A Change of Pace

Last night, the girls and I dressed up and headed down to the local Fox Theater to catch the 1934 movie "The Thin Man".

The Thin Man has been one of our favorites for a while and it was a treat to see it in the restored Fox Theater.

I have discovered that some of the older films are more dialogue driven than what we would see in many contemporary films. We have been so conditioned away from dialogue driven that the idea of a movie that is dialogue driven sounds kind of dull and uninteresting. However, it really is fun. In some ways, these films have the feel of a fun play, where you feel like you are there listening to people actually talk.

Take for instance, the Thin Man. Even though it has three shootings and at least two guys punched out, most of the fun is the clever and witty dialogue of William Powell and Myrna Loy's characters. Here is a list of some of the more memorable quotes. They seemed more fun in the middle of the movie, but you still get the idea.

So, while good movies are still being made, it is still fun to watch some films where the dialogue alone could grab you attention and it was enough to make the movie enjoyable.

And here is a list of some of our family favorites:

Arsenic and Old Lace
The Philadelphia Story
The Shop Around the Corner
Casablanca
Sabrina (the one with Bogart and Hepburn)
You Can't Take It With You (I have another (rather unflattering) story about this one. Maybe I will include it here sometime).