Before I talk about the movies themselves, I just wanted to tell you a little bit about what led up to this moment. Right when I started this Blog, I began to hear of a movie called Make Way for Tomorrow. It was a film that I had never of as a child, but it had many followers and comments online. My first encounter with the film came when I did a post on Leo McCarey. Immediately I became very impressed with this director and found that his favorite film was this one. Later as I began a timeline for the leading ladies of Hollywood, I was reading a book titled "They had Faces Then," written by John Springer & Jack D. Hamilton. Both of them expressed their appreciation for the talents of Beulah Bondi, and then mentioned this as their favorite film of hers. So last night, I put on YouTube and sat down to watch it. Throughout the movie, my little seventeen month-old was hooked as my wife kept saying: "This is so sad."
Now to talk about the movie itself. Even though this film does not involve different ideologies or opposing political ideas, it is one of the most controversial films I have ever seen. Its story has a silent truth to it, that can inflict silent pain on those who see their own private actions played out.
I grew up in a home where my parents took care of both sets of grandparents and my dad's handicap sister. Needless to say they had a handicap daughter of their own to watch with two to three other children, out of twelve in all, living at home. My grandparents had other offspring that could have watched them, but each of them had their own reason for being unable, so my parents lovingly took them in. My parents moved out of their already small master bedroom and into an even smaller room in the basement. I learned what it meant to be a Samaritan as I grew up in this home. I loved having them in my home. Throughout my life we lived in a different state then them, and this was my chance to have them all to myself.
Something impressive about Bondi, is how well she did at looking and acting like a grandmother in her late forties. This film shows many different perspectives of a child's feelings for their aged parents, and all of them are saddening. After seeing this film you want to call your parents and talk to them for a few hours. It is a fantastic picture. It also is full of touching scenes of this elderly couple when they should be celebrating fifty years together, instead of saying their final good-byes.
Right after we watched this film, a whole bunch of complete movies were available to watch. The one that caught my eye was a film with Danny Kaye titled, Me and the Colonel. I had heard of this film before and turned it on with the intent of just watching the beginning. My son and I were hooked from the beginning. We stayed up until 11:30 to finish it together.
Made in a year when Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor reigned supreme and Jimmy Stewart was getting over his fear of heights, came this slightly comedic WWII drama. It was refreshingly funny, but not the common Danny Kaye funny you see in his other films. His acting in this film showed a slightly serious side, and proves once again his amazing talent as a performer. Curd Jürgens also did an amazing job as an upstanding Polish officer, who runs to his love before he runs to his escape. The film has a few lines that are instant classics and you never know where the story will go. I recommend this film to any one who loves WWII dramas.
All in all, I am surprised by how many films of the past are not as well known as others of the same era. If you have not seen these two films, I promise you wont be disappointed. They are now both apart of my favorites.
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