Classic Film : The Biggest Disappointment

The Biggest Disappointment

For me, the biggest disappointment is the loss of the Classic Film board.

Elsewhere on the net, there are plenty of places to have at least a low level discussion about recent movies and TV shows, but I've never found another website where classic films are discussed in as friendly, informative and unpretentious manner. By pure accident, and most good things happen by accident, the IMDb assembled an incredible resource that gave most of us an education that money couldn't buy.

I've mentioned this before, but, my favorite Classic Film threads were those lengthy discussions involving Clore and Telegonus. Someone should've saved them and had them published.

Most of the rest of the message boards are expendable, but the Classic Film board is irreplaceable. It's going to be a very sad day when it all disappears for good.



What!!! No Gravy???

Check out the FAQ. http://tinyurl.com/cf6pvux

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

The CFB was not the forum I spent the most time on - well, maybe there were some periods of weeks where I did, but generally not - that would be the dreaded Film General. The reason is simple: Hollywood classics, the vast bulk of what gets talked about here, were never and still are not my *primary* film interest. Aside from the What Classics Did You See Last Week threads (which I should have been part of more often) and the polls that were run at various times by me and several others, there wasn't a lot of discussion of newer films or non-English-language stuff. Some, don't get me wrong, but it was overwhelmed by Elizabeth Taylor and Fred Astaire and Warner Brothers gangsters and the like. This is not meant as a criticism, it's just the focus here, and that's great, but it wasn't my primary area that I focused on or was capable of discussing intelligently. I also came fairly late to this forum (and to FG for that matter - missed nearly all of the Bap-Slurry feuds among other cosmic events) and only tested the waters slowly for a while.

That said, this was almost always a vastly better forum, with far fewer problems - almost none from my perspective until a little over 2 years ago. Though I might share more in common taste-wise with some of my FG compatriots, I'm more keen on keeping in touch with several people here; and to be fair, many of my favorite people use both boards though most like me tend to concentrate their energies on one or the other. I guess at this point in life I'd rather interact with someone who is nice 90% of the time but with whom I only have 30% in common than another person whose percentages are reversed. 90 and 90 or even 75 and 75 has proved impossible to find...

clore and telegonus between them - and Addie and Rollo and a whole bunch of others - really helped invigorate my interest in a lot of the areas that get covered here. And for my first-paragraph carping about the lack of discussion in what I care most about, the What Classics thread featured real scholars like ali, jd, Antonious_Block and many others who often were closer to me taste-wise, and when I have bothered to read it through I've always at the least gained a few films for my to-see lists.

CFB I think I'll miss you most of all!

Here's to the fools who dream

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

I appreciate your kind remarks, Old Ale. Indeed, even most classic movie lovers draw the line somewhere, but Clore and I went the distance, comparing the editors of the different old studios; their in-house jungles, desert islands and New York streets; and the producers, agents, sound men, the contract players.

When it comes to dealing with others, I hear ya', and I feel the same. Having a lot in common with someone doesn't always make you a good match or, when you're young, in real life, a likely couple for the long haul. Things can look so perfect in theory, work out differently in practice. Thanks for mentioning Rollo, btw. Is he still around?

Antonius and Ali, yes, they're among the best. I hope we don't lose contract with one another. One thing I also hope for is that people will retain their screen names, wherever they go. It's so difficult keeping track of people as it is.

The Class Film Board, I know, I know. This loss is a heartbreaker.

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

What gets me is that anyone remembers these threads. We're going back to 2002 for some of them. I recall the first one in which we were sort of measuring each other up and you sort of broke the ice by saying something along the lines of how glad you were to meet someone who had a sense of the studio era beyond the stars.

This kept happening with us and while some such as Racoombs wopuld complain that we never discussed anything he wanted to discuss, our exchanges were pretty much free form, we could bounce from one thing to another. I remember that Dr.Mality, who was much more present on FG had made a post there on one occasion, linking to us and saying that this is how the IMDb is supposed to work. I was tremendously flattered as I respected him greatly. Then there was the curmudgeon known as Mounty and he posted on the western board that people should come see our exchanges on the High Noon/Rio Bravo comparison although that one saw a lot of other contributors as these are two high profile films, even non-western fans seem to love one or the other.

But the most fun was talking B movies as that was what got so little attention through the years even though they launched so many careers or saw the tail end of so many.

I was younger then - I guess you were too. Certain issues keep me from typing at the speed and duration that I used to do and let's just say it distresses me greatly. That has a lot to do with my being less prolific, but hey, I should be spending some time watching them. I've got so many titles at my finger tips, more than I'll ever get to see before I expire. I should spend some time with them.


It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

I only got to experience the tail end of the Mounty era; most of what I saw of him was as Bapster, posting almost entirely on the Bond board with only occasional forays to FG, I don't know that I ever saw a CFB post of his. Sad.

Watch those movies! I wish I could somehow keep from finding out about more movies that I didn't know about, or that production of new movies totally stopped. I MIGHT catch up before I die if I live to 100 and watch 2-3 unseen films per day...

