Warner Archive Wednesday ~ Young Ideas (1943)

Young Ideas (1943) is a fun collegiate/family movie directed by Jules Dassin. Josephine Evans (Mary Astor) is a wildly popular author of novels. Her latest book, As I Knew Paris, is on its 10th edition and she's very in demand.

The trouble is, no one seems to know where she is. She's completely disappeared! And she won't tell anyone where she's hiding. Jo has been booked for many lectures and appearances but she has skipped them all. Her agent is at his wits end. 

In comes Jo's kids Susan Evans (Susan Peters) and Jeff Evans (Elliott Reid). They've grown accustom to the lifestyle that their mother's very successful writing career. They have all the luxuries they need and get to socialize with the best authors and poets. And they don't want to give that up!

They go to find their mother who has fallen in love with some mystery man. When they track her down to the last college town where she delivered a lecture. They find her there but things are a bit more complicated than they expected. Their mother Jo has secretly gotten married to Chemistry Professor Michael Kingsley (Herbert Marshall). And Michael's got it in his mind that he'll take care of Jo and she can give up her writing career.

Jo: "For the past 10 tens I have been living with Michael as a respectable married woman."

Susan: "Mother! You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

Susan and Jeff hatch a plan. They'll become students at Michael's college. That will buy them time to work on splitting up their mom from Michael. And of course hilarity ensues.

This is a very fun movie. I adore early films with a collegiate theme. And because I'm such a book nerd that the literary theme was a plus for me as well. The cast works well together and you feel bad for Jo who is trapped in the middle of this drama. She loves her new husband but still wants to make her kids happy. While Susan and Jeff could come off as spoiled brats, their characters develop through the movie which helps immensely when it comes to connecting with their characters. I also enjoyed Herbert Marshall's portrayal of the uptight yet loving professor. Fans of Richard Carlson will be amused to see him here as Tom Farrell, a young poetry professor who is charmed by Susan's literary smarts.

As many of you know, I'm a devoted fan of actress Susan Peters. I just think she was simply wonderful and she's the reason I chose to rent this film to watch. It's interesting to note that she receives top billing in the movie over both Mary Astor and Herbert Marshall.

MGM must have been really trying to build her up as an up and coming star. 

They also made a lot of effort grooming her. Susan Peters has the best wardrobe, makeup and hair of the entire cast. 

I love these collegiate sweaters!

One of the oddest things about the movie is the password siblings Jeff and Susan come up with in case Susan gets too emotional during their plan to break up their mother's new marriage. Of course Susan would be the weak emotional one being the female (ugh). Their choice for a password is strange.

Jeff: "They scrape a ton of rust a year from a iron bridge over the Yukon."

Susan: "No doubt you're right."

Umm, why that line? Why not something more simple? Like "don't be silly" or something?

Young Ideas (1943) is available on DVD via Warner Archive.

Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. Movies selected are rented from Classicflix, watched on TCM or purchased from Warner Archive, Classicflix or TCM. This series is not sponsored by Warner Archive.

Lightning Flash Giveaway ~ Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein on the Big Screen

It's time for yet another lightning flash giveaway hosted by TCM and NCM Fathom Events. I'm giving away three pairs of tickets to the Wednesday October 24th double-feature screening of Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Check out the NCM Fathom Events page for the screening for more information including which theaters are showing the double feature.

I hope you guys like these giveaways! I think it's wonderful that more people will be able to watch classic films on the big screen and this double feature is perfect for Halloween.

 You can enter to win a chance to see this here! It's a lightning flash giveaway so please be prepared to respond ASAP to my email if you are contacted.

Rules and Regulations:

1) US participants only.

2) Enter by Thursday October 18 at Noon EST.

3) Winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email.

4) There is only ONE SHOWING. If you are not available to see this on Wednesday October 24th, please do not enter this contest.

5) If you win, you must reply to my announcement email by 8 am EST on Friday October 19th so NCM Fathom can get you the tickets in time.

6) If I don't hear from you by the deadline, I'll award the prize to another person.

CONTEST IS NOW OVER. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Congratulations to the winners: Diane, Monique and Kate Gabrielle.

Catching Up with Quelle (4)

Mae West and the Power of Suggestion - Noir Girl retweeted the following from @SonyVine on  " Did You Know?: Mae West never spoke a "dirty" word on screen nor did she ever kiss a leading man. http://via.me/-5w8o66c " Wow! Really? That is simply quite amazing. Goes to show you the power of suggestion. Mae West suggested raunchiness and sex but never really did either on screen.

New Blog - My husband has his very own blog! It's called Live Fast, Look Good. It's a gentleman's blog all about cars, fashion, books, movies and lots of other things. He's very excited for this new venture so I very much encourage you to head on over to the blog and check it out.

New Domain and Design - I am so excited to announce that  Out of the Past is now www.outofthepastblog.com . If you still link to my old address, no worries it will still work!

