Rainy Day Classics

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My favorite way to spend rainy days is watching old black and white movies. This weekend i watched a few that were new to me. The first one is a gem called "Vivacious Lady" (http://former.imdb.com/title/tt0030944/). It stars a young James Stewart and the vivacious Ginger Rogers. I've always liked James Stewart (how can you not like him?), but his star is out-shined by Ginger Rogers in this one. I don't recall seeing her in anything else, and i know that she starred in a bunch of musicals with Fred Astaire, but i haven't checked any of those out yet. (Fred Astaire just doesn't do it for me) So Vivacious Lady introduced me to her, and i must say, i am sold. If she's this good in any of her other movies, i look forward to seeing them.
She's natural and funny throughout the picture, but she has a few scenes that are classic. The following scene is my favorite:



This is a great romantic comedy from the late 30's--it actually made me laugh out lout a few times! I recommend you check this one out.

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The next one is called "Out of the past" (http://former.imdb.com/title/tt0039689/) with Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and a young Kirk Douglas.

This movie is a classic film noir. It's all about guns, backstabbing, dirty dames, and a baddy who's just trying to go straight. Robert Mitchum is great to watch, perheps just because he looks like he was carved from stone. It was interesting to see Kirk Douglas so young, i almost didn't recognize him at first. Jane Greer was good too, but i didn't like her in this movie as much as i liked her in "The prisoner of Zenda" (another good one i recommend). There was another classic girl in this movie though, and i liked her character more: Virginia Huston's character. She was basically the antithesis of Jane Greer's character: the good girl, whom Robert Mitchum's character really wants to be with. But he's a bad guy! He can't have the good girl! So he's stuck with the dirty dame: Jane Greer's character.

This movie reminded me a lot of "The Big Sleep," but that movie had Bogart and Bacall, which I'd prefer any day to Mitchum and Greer. Although "Out of the past" is a good nior, if you had to choose one noir to watch, watch "The Big Sleep." But if you choose more than one to watch, check this one out too.



The Picture above is Greer in her fabulous hat, and the picture to the right is Huston.



So if you want a laugh, check out "Vivacious Lady," and if you want a noir, check out "Out of the past."
You can't go wrong either way!