GOLDEN AGE OF CINEMA - A PORTRAIT IN BLACK-AND-WHITE by Teresa Inge

During my childhood, black-and-white movies were a staple on television. My mother and I watched them together. We also watched shows like The Munsters, Dragnet, Beverly Hillbillies, and the Addams Family on our black-and-white television.

Although I can’t recall the first black-and-white movie I ever saw, it may have been one directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, or Howard Hawkes due to their creative storytelling, compelling characters, suspense, and moody grey-black tones. The cinematic artistry of these movies began my lifelong love of black-and-white films.

1929-1945 

Of course, today, the movies of my youth are considered the Golden Age of Cinema, specifically recognizing 1929-1945 as the most exciting period in film. Film historians often rate 1939 as the greatest year in Hollywood history since studios were at the height of their Golden Age, producing motion pictures such as The Wizard of Oz (filmed in Black-and-White, Technicolor, and Sepia Tone), The Women (black-and-white), and Gone with the Wind (Technicolor). These movies elevated the public's interest in movie-going in 1939.

FEMME FATALES

A favorite character of mine from black-and-white films is a femme fatale. The presence of the archetype in American cinema dates back to the silent era, with actresses Theda Bara and Helen Gardner embodying femme fatale conventions. However, it was the film noir movement of the early 1940s – late 1950s, from which the archetype is most synonymous with pop culture. Think Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, Rita Hayworth in Gilda, and Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice. In these movies, the femme fatale characters use their sexuality as a form of power over the man to get what they want no matter the consequences.    
 

One intriguing film is Double Indemnity. The 1944 gripping film noir features a calculating wife played by Barbara Stanwyck, a smitten insurance agent played by Fred MacMurray, and Tom Powers as the unsuspecting husband. As sultry Barbara Stanwyck descends the staircase toward Fred MacMurray, wearing a white dress, heels, and a gold anklet around her left leg, he is unknowingly being seduced into an insurance fraud scheme with a double indemnity clause that pays twice the amount.  

Film Fact: This cleverly written scene gives viewers a front-row seat of what is about to unfold from a true femme fatale.

SCREWBALL COMEDIES

Another black-and-white genre that I’ve loved since childhood is Screwball Comedies which originated in the 1930s and 1940s. They are characterized by fast-paced, witty dialogue, and the battle of the sexes. They tend to end in romantic, happy endings.

His Girl Friday is a 1940 screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawkes, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. The plot centers on a newspaper editor named Walter Burns who is about to lose his ace reporter and ex-wife, Hildy Johnson, newly engaged to another man. Burns suggests they cover one more story together, getting themselves entangled in the case of murderer Earl Williams as Burns tries to win back his ex-wife. The movie stands out as one of the most fun and well-written comedies. Journalistic hijinks and an escaped murderer make up the backdrop for the chaotic and charming tug-of-war between Walter and Hildy.

Film Fact: Howard Hawkes wrote overlapping dialogue in His Girl Friday to create a fast-paced film, more realistic as to the way people really talk. By cutting off the beginnings and ends of each other’s sentences, Hildy and Walter are constantly talking over each other and speaking faster.

Today, the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel is a staple in my house. Oftentimes it's playing in the background while I write or work around the house. Other times I watch the TCM hosts give film facts before each movie. And sometimes I catch movie scenes that I had watched with my mother. As a classic movie fan, I am a member of the TCM Classic Movie Fan Site on Facebook and a TCM Wine Club member where wine is paired with classic movies.

FAVORITE CLASSICS

His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, It Happened One Night, The Apartment, The Women, Strangers on a Train, Mildred Pierce, It’s a Wonderful Life, Christmas in Connecticut, The Bad and the Beautiful, All About Eve, The Thin Man, Nancy Drew, Popular Black and White Movies.

William Powell, Myrna Loy, & Asta (Nick & Nora Charles). The Thin Man! 

Bonita Glanville (Nancy Drew), Frankie Thomas (Ted Nickerson) 

 

What is your favorite black-and-white movie?