Turner Classic Movies and Technicolor

Turner Classic Movies is airing some good movies today.  Right now I'm watching Road to Singapore with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.  Later I'll see The Best Years of Our Lives and Singing in the Rain.

Singing in the Rain is not my favorite Gene Kelly musical.  I actually like the title song better when I hear it in A Clockwork Orange.  But, Gene Kelly has quickly become my favorite singer/dancer.  I used to be a Fred Astaire fan until my boyfriend pointed out that he looks like a scrawny alien.  Then I realized that his dance routines are not nearly as exciting or athletic as Kelly's.  I also considered the fact that Kelly grew up in East Liberty.  Now I'm Kelly Krazy for life. 

My favorite movie of his is Anchors Aweigh.  I own it as part of a DVD 3-pack of movies that star Kelly and Frank Sinatra.  All three movies (the other two being Take Me Out to the Ball Game and On the Town) have basically the same plots and the same characters, but different settings.  Still, I'm in love with any movie that has singing and dancing and was shot in Technicolor. 

This week I watched a great movie that fits that description.  Turner Classic Movies showed The Red Shoes, a movie about a ballerina that is forced to choose between love or dance.  I'm not a fan of ballet, but the vivid colors and the characters made it worth watching.  It was a pleasant two hours and fifteen minutes.

I spent about that much time watching 8 1/2 at the Oaks Theater last Wednesday evening.  This is "a Fellini," which I'm sure the ten or so other patrons, draped in scarves and shawls, were excited to tell their friends about.  Also, I'm sure they were annoyed by my friends and I who were eating Sno-Caps, Sour Patch Kids and popcorn during the film.  Those crinkling cellophane sounds are an expected part of the movie-going experience, right? 

Well, as I settle in tonight for my mini TCM marathon, I probably won't be enjoying any of those candies.  Those are strictly movie theater fare.  I will, however, enjoy some great singing, dancing, and color.  Thank you, Technicolor!