But then I do stuff like watch The Enforcer for about the 4th time, mostly just for the awesome foot chase halfway through the film. Not really all that worthwhile apart from that, even for a Clint fan.


Here's to the fools who dream

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

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BaptheJohntist was a crazy-man. All of his posts were in a sort of haughty pretentious near-nonsense and the subject title would be a complete enigma.
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Re: The Biggest Disappointment

The footchase is good and there's a great scene with the Mayor and his assistant that makes me laugh. They're leaving a baseball game early to do something and the Mayor comments "I really hated to leave, looked like we were going to win one."

"Sir, the score was 12-2 in the 8th inning."

I'm paraphrasing, but it should be close enough.


It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me

Re: Did you see the threads where…

Did you see the threads where Telegonus, Doghouse-6, and Hobnob53 would be chatting? Those were legendary!

~~~~~
Proud to be Canadian! 🇨🇦

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

You flatter me much too much old friend. I had a whole bunch of them saved but lost them to a hard drive failure. I do have the notorious Gone With the Wind thread from 2002 but only because I had archived it on a floppy disc and then later to a CD. This was a notorious thread that went on for weeks with all sorts of accusations of posters being racist for liking the film.

I wish that I had some of those old exchanges, maybe seeing them again might inspire me. Of late I've just been somewhat exhausted mentally, feel as if I've said it all already several times. On the other hand, some of those threads did have not only telegonus and I going, but some great contributions from others, some who are long gone, not only from the boards but from the planet.



It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

I recall a great thread from 4 or 5 years ago re The Leopard - it continued for weeks with Strelnikoff on one side and you[???] on the other. Despite "robust" disagreement it never crossed the line into name-calling etc. In the middle of the discussion the thread was inexplicably deleted but fortunately someone had saved it and re-posted it.


"He was a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior."

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

'The Leopard' is one of my favourite films (the best Burt Lancaster ever, in my opinion). I remember that thread, but vaguely, and I was a 'lurker' then, I just read, I didn't post anything. Strelnikoff was terrific... and terrible, as usual. Too "robust"...

🔺


Re: The Biggest Disappointment

I had just seen the movie for the first time only a week or so earlier so it was a fascinating thread for me. Like you I didn't post anything, I merely lurked.


"He was a poet, a scholar and a mighty warrior."

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

I had already seen it several times since its premiere and knew it almost by heart. But the more I knew, the more I wanted to know!

Welcome to (Ex) Lurkers Anonymous!!



🔺


Re: The Biggest Disappointment

I was somewhat involved in that as I had just seen it recently, but I learned that with Strelly, all I had to do was make my points and exit. I'm not in it to prove my endurance though that was the kind of thing that he boasted of. Not important to me, just as I let troll "insults" go by without mention.



It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me

What Can I Say?

What can I say, Glenn? Thank you so much. It's really been a wonderful time we've had here, far more good than bad, wouldn't you say? If you add it all up, I mean. You should give yourself more credit. I'm always heartened when I see your name pop up in a thread. You bring class to you do and I hope you follows the rest of us IMDB refugees to wherever we locate. My sense is that, alas, we may to do a bit of hopping before we find the right place.

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

Fascinating thread. In a few short posts, you guys have managed to make me feel as though I've experienced some of what the CFB used to be. Evocative and wonderful. All these amazing memories really come through in your words. How I wish I'd seen some of those threads.

Good luck, Tele, good luck Clore, and good luck to everyone else as well. Even though I came latterly, I still feel ever so fortunate to have had the chance to take in such wisdom and knowledge.


That's all, folks!

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

G'day Roger. There are still traces of the way the CFB used to be in the "good old days."

Check out the current thread about "The List Of Adrian Messenger." There is plenty of information about the movie, including the "cameo appearances" and wildly differing opinions of the merit, or otherwise, of the film, and of John Huston.

But, there are no violent outbursts, iron bars, broken bottles, or even cream pies and soda syphons. And, of course, when we read these discussions, we get the urge to watch the movies again, and that's the whole point.

A few years ago, a newbie asked about Warner Brothers cartoons. At least 50 people make substantial contributions to the thread, and the end result would have qualified as a masters degree in Looney Tunes.

That's what the CFB was, and is, all about.



What!!! No Gravy???

Check out the FAQ. http://tinyurl.com/cf6pvux

Re: The Biggest Disappointment

I'm grateful to Telegonus who told me of the Classic Film Board's demise. What a pity! I've enjoyed so many many hours of pleasure here - there were so many knowledgeable people - and a substantial enough number to form a quorum to ask questions about general opinions.

I've also greatly enjoyed those who had knowledge of areas of which I was wholly ignorant - films from Iran or Japan - or particular directors whom I didn't know. There were many silly obsessions of course - but that's interesting itself.

I always knew there was an interesting discussion whenever I dropped in - and whether or not I drew a reply with my own comment, it was a pleasure to have a place where I could form an opinion, state it as precisely as possible - and then (if there were comments) defend it - or modify it - or abandon it. It was really always a pleasure.

Thanks to the many thousands whose posts I've read - truly it's been enormously rewarding - informative, funny, maddening, thought provoking.
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