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So -- last night, just before midnight, I found YouTube's movie channel... And managed to find one old Danny Kaye movie (The Inspector General); it was 101 minutes, plus about 5 minutes of pausing for commercials (still better than watching on TV).
And when it was over, did I toddle off to bed? No, of course not. That would have been sensible. No, I decided that the Danny Kaye movie I really wanted to watch again was The Court Jester (1956). So I went hunting through regular YouTube for fan-uploaded clips.
By the time I was pulling the covers up over my head, the dawn was breaking. By the time I woke up again, mid-morning, I realized something: I miss the classic movies not just because they're still harking back to the theatrical traditions, with the way they're framed, and sung and danced, but because, visually, they're beautiful to look at. The colors on the old film was more muted, natural, and rich. The colors (and focus) of modern movies --even when I like the scripts, and characters, and it's a romcom or a drama (never mind all the ones that try to be in-your-face) I find painful, in comparison.
To show you what I mean, here's a brief clip from The Inspector General -- 1949 (The love song scene). Granted, this is set in a Eastern-European town run by a league of corrupt officials, so it's meant to be drab. Still, it's almost black and white compared to what they put in theaters today:
And here's a longer scene (with set-up leading to the song -- how to get the infant true heir to the throne away from the clutches of the evil usurper king) from The Court Jester -- 1956. This is a much brighter movie (with higher tech film, no doubt), but these scenes still strike me almost like a oil painting, in terms of color and tone -- much deeper and golden-hazy. You know?
Anyway, enjoy!
And when it was over, did I toddle off to bed? No, of course not. That would have been sensible. No, I decided that the Danny Kaye movie I really wanted to watch again was The Court Jester (1956). So I went hunting through regular YouTube for fan-uploaded clips.
By the time I was pulling the covers up over my head, the dawn was breaking. By the time I woke up again, mid-morning, I realized something: I miss the classic movies not just because they're still harking back to the theatrical traditions, with the way they're framed, and sung and danced, but because, visually, they're beautiful to look at. The colors on the old film was more muted, natural, and rich. The colors (and focus) of modern movies --even when I like the scripts, and characters, and it's a romcom or a drama (never mind all the ones that try to be in-your-face) I find painful, in comparison.
To show you what I mean, here's a brief clip from The Inspector General -- 1949 (The love song scene). Granted, this is set in a Eastern-European town run by a league of corrupt officials, so it's meant to be drab. Still, it's almost black and white compared to what they put in theaters today:
And here's a longer scene (with set-up leading to the song -- how to get the infant true heir to the throne away from the clutches of the evil usurper king) from The Court Jester -- 1956. This is a much brighter movie (with higher tech film, no doubt), but these scenes still strike me almost like a oil painting, in terms of color and tone -- much deeper and golden-hazy. You know?
Anyway, enjoy!
