Pulling the heartstrings

[aardvark]

Hi to all - glad to have found old British movies, and to be here

Wonder if others share my feelings about The Way to the Stars? Love everything about it, inc the supporting roles and musical interludes - ie Basil Radford, tankard in hand, serenading Joyce Carey with 'You were sixteen, my village queen' - or Bill Owen (then Rowbotham) as the good-humoured Nobby Clarke.

As a bit of a newcomer, would be glad for recommendations of films which pull the heartstrings like this. I thought the sing-song at the end of Millions Like Us came close.

Thanks!

[Steve Crook]

A Matter of Life and Death (1946) is guaranteed to make me shed a tear every time I see it - and I've seen it a LOT.
But not because it's sad, it's joyous. The tears are just the only way the surge of emotions can be expressed

Steve

[MonicaMC]

Wonder if others share my feelings about The Way to the Stars? Love everything about it, inc the supporting roles and musical interludes

. . .

As a bit of a newcomer, would be glad for recommendations of films which pull the heartstrings like this. I thought the sing-song at the end of Millions Like Us came close.

Thanks!

(As if I didn't have a long enough list for my next visit to Scarecrow! :-))

I am a sucker for three-hankie tearjerkers, ever since as a girl of twelve I watched An Affair to Remember and wept when DK was hit by a taxi, and then again when her Terry and Cary Grant's Nickie reunited in the end. I realise this is a British film forum, but personally Splendor in the Grass rocked me more than a little bit.

[LocalHero]

Carve Her Name With Pride makes me howl every time I watch it, and I've been watching it a couple of times a year for the last 20-odd years.

I don't even have to see it, I'm welling up just thinking about it.

[Mr Sloane]

The death of Nancy in Lean's Oliver Twist gets me everytime.

[theuofc]

.....As a bit of a newcomer, would be glad for recommendations of films which pull the heartstrings like this....
Thanks!

I have a small stack of films I love but ones I almost avoid because I know I'll get teary every time I watch them. Like Random Harvest, when Greer Garson at the end joyously says, "Oh Smithy" something we've been waiting for most of the film and then get teary at the happiness of their finally being together.

Or in A Tale of Two Cities when the outwardly cynical Sydney Carton (I like both Ronald Colman and Dirk Bogarde's portrayals) sacrifices himself out of love for Lucy and walks up the stairs to the guillotine.

In Dr. Zhivago, at the end when Yuri just misses Lara and then dies.

Or the ending of Titanic (1953) when Richard (Clifton Webb) stays behind with son Norman in the sinking boat while Julia (Barbara Stanwyck) in the lifeboat looks on. Heartbreaking.

These are just a few that pull at the heartstrings. I haven't even touched on the ones where beloved pets die.

Barbara

[jimw1]

The Railway Children......."Daddy.... My Daddy"......that scene never fails to get me

[Mr Sloane]

Titanic[/B] (1953) when Richard (Clifton Webb) stays behind with son Norman in the sinking boat while Julia (Barbara Stanwyck) in the lifeboat looks on. Heartbreaking.



Barbara

The ending of the film really annoys me

  Spoiler:

Daddy and son prove love for each other by sacrificing son's life

[Steve Crook]

The Railway Children......."Daddy.... My Daddy"......that scene never fails to get me

Anyone who doesn't shed a tear at that must have had their heart & soul removed

Steve

[aardvark]

Steve and all - thank you for getting me started. Very grateful for all sugggestions!

It's years since I've seen A Matter of Life and Death, but your inspiring words Steve have decided me on watching it again this w/e. I'm older now, and everything you say about it makes me long to see it. Just seen and liked David Niven very much in The First of the Few - some pretty touching bits there too. Monica, I shed tears easily, and remember loving An Affair to Remember - led there via Sleepless in Seattle. I have the earlier Love Affair version but haven't seen it yet. Don't know Splendor in the Grass, but will find it. Thanks LocalHero for great Carve Her Name with Pride recommendation! Had heard about it but wasn't sure - will put it straight on my list. Poor over-worked credit card. Can still remember my feelings of terror and pity as a child, seeing the stage and then (musical) film versions of Oliver. Have Lean's Olver Twist, unseen as yet, v eager to watch it along with A Matter of Life and Death. Thanks Barbara for your suggestions, minus the pet ones - too sad to mention! Agree with all your choices, though haven't seen either version of The Tale of two Cities - something to look forward to. And yes, the ending of The Railway Children was really affecting I thought. Thanks again! Great to be among enthusiasts. Oh to be retired (and richer)

Nick

[DB7]

An animated film for me, Plague Dogs, in fact any film with animals gets me.

[Steve Crook]

Steve and all - thank you for getting me started. Very grateful for all sugggestions!

