tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post7492098096074669231..comments2024-03-24T21:42:48.278-04:00Comments on Another Old Movie Blog: War Stories - IntroJacqueline T. Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-49088301466297422902010-12-09T12:32:51.575-05:002010-12-09T12:32:51.575-05:00Thanks, Java.Thanks, Java.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-61985080178740839512010-12-09T12:04:38.377-05:002010-12-09T12:04:38.377-05:00"...shovels around a lot of history, which I ..."...shovels around a lot of history, which I know may be off-putting for some old movie buffs..." - Jacqueline<br /><br />Who are these Philistines? :)<br />To the contrary, I find people enjoy when someone does more than discuss the plot. Do fill it up with context, please.<br /><br />-- JavaJavaBeanRushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05653117187583244224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-67377864470361807792010-11-30T11:04:20.189-05:002010-11-30T11:04:20.189-05:00Thank you, MovieMan. I think you put it very well...Thank you, MovieMan. I think you put it very well, about the mythologizing process. I suppose we could examine westerns in the same way. A whole heap of mythologizing going on there. Some genres lend itself to it.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-49945310507704889942010-11-30T10:39:39.348-05:002010-11-30T10:39:39.348-05:00I love this idea - a very specific and concrete re...I love this idea - a very specific and concrete reality filtered through the dream machine. I find this sort of "mythologizing" process fascinating and often very revealing, sometimes more so than a movie which explicitly sets out to "be real." Looking forward to the rest of the series.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-68002860545810972222010-11-29T13:38:42.681-05:002010-11-29T13:38:42.681-05:00Thanks so much, Laura. I've not heard of &quo...Thanks so much, Laura. I've not heard of "Primrose Day", but from your description, I've got to get my hands on a copy. <br /><br />How funny that one of your children watched "The More the Merrier" yesterday. I was surprised to learn that Jean Arthur did something like 89 movies, but only a handful are released to DVD. I suppose most are from her earlier period of lesser films, silents and westerns, but I'd love to see more of them.<br /><br />"Love Letters" seems to be rarely shown.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-19577044503055792872010-11-29T13:31:50.915-05:002010-11-29T13:31:50.915-05:00Forgive me, I mean Gordon, of course.Forgive me, I mean Gordon, of course.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-24184522807439770762010-11-29T12:54:31.707-05:002010-11-29T12:54:31.707-05:00Really enjoyed your post and look forward to your ...Really enjoyed your post and look forward to your series. As both a serious film fan and a one-time history major, I very much agree with your comments on context. <br /><br />By coincidence, one of my kids just watched THE MORE THE MERRIER yesterday. :) I've seen that and MRS. MINIVER many times, but have not yet seen LOVE LETTERS.<br /><br />What an interesting idea about children's books written during the war. One of my favorites along those lines is Carolyn Haywood's PRIMROSE DAY, which a Google search shows was published in 1942. Are you familiar with it? It's about a little English girl evacuated to the U.S. during the war. When I was at the Imperial War Museum in London last year, I bought a couple books on the topic of children being evacuated during the war, and they immmediately made me remember PRIMROSE DAY.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />LauraLaurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09626109831176745957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-61710508092833105872010-11-29T12:43:06.873-05:002010-11-29T12:43:06.873-05:00Gerald, thank you so much for this evocative trip ...Gerald, thank you so much for this evocative trip through your own memories of that era. I am very much interested in World War II through a child's perspective. In fact, I have a project on the back burner which I intend (at this point) to be a book-length examination of children's books during the war which dealt expressly with the war. I may announce that on this blog in a few weeks to elicit some opinions and aid. I hope we can talk more then.<br /><br />For now, I hope you enjoy the series, and thanks so much again for commenting.Jacqueline T. Lynchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11047941886908178350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7092350404895325373.post-68354405575259352952010-11-29T11:35:27.889-05:002010-11-29T11:35:27.889-05:00Jacqueline: I am in your camp on this and find, a...Jacqueline: I am in your camp on this and find, as you do, that many, when viewing films, “require they conform to our modern understanding.” Rather, they might turn the clock upside down and learn the period (grass roots history is a good start), learn the attitudes of the times, and equally important (as you imply) learn where the studios were trying to fit their product – remembering, in most cases, that sales were the coin of their realm. You defined the situation well. My wife particularly liked the pizza analogy.<br /><br />I look forward to your series for many reasons. I was seven when that Sunday morning became hell at Pearl Harbor. The War was the watershed experience of my life -- and I was born in the middle of the Depression. Three of my uncles fought in the African and European theatres; other family friends were scattered throughout the world. I remember the music, of course, but being a young boy, more likely the novelty numbers than the moving classics we now treasure. And the war films were to me, age seven through eleven, very much the reality of war.<br /><br />Also, my wife and I spend two months each year in England and have been fortunate that our English friends have shared some of their childhood wartime experiences. And our time there has allowed us to trace the roamings of the great London (and Brum) wartime diarist, Vere Hodgson. “Few Eggs and No Oranges” is essential, I think, in helping understand the London home front. <br /><br />I have seen, multiple times, the three films you will cover. An interesting and different choice is “Love Letters,” which is part of Dieterle’s romantic foursome to which I am partial. Those four films were all done within a seven year period.<br /><br />Some moments I remember are not those one might expect. I was born and raised in the Bronx and a modern tool (Google Earth Street View) allows me to revisit images of buildings still standing that were there during The War. Such imagery helps evoke memory. And I am quite cognizant of problems posed by a seventy some year old memory. Yet I hope the nature of my work allows me to overcome some pitfalls. And, of course, we all remember a different War. I look forward to your series. Best. GeraldGordon Pashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18177101489742741815noreply@blogger.com