Sentinel, Movies 210524

      Movies are a wonderful deviation from our daily lives. Some of them we watch over and over again because we enjoy them.

      In my case, one I have watched for near 70 years is a John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara film released by Republic studios in 1952 titled “The Quiet Man.” It was on TV and movies back in the fifties. The Republic movie studio did not want to make the movie, but the studio okayed the production on the condition that John Wayne make two western movies first to cover expenses for “The Quiet Man.” The first Sony Beta tape recording that was ever bought by us was a copy of “The Quiet Man.” Joyce got the movie for a Christmas present for me. You may find this difficult to believe, but the movie fresh in the box was $120. The clerk at the video store told Joyce that if he opened it and put it on the rental shelf for one night she could come back the next day and he could then sell it to her for $80. That is what she did and while it had never been played, she saved $40. We had that movie tape for years and every time family came over for a holiday visit, they watched that same movie.

      Another favorite of mine has been “Casablanca.” Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman starred in it. That movie from 1942 is still the most watched movie of all time. Some independant theaters still show it on a regular basis. The funny thing about “Casablanca” is during that time frame Warner Brothers was cranking out one movie every week and not a lot of concern was exercised in what the content was as long as there was something new every week for people to go to the movie show and see. There was no home TV in those days for the majority of people.

      Another movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” from 1947 was a box-office flop made by Liberty Films. It remained that way until the 1990’s. The owners forgot to file and retain the rights to the movie. Then the movie hit TV screens all over America and the film became a Christmas Classic. We had that movie on a VHS tape and wore the tape out playing it year after year.