Also, my good friend and super talented illustrator Julianna Rose did some new designs for my blog. My site really needed an update and it was time to retire Bette Davis. Julianna designs are slick and super cool. They are very Saul Bass and she put a lot of time and effort into them.

Please make sure you check out Julianna's Etsy Store Friends with Pets. She does custom pet illustration which makes for a really great thought gift for a loved one who adores their pet.

Carla Laemmle turns 103 - I received an email from two folks who are trying raise funds to through Carla Laemmle a really nice 103rd birthday party. For those of you unfamiliar with Carla, she's an actress who worked during the silent film area. She had a bit part in The Phantom of the Opera (1925) as a ballet dancer.

Watch the special video message below. If you want to make a donation to help make the birthday celebration happen, visit the project's fundraising page on Indiegogo.

North by Northwest (1959) at the Brattle Theatre

On Columbus Day, I had the day off from work so I decided to make my way to Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA to go to the Brattle Theatre to watch the Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) on the big screen. I was going to go with my good friend Kevin but he wasn't feeling well (I hope he's feeling better! Hi Kevin!). Carlos convinced me to go out on my own and I'm really glad I did.

I decided to drive to and park in Harvard Square which is no easy task. Even at 1pm on a Monday, it was still technically a holiday which means people come out to Harvard Square in droves. After circling the square several times I finally found a single parking spot.

Just a fun bit of information, the park in the picture above is the Cambridge Common. When Carlos and I were dating, before we became engaged and got married, I would be terrified of walking through this park with him. The reason for my fear was because every time we would go to this park he would always scream out at the top of his lungs "I LOVE MY GIRLFRIEND" in front of a bunch of confused strangers and a very embarrassed girlfriend. He hasn't done it in a long time and I hope he won't again!

It was a chilly day, so I stopped by L.A. Burdick for a hot drink and a pastry. L.A. Burdick is known for their homemade chocolates, hot chocolates, delicious pastries and coffee and tea drinks. If you are in Harvard Square on a cold day, it's imperative that you stop by L.A. Burdick for a sweet treat and a hot beverage.

I got one of their Melange Tea Lattes and a Chocolate Madeleine Cookie and headed over to the Brattle Theatre which was only about a block away. (Sorry for the out-of-focus photo! Never drink, walk and photograph).

As you see, the Brattle is tucked away and is off of the main street. Downstairs there used to be a restaurant called Casablanca but after over half of a century of being in business the owners decided to close it down. It's all very sad. Carlos, my friends and I had a wonderful experience watching Casablanca (1942) at the Brattle then having dinner and drinks at Casablanca restaurant later that same evening. A happy memory indeed.

The North by Northwest (1959) screening was part of The Brattle's Cloak & Dagger: Spies on Screen series. It was a double bill with the Fritz Lang film Ministry of Fear (1944). Unfortunately, I only had time to stay for the North by Northwest screening. Two films for $7.75 matinee is a pretty good deal.

Alfred Hitchcock says SHHHH.

The managing director of the Lucas Theatre in Savannah, GA tells me she has this same poster in her theater too!

I love to sit in the balcony of the Brattle. You don't have the best view and the screen seems pretty small at that distance but it's the coziest. The balcony feels tucked away and private and it stays pretty warm too. Most theaters are cold but the Brattle is (almost) always at a good temperature. Another interesting note about the Brattle is that they do rear projection rather than the traditional front projection. So the projection comes from behind the stage rather than behind the audience.

There were about 50 people in the audience for the screening of North by Northwest. It's not the first time I had seen this film on the big screen but it had been a couple years since I had seen it so this was definitely a treat. It's amazing how many things I had forgotten about the film and what I had remembered. I forgot almost the entire beginning up until the assassination of Mr. Townsend.

A few observations on this viewing: I noticed that the film does a really good job blending humor and drama. And Cary Grant is good at both so he's the perfect actor to deliver this suspenseful and entertaining film. Also, I now really appreciate how much chemistry there is between Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill and Eva Marie Saint's Eve Kendall. When they meet on the train for the first time, their flirtation is electric. The dialogue is sharp, witty and downright sexy. And their prolonged kissing scene with lots of pecks and caresses is a Hitchcock trademark to get around the Code's limit on the length of time a kiss lasts on screen. It's a long scene that feels like one continuous kiss but is in fact a lot of little kisses (Hitchcock does the same thing in To Catch a Thief). The romantic connection between Thornhill and Kendall is important to the plot. It adds more tension as Thornhill cares more about Kendall as the spy who is putting herself in a lot of danger. His affection for her determines his actions as he goes on a wild north by northwest chase. The film was very satisfying to watch and a lot of fun. I'm glad I made the trek out to the Brattle to see it.

I feel very privileged to have access to repertory theaters which show amazing classic films!