Classic Films


Feature Writer: Dan Lalande

Classic Film - it's a catch-all term these days but true movie fans know what it really refers to: that perfect and prolific period from The Jazz Singer to A Hard Day's Night, from All Quiet On The Western Front to All About Eve, from Frankenstein to From Here To Eternity.

Relive the Studio Era - film noire, Westerns, gangster pictures, melodramas and comedies - through profiles, book reviews, DVD news, and more. If you know the color of Harpo Marx's first wig, if you can name the last film John Ford shot in Monument Valley, if you went all atingle when Warner Bros released its gangster collection on DVD, then by all means, line up behind the velvet rope.

Check out my articles, blog and post in the discussions or email me with your own golden oldies.

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All About Eve, AMPAS
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Dan Lalande

James Stewart at 100

In: Classic Films (general)

The venerable James Stewart was the unlikeliest of movie stars - and yet, one of the most liked more...

There Will Be Blood & Sierra Madre

In: Classic Films (general)

Paul Thomas Anderson tips his dusty hat to John Huston's Treasure Of The Sierra Madre with There Will Be Blood, newly released on DVD more...

Charlton Heston Dies at 84

In: Classic Films (general)

King, Prince, Warrior, God - Charlton Heston played them all, American style more...

Jules Dassin Dies

In: Classic Films (general)

It was a fractured career - and yet, writer-director Jules Dassin showed a talent that could not be corrupted more...

Bette Davis at 100

In: Classic Films (general)

If anyone personifies Woman according to the Studio Era, it's the irrepressible Bette Davis, who would have turned 100 this month more...

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Dan Lalande

Feb 17, 2008

Carrot Head

A grown-up movie lover hopes a childhood acquainance has found a form of healing


I hit him over the head with a carrot.

That was our introduction, the squeaky bonk the plastic carrot with the smiley face made the first words, in effect, I ever said to him. The first he ever said to me came in the form of a long, loud wail, enough to rattle the windows of every home in the neighborhood. We all laughed at this - myself and the slightly older kids I managed to impress with my half hearted torture of the little newcomer - as we watched him peddle off, still crying, down the street on his tricycle.

Later on, as we aged, there were other forms of torture - worse ones, like being excluded from the experience of the movies. Not that we went that often but we knew that it was harder for him; that, being younger, it would take a lot more begging to see things with guns and car chases and girls.

Then there was that legendary late afternoon in his garage where his father attacked his mother, and his mother implored him to grab a mop and to hit his father repeatedly so that he'd stop hitting her repeatedly.

I'm sure it created a long, dark hole inside him, one he went on feeling for a long, long time. I'd like to think that as he grew, he flirted with replicating his father's behavior, realized he had a problem, and sought help. I'd also like to think that he is now a model human being, kind and appreciative towards all.

And that whenever he hears of a movie that he'd like to see, he goes.

Or, if he remains full of hurt and rage, that he goes anyway, and that it is his one form of escape and triumph over those armed with carrots, mops, and denial.

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