The movie begins. A monotone, cheesy theme with too many violins and not enough tempo plays, while an archaic cursive title fades onto the screen. The movie is called something like "In a Lonely Place" or "Strangers on a Train." \nBecause the credits are at the beginning of the movie, it takes too long for the action to start. And when it does, the characters talk unnaturally and nasally -- primitive recording equipment and years of deterioration and copying take their toll. Plus, there is no color! \nThis is the argument many college students give as an excuse not to see an old film: the plot is archaic and unnatural. People don't act like Humphrey Bogart in real life, nor do they burst out into song and dance at random intervals like Fred Astaire might. This may account for the poor turnout at the Union Board's showing of "Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times," Jan. 30 and 31.\n"To be honest, 'Modern Times' was a bit of a failure," said UB Films Director Hashim Hathaway. "Something that shows that the tastes of IU students tend to lean to more current fare."\nThe bust of the Chaplin film won't necessarily mean the end of old films shown at IU. \n"This doesn't completely rule out showing older classics in the future," Hathaway said. "But that is something that would fall to the demands and interests of the students."\nAlthough today's younger crowd may see this as a downfall to vintage films, not all share this negative outlook.\nHarvey Cocks, a former Broadway and screen actor (under the name Harvey Collins) and now the Managing Director of the Fort Wayne Youtheatre in Fort Wayne went to see those kind of movies when they were shown on the silver screen. He reminisced, saying "They don't make them like that anymore."\nHe said because of America's society at that time, close to two major world wars, the majority of the film industry's audiences didn't want to see realistic films. The real world was full of hatred, persecution and bloodshed. The people of America were tired, and wanted an escape, he said. They found that escape in the movies, Cocks said.\nBut not all movie companies followed this social thinking.\n"'Reefer Madness' (1938) was about marijuana use, and 'The Man with the Golden Arm' (1955) starred Frank Sinatra as a cocaine addict," Cocks said. "There were many movies with drugs, violence and sex in them, they just weren't as blatant as they are today."\n"I think films were simpler, and what made them so good is that they had to sort of bob and weave around the standards of the day in terms of sex and violence," Hathaway said. "So it forced writers and directors of that day to be far more creative in the stories they told."\nFor example, in the 1941 John Huston noir film, "The Maltese Falcon," Peter Lorre played Joel Cairo, a homosexual man. Because homosexuality was more taboo than it is today, Lorre's character never said that he that was gay, nor did he express any attraction to the men in the film. On more than one occasion, Humphrey Bogart's character, Sam Spade, noticed that Cairo was wearing the scent of gardenias. Cairo also wore a pinky ring -- a dead giveaway in the culture of the times -- and at one point while under duress, was curled up effeminately on a sofa. By the early-century standards, he was flaming.\n"It was a big thing to have a gay character in a movie," Cocks said. "It was great because, typically, the people who would be offended didn't catch the references."\nAs the film industry progressed into the 1950s and 60s, films split into two main groups. The fear and paranoia of Cold War-era America was reflected in many films of the time. Alfred Hitchcock picked up on this feeling, and gave Hollywood movies like "Vertigo" (1958), and "Rear Window" (1954), with James Stewart playing a man in a wheelchair spying on his neighbor.\n"That was very symbolic," Cocks said, referring to the "catch them before they catch us" attitude of the Cold War. \nLater on, films like "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) approached the Cold War more blatantly. Stanley Kubrick's black-humor farce of what it would be like if the president pushed the "Big Red Button" and annihilated civilization was the fear prevalent of that era.\nThe other group was exactly the opposite. Romantic comedies began to flourish, making Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Carey Grant and many other good-looking actors and actresses internationally-recognized stars. "April in Paris" (1952), "Pillow Talk" (1959) and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) are a few examples.\n"The music was amazing, with big, extravagant musical scores. The hero always got the heroine in the end, and everyone was just so happy," Cocks said. "The way people wanted to feel when they went to the movies."\nBoth Cocks and Hathaway have a "must-see" list of old movies. \n"It's hard to come up with just a few," Cocks said. He thought for a moment, and said, "First, would be 'Gone with the Wind.' 'Citizen Kane,' 'The Maltese Falcon,' and one obscure one, called 'The Oxbow Incident,' (a western with Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews).\nHathaway mentioned three works anyone considering themselves a fan of film would see: Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing," "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "The Best Years of Our Lives.'"\nCoincidentally, the City Lights Film Series will be screening a noir genre double feature at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27 in Ballantine Hall, Room 013. Admission is free.\nThe first film shown, on 16mm film, is "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955). \n"This movie is a later noir piece, formed by the Cold War mentality," said Matt Yockey, a graduate student in the department of communication and culture, and a board member for City Lights. "It is an adaptation of a Mickey Spillane novel. It's a really strange film." \nThe film uses a device copied almost 40 years later in Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (1994).
It focuses around characters trying to\nget possession of a mysterious briefcase with unknown contents.\n"It's quite good," Yockey said.\nThe second film shown will be the 1947 film, "Out of the Past." \n"This one is more traditional noir. (Robert) Mitchum plays a big city detective who is hiding out in a small town in a gas station," Yockey said. "His past comes back to haunt him in the form of Kirk Douglas, a crime boss."\n"Out of the Past" breaks the stereotype that old movies are too subdued where violence is concerned. \n"It is the only film that I know of where there is a death by fishing hook," Yockey said.\nWith all this newfound insight into the Golden Age of Film, there is no excuse not to see an old movie. They are available at video rental stores, and the Kent Cooper room in the basement of the Main Library has a wide selection where students can check out three movies for three days for free. \nPrograms such as the Union Board Film series and City Lights show films of this sort often, at little or no cost compared to that of a new release in a regular movie theater.\nFor more information on the Union Board Film Series, call (812) 855-0435.\nInformation for the City Lights Film series can be obtained by calling (812) 856-FLIX, and brochures can be obtained by visiting the Film Studies office at Ballantine Hall room 306.
