Signs

Wow, it's been 10 years since Signs was released, and it still holds up. One of the big treats at the 2012 Philadelphia Film Festival was a showing of the movie, followed by a Q&A with M. Night Shyamalan. I jumped, I got misty, it made me think - all the things I love in a film. All the classic scenes, revealing bits of human nature, still ring true: Graham's (Mel Gibson) tension exploding at the dinner table, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) glued to the TV in the closet, Merrill and the kids (Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin) in their aluminum foil helmets, and more.  Shyamalan's post-movie insights into the picture and on writing and directing were fascinating.

Bride of Frankenstein

Following on the success of 1931's Frankenstein, Universal aligned the stars again in 1935 for Bride of Frankenstein, with Colin Clive and Boris Karloff reprising their roles as Henry Frankenstein and the monster.  Dwight Frye returns, not as Fritz, who was killed in the original film, but as the doctor's assistant Karl.  Added to the cast were Elsa Lanchester as Mary Shelley and the scene-stealing bride, Ernest Thesiger as the mad and frighteningly sinister Dr. Pretorius, Una O'Connor as the irritatingly silly Minnie, and John Carradine in a brief uncredited role.  Unlike it's predecessor, Bride of Frankenstein included a musical score by Franz Waxman, which I recognized from the old Flash Gordon serials.  Though not nearly as good as the original, mostly because of a lot of silliness, the movie still holds up.  The classic scene with the blind hermit, his violin, and cigars still brings a humanity to the monster.  It makes the final scene, when the monster declares, "We belong dead," all the more heartbreaking.  Oh, yes, I'll see it again.

Frankenstein

1931 was a good year, with the release of two classic tales of terror, Frankenstein and Dracula.  That same Frankenstein, along with its sequel Bride of Frankenstein, still played to packed movie houses in 2012, and rightly so. With no film score to set the mood, director James Whale used Mary Shelley's tale, remarkable black & white cinematography, Colin Clive's (Dr. Frankenstein) and Dwight Frye's (Fritz) overacting, and Boris Karloff's sympathetic portrayal of the monster to produce one of the great films of all time.  The scene where the monster throws the little girl into the water, thinking she will float like the flowers is still a classic and always moves me to tears.  There is always something new to see and learn from the old films.  This time around, I realized that I was seeing John Boles (Victor) in a pre-Shirley Temple role and that Dwight Frye also played Renfield that year in Dracula.  Frankenstein is definitely a repeater anytime it shows up on TV or the silver screen.

Singin' in the Rain

One of the great movies of all time, Singin' in the Rain made a 60th anniversary appearance on the silver screen - in all its timeless glory. The audience of young, old, and in-between applauded every musical number, with Donald O'Conner's "Make 'Em Laugh" the clear favorite.  And there was the iconic scene with Gene Kelley "just singin' and dancin' in the rain".

This film is a glowing example of "They don't make 'em like that anymore". As people were leaving the theater, I overheard a little girl of about 4 or 5 say, "That was really good, Mommy!" That says it all. Singin' in the Rain is a G-rated film that can still play to a packed house of all ages and be enjoyed by one and all.