Ramblings in Technicolor

Classic films. Great works of literature. Antique dishes. Retro-stylings. Pearls. Flouncy skirts and dresses. Oldies but goodies music. Nostalgic musings. I once read a quotation that said, “I’m just a vintage soul.” Nothing could be closer to the truth in that statement. Growing up, my family often said I was born in the wrong decade. I developed a love for and a longing for periods of history I’ve only been a part of through popular culture a long time ago. Eight-track tapes, cassette tapes, vinyl records, Q 93 Radio, cd compilations, and my family helped me connect to the music of eras of long ago. My love for old movies is a different beast entirely. CBC late night movies of the early 1990s helped develop and feed my affections for classic films from the 1940s to the 1960s that I feel are a part of me. That said, I love all genres of films right on through to the present day. After all, if you were to ask me what my favourite film is, I’d have to say they range from comedy to horror to the sappiest love stories. There is, however, something special about the classics and great stars of the silver screen. The earliest one I can recall watching is “Mary Poppins” on the old floor model television in my childhood home. And the list goes on.


This post was inspired by a film that was worth every moment I sat in front of the television. "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" is a movie I had on my bucket list of classic films I absolutely have to view for a very long time. (Yes, I have such a list. LOL!) I must get my hands on Suyin Han's "A Many Splendored Thing" from which the movie was based. (That's on my list of classics to read.) From the reviews I've glanced at, much of the movie was taken word for word from her work. Oh, my heart! “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, “A Summer Place”, “Sunset Boulevard”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Gone with the Wind”, “Move Over, Darling!”, and “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” are but a handful of the classic films that have firmly left prints on my heart.


I’m not sure what it is about the classics, really. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia for so-called “simpler” times. I guess there is something charming about times gone past that I can only be a part of through media. Sexism and stereotypes aside, men seemed more charming and dapper. Women seemed more wholesome and refined. Children were children for longer and seemed to have it together a bit more. Respect and manners were important aspects of any setting. In the movies, people were able to escape the realities of their lives and the unsettling political and societal climates if only for a short while. Yes, a lot of the issues have carried over present day. However, the times that Bob Dylan sang about certainly have changed. Black and white or technicolor, print or film, the past rushes up to meet my present short one story at a time.