Wow!

Somebody must have done a lot of praying after my last post.  Whoever you are, thank you!  Grandma has been in a much better phase ever since I posted that and it is such a relief.  She was even awake enough today that I finally got out that movie I mentioned.  "Blue Skies" from 1946.  Here's the trailer:  I can't find a trailer, but here's one of my favorite songs (though it's probably least known of all the numbers):

I loved the movie.  It had a somewhat anticlimactic end, but I loved Irving Berlin's music and Bing's buttery voice and Fred Astaire's voice and moves.  I don't know that I've seen Joan Caulfield in anything before, but I thought she was wonderful, too.  More than anything, though, I enjoyed giving Grandma a reminder of her youth and of Granddaddy.

I noticed a few things while watching this.  I guess taking that film class gave me a slightly more analytical eye toward film than I had before.  The shots are a lot longer than you find in modern cinema...the camera tracks and pans rather than jumping from shot to shot every couple of seconds.  It gives a grace to the dancing and an intimacy to the romance that just isn't there when the camera has ADD and won't focus anywhere.  It puts the spotlight on the talent of the actor or actress on screen (yes, I DO differentiate the two!) and allows the viewer to get a deeper insight to the character.

I also noted the COLOR.  I read a blog a while back and I can't remember anymore which one it was, or I'd link to it.  However, while it was an interesting read, it was a bit of a curse, too.  It talked about color balance in modern movies tending toward a teal/orange palette.  I kid you not, nearly EVERY movie, with the exception of animated films, that I have seen since has had that leaning and I can't stop noticing it.  It makes me happy to go back to the older films and see the beautiful, intense saturation of Technicolor and the like.  Everything is more vibrant.

Anyway...that's really all I wanted to say.  Thanks for praying, and for reading my completely amateur film review, ha!  I do hope that if you like old movies and old music, you'll check this one out.