ones.. Another favourite of mine. A great score too, by Miles Davis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OKQdp6iGUk
I'm a big Bogart fan too, and Veronica Lake is one of my favourite ever actresses.
It really is sad these films aren't shown on terrestrial channels. There are a few generations now who have been conditioned to snub black and white classics thanks to narrow-minded executives.
Now you're talking!
I've got;
This Gun For Hire.
Sullivan's Travels,
I Married A Witch
The Glass Key.
I Wanted Wings.
Sadly she died in obscurity, one of her last jobs was working as a waitress.
I have been thrilled that BBC2 have shown the vastly underrated Claire Trevor for the past four weeks in succession. She is on again this Sunday morning in the excellent, The Velvet Touch, starring the great Rosalind Russell. I have it on video from when it was last on around 30 years ago. I will definitely be recording a new copy which I hope will have been digitally remastered.:)
"When B Sky B," first came out in the eighties, which had only five programmes, one was a film channel (really,"Ted Turner TV") and I was able to record a lot of great film noir on that.
Some versions of the same film were "colourised," I didn't go a bundle on those.
Ted Turner TV is now TCM, (Turner Classic Movies) and as I said in an earlier posting still show great film noir in their US version including some lesser known movies. Unfortunately TCM UK is not nearly as good and screens a lot of westerns.
I am interested to know where you obtain your collection of film noir movies.
With your user name I thought you would have mentioned Barbara Stanwyck.
I also like Claire Trevor who was nominated three times for the best supporting actress Oscar and won for Key Largo.
Hope the BBC and Channel 4 continue to show these great movies.
It's a collection on VHS which I recorded off the TV. The BBC screened a lot in the eighties. More I've purchased on DVD.
Some were hard to get hold of. Quite often I'd miss one on the TV and they wouldn't be repeated. This is usually because the licence to screen them ran out for whichever network held it.
Sullivan's Travels is a prime example. I had to get it from the USA. But a few years later it came back on TV on another channel.
These days, you'll find no end of them on eBay, just type "film noir" into their search and you'll find pages and pages of them, some starting at 99p.
A few actually end up on You-Tube, though some get taken down due to copyright infringements.
Digressing a bit, I have watched "Mr Hulot's Holiday" on YouTube. Worth seeing if you haven't seen it or can remember it.