# Stumbling Upon Old Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 15, 2022, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232 "2022-06-15T11:44:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/41 "2022-06-16T15:29:41Z")
I just saw one of these the other day, **How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying** from 1967. So I sat down to watch it. I thought the best song was close to the beginning, The Company Way, and the worst song was the one that was popular at the time and you might recognize, I Believe in You. Frankly, it seemed to be losing steam, and I couldn’t stand the bimbo character (Hedy LaRue), so I didn’t see the last hour or so. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/42 "2022-06-16T15:46:52Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I should have been more precise. By “old” I mean in your life time… In that case, I recently stumbled across **Future '38**. It’s only a few years old, but I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it. It presents itself as kind of a screwball comedy made in 1938, of a character travelling to the far future of 2018. A lot of the jokes come from the half-accurate, half-absurd predictions of the future. Characters have smart phones, but still talk to an operator to place calls. There’s an internet cafe, but the shared terminal prints its answers on tickertape. It’s quite low budget, but there are a few actors to recognize. I only saw the second half of it; have to stream the whole thing one of these days. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/43 "2022-06-16T15:50:12Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > I’m a big fan of the least remembered of the Big 3 silent era comics, **Harold Lloyd** , _The King of Daredevil Comedy_. He excels in playing the classic underdog… Our local cinematheque had a Harold Lloyd retrospective a few years back and I was very impressed. Fun movies, great stunts, and unlike most men in the silent-film era, he could really _act_. His body language, eyes and facial expressions did exactly what the role required, either subtly or over-the-top. A remarkably talented guy. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/44 "2022-06-16T16:16:09Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I just saw one of these the other day, **How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying** from 1967. So I sat down to watch it. It was on the night before last on TCM. I decided to watch it, thinking it would be a great NYC time capsule film from the late 1960s, in color to boot. When the protagonist, who looked curiously kinda’ like Jerry Lewis broke out into song, the movie blew its cover as a musical. I stopped watching. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/45 "2022-06-16T18:18:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A remarkably talented guy. I agree, Lloyd was remarkably talented. I wish we had some comic actors today willing to put their “all” into films as he did. The liability insurance would most likely be prohibitively high, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/46 "2022-06-16T18:36:30Z")
I guess I’m in the minority. I quite liked _How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying_ when it was first released and still like it many years later. But, I’ve always been a Robert Morse fan (J. Pierrepont “Ponty” Finch). More recently, he did a fine job playing Bertram Cooper in _Mad Men_ (he sang and danced in that, too). ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/47 "2022-06-16T19:14:26Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > More recently, he did a fine job playing Bertram Cooper in _Mad Men_ (he sang and danced in that, too). Which explains why, despite their frequent attendance at Broadway shows, not a single character in _Mad Men_ ever mentions having seen _How to Succeed in Business_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/48 "2022-06-16T20:06:20Z")
Scenes from _ **Destination: Moon** _ were used in one of the few _ **Time Tunnel** _ episodes set in “the future.” That series saved a fortune by using stock footage from historical- and SF-themed pictures. I caught 1938’s _ **Jezebel** _ starring Bette Davis and Henry Fonda for the first time on TCM early this morning. I had to get up early to make it to an 09:00 appointment and had a few hours to kill before leaving home. A pretty good flick. I give it four thumbs up. 👍👍👍👍 ---
**Author:** ![mundylion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundylion/32/3604_2.png) [@mundylion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mundylion)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/49 "2022-06-18T00:45:17Z")
I really like **Hope and Glory** but it is one of those movies that is just about impossible to stream. Sort of like **Breaker Morant** and **Prizzi’s Honor** … ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/50 "2022-06-18T01:09:21Z")
nice list i approve as if you cared 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/51 "2022-06-18T01:51:36Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Your sister might enjoy: > > [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045125/?ref\_=tttr\_tr\_tt](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045125/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt) Will she do the Fandango? I was 24 the first time I saw **The Thing (From Another World)** [1951, James Arness as the blood drinking carrot man from outer space] and I was expecting it to be total cornball. It had one _fantastic_ jump scare and was quite riveting throughout. My brother thought so, too – he jumped the same time I did. ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/52 "2022-06-18T02:17:16Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > The latest of these is a 1998 move entitled, [**Run Lola Run**](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130827/). It’s rated 3 1/2 stars out of 4, and it is very entertaining. Very similar to Run, Lola, Run in ways is the 1996 film [Non-stop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangan_Runner) (at least in English translations), by Sabu. It’s very light on spoken dialogue, so even without subtitles it’s easy to watch the 88 minute film. I originally came across it reading a review of a showing in a weekly alt paper in the early 2000s and finally watched it years later. It got me quite interested in the rest of Sabu’s filmography which I have also enjoyed. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/53 "2022-06-18T23:45:05Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > Oh, and my recommendation for an old movie: > > [Harvey (1950)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) > > Staring Jimmy Stewart and a 6’8" invisible rabbit. > > “Years ago my mother used to say to me, she’d say, ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be’ - she always called me Elwood - ‘In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.’ Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.” > > OK, I will. Hop hop hop hippity hop! Everyone is great in this movie. Josephine Hull. Jesse White. Cecil Callaway. Virginia Horne, And Jimmy Stewart, of course. Just so sweet, with just a tiny touch of creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/54 "2022-06-19T02:35:30Z")
I got around to watching _From Here to Eternity_ on TCM the other day. Completely forgettable film. Hey, **Burpo**! _Casablanca_ ain’t worth the effort. Snooze-fest. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2022, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/55 "2022-06-19T03:27:20Z")
I’m partial to Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2022, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/56 "2022-06-19T03:48:42Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > I guess I’m in the minority. I quite liked _How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying_ when it was first released and still like it many years later. But, I’ve always been a Robert Morse fan (J. Pierrepont “Ponty” Finch). More recently, he did a fine job playing Bertram Cooper in _Mad Men_ (he sang and danced in that, too). I’m a huge _Mad Men_ fan, but didn’t realize til recently that Morse was the star of The Boatniks, an early 1970s G-rated comedy. He plays a slightly bumbling sailor named Tom Garland Jr. whose commanding officer tolerates him (because his father was a hero, “Torpedo Tommy” Garland) but is constantly about to boil over with the kid’s Maxwell Smart-like antics. The kid is concurrently trying to catch a ring of smugglers, and to that end, peeps into the wrong window, and is arrested. The CO is livid: _“NEVER have I had to deal with a sailor who was a peeping Tom. **Let alone one named TOM!!** ”_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2022, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/57 "2022-06-19T03:53:06Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Hey, **Burpo**! _Casablanca_ ain’t worth the effort. Snooze-fest I didn’t want to be the first one to say it, but yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2022, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/58 "2022-06-19T04:30:29Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > …but yeah. We’re Rebels! I don’t have a cause, do you? Oh, that kinda sucked too. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2022, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/59 "2022-06-19T04:33:51Z")
Johnny! Johnny! Oh, Johnny! For fuck’s sake, Johnny. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2022, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232/60 "2022-07-09T22:28:59Z")
I’ve managed to cut down to two drinks a day. Daytime Drink and Nighttime Drink. Was gonna post this in the thread, but since The Dope has had it sense of humor surgically removed, thought better of it. The Rehab people want to jail poor Beck for about a month. More to come on this… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stumbling-upon-old-movies/966232.md?page=4)