Friday, October 7, 2011

Be Up to Date on your Film Classics

By Layla Caltier


If you ask most folks what is a film buff, they will respond with something like a person who sees a lot of movies. This is not the definition of a film buff but rather the definition of a film goer. Big Difference. A true film buff does a lot more than sit in front of the television or in a theater watching movies, classic or not. A genuine film aficionado is knowledgeable about the boffo Hollywood movies of today and yesterday, right down to the most obscure classics no one has ever seen but him.

Film buffs are the experts everyone turns to for answers to their most arcane questions about the film, the starring roles and actors, a quote, or even about the actors in the most minor roles. If you grant yourself the title of film buff, you better be ready to back it up with in-depth knowledge of films throughout the history of the silver screen.

To check your authenticity as a film aficionado, following are five classics that every self respecting film buff must see. All the films are now in the public domain.

1) Badlands of Dakota: The film is set during the Great Gold Rush and is a western. It is the film where Robert Stack, well known as television's Eliot Ness in "The Untouchables," made his film debut in the leading role.

2) Slave Girl: "Slave Girl" stars Yvonne De Carlo and George Brent. A review by "Loving the Classics" states the film is "The sort of fare that the Universal higher-ups used to dismiss, nonetheless, this kind of entertainment (along with the equally lowbrow Abbott and Costello and Ma and Pa Kettle pictures) paid the bills for the studio's more ponderous projects." Buddy Hackett gives a wisecracking voice to "Humpy;" just one of the film's many highlights.

3) Cargo to Capetown: If you are old enough, you may have caught this film on late night television many years ago. Broderick Crawford plays Johnny Phelan, First Mate on an all-but-derelict oil tanker along side arch villain Steve Conway. Whether it is considered an "A' movie, a "B" or something other, it is a must on your list of classic films.

4) Antony and Cleopatra: Which one, you may well ask. There have been hundreds of remakes of this movie. I am referring here to Shakespeare's classic drama portrayed in 1913 as an Italian adaptation starring Ida Carloni Talli, Bruto Castellani and Matilde di Marzio. "Marcantonio e Cleopatra" ("Antony and Cleopatra") was considered to be one of the most outstanding films of its time.

5) The Hound of the Baskervilles: Needless to say, anyone's classic film list must include at least one reference to Sherlock Holmes, and this one is a dark, brooding Sherlock Holmes film at his classic best.

So, you call yourself a film buff? How many of these classics have you seen and can held up your end of the conversation? How many have you even heard of? If your knowledge of these eternal classic films is lacking, go out there and polish up your classic film aficionado trophy by adding these to your repertoire. The next time you claim to be a classis film buff, perhaps this time you have earned the title.




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