Tagged: cinema

If you are of a certain generation-- Robert Redford’s generation, or a bit younger-- you will be well-aware that, back in the 1960s and 70s, there were political activists who did not just march on Washington or on their college campuses to oppose the war in Vietnam, say, or protest the everyday greed or racism that was so imbedded in American life. Instead, they tossed bombs or robbed banks or burned draft cards. And then, to avoid arrest and long jail sentences, they went into hiding, changed their names and identities, and blended in with the masses.

Films like AMOUR, QUARTET, and THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, all released last year, examine the lives and dilemmas of senior citizens. All were high-profile, but they are not the only current films whose characters are coping with old age.

ON APPROVAL, a British drawing room comedy from 1944, has just been released on Blu-ray.  At a glance, this film would seem to be Clive Brook’s showpiece, since he produced, directed and co-stars.  He also adapted Frederick Lonsdale’s smash hit play from 1926.

This week, I was planning to discuss in detail THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES. This was my agenda for two reasons. First, and simply put, this film is well-worth seeing and reviewing for a range of reasons. Second, it was shot on location here in upstate New York.

Of all the actors who came to the fore after the end of the Second World War, perhaps the best-recalled are Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas, Montgomery Clift, Robert Mitchum, William Holden... But they are not the lone stars of the era. Glenn Ford may not have appeared in as many timeless titles as the Lancasters and Pecks, but he was a prolific performer whose star glowed from the postwar years into the 1960s.