It's years since I've seen A Matter of Life and Death, but your inspiring words Steve have decided me on watching it again this w/e. I'm older now, and everything you say about it makes me long to see it. Just seen and liked David Niven very much in The First of the Few - some pretty touching bits there too. Monica, I shed tears easily, and remember loving An Affair to Remember - led there via Sleepless in Seattle. I have the earlier Love Affair version but haven't seen it yet. Don't know Splendor in the Grass, but will find it. Thanks LocalHero for great Carve Her Name with Pride recommendation! Had heard about it but wasn't sure - will put it straight on my list. Poor over-worked credit card. Can still remember my feelings of terror and pity as a child, seeing the stage and then (musical) film versions of Oliver. Have Lean's Olver Twist, unseen as yet, v eager to watch it along with A Matter of Life and Death. Thanks Barbara for your suggestions, minus the pet ones - too sad to mention! Agree with all your choices, though haven't seen either version of The Tale of two Cities - something to look forward to. And yes, the ending of The Railway Children was really affecting I thought. Thanks again! Great to be among enthusiasts. Oh to be retired (and richer)

Nick

I've just seen A Matter of Life and Death again, in a cinema in Croydon, and yes, tears were shed as usual. People just have to put up with me weeping and sniffling as I watch it.

I know, I'm an old softie. It's a great romance but it's also about philosophy and romance and poetry and romance and religion and romance and history and romance and politics and romance and neurology - oh, and did I mention romance?

I've also seen Carve Her Name With Pride with Virginia McKenna & Tania Szabo after they had unveiled the Violette Szabu mural at Stockwell. That was another event where lots of tears were shed, as was the opening of the Violette Szabo Museum in Herefordshire.

Steve

[aardvark]

I've just seen A Matter of Life and Death again, in a cinema in Croydon, and yes, tears were shed as usual. People just have to put up with me weeping and sniffling as I watch it.

I know, I'm an old softie. It's a great romance but it's also about philosophy and romance and poetry and romance and religion and romance and history and romance and politics and romance and neurology - oh, and did I mention romance?

Really glad to have found Britmovie, for the sake of your recommendation alone. Are tears catching - like yawns - as this time round I found myself in tears too over A Matter of Life and Death...often at unlikely moments, and for no particular reason. It's years since I last saw it, and truth to tell I didn't altogether like it when I was young - not relating then to tiny moustaches and huge heavens! After childhood Dr Dolittle and Tolkien, I became a dogged devotee of naturalism, and liked my entertainment straight! Thank goodness we change with the years, and now suddenly found I could tune in. Everything about it seemed to me wonderful and lustrous - the glowing colour and complex detail, the wonderful rhythm and creative freedom , the big-hearted handling of death and destruction, the nourishment for heart and brain, and best of all the love story. Thank you, Steve! BTW, is there any special significance in the litte piping goatherd on the beach - not very good on classical allusions (if any here)?

Must have seen a few P & P's over past years, though none of the 'big ones' for ages (a special favourite I Know Where I'm Going). Recent ones I've been excited by are The Small Back Room - and Gone to Earth, largely for the incredibly beautiful landscape. Also just discovered hte beautiful Edge of the World, and They're a Weird Mob, a film I absolutely love, probably for all the wrong reasons!

[didi-5]

A Canterbury Tale.
Watership Down (yes, Bright Eyes!).
Completely agree about The Way to the Stars and Millions Like Us.
Can probably think of others ...

[Steve Crook]

Really glad to have found Britmovie, for the sake of your recommendation alone. Are tears catching - like yawns - as this time round I found myself in tears too over A Matter of Life and Death...often at unlikely moments, and for no particular reason. It's years since I last saw it, and truth to tell I didn't altogether like it when I was young - not relating then to tiny moustaches and huge heavens! After childhood Dr Dolittle and Tolkien, I became a dogged devotee of naturalism, and liked my entertainment straight! Thank goodness we change with the years, and now suddenly found I could tune in. Everything about it seemed to me wonderful and lustrous - the glowing colour and complex detail, the wonderful rhythm and creative freedom , the big-hearted handling of death and destruction, the nourishment for heart and brain, and best of all the love story. Thank you, Steve! BTW, is there any special significance in the litte piping goatherd on the beach - not very good on classical allusions (if any here)?

Must have seen a few P & P's over past years, though none of the 'big ones' for ages (a special favourite I Know Where I'm Going). Recent ones I've been excited by are The Small Back Room - and Gone to Earth, largely for the incredibly beautiful landscape. Also just discovered hte beautiful Edge of the World, and They're a Weird Mob, a film I absolutely love, probably for all the wrong reasons!

That's the thing about Powell & Pressburger, they didn't limit themselves to one genre or style. There's something for everyone in there. B&W or colour, realistic or fantasy, happy ending or tragedy, location or studio based, exotic or homely. The only consistent feature is that every one of their films has something unusual and is of a superbly high quality in every aspect.

The tears I shed whenever I watch AMOLAD aren't because it's sad. Far from it, it's joyous. It's because it stirs so many emotions in me and tears are just the way these emotions express themselves. It's either that or I'd be singing and dancing in the cinema, and that might disturb the other patrons

All of the films you mention are now available on DVD in various editions. I Know Where I'm Going!, A Canterbury Tale and Gone to Earth are their great "landscape" films with a lot of the film shot on location and where the landscape itself is almost like another character.

The naked goat-herd on the beach is an allusion to the Elysian Fields and classical Greek mythology. When Peter washes up on the beach he thinks he's dead and as a history scholar he wouldn't be surprised to see something like that. It's only when the Mosquito bomber flies over that he realises that he's still alive

Steve

[Brief Encounter]

Love Story (1944)

This is what made us cry in WWII.

[aardvark]

That's the thing about Powell & Pressburger, they didn't limit themselves to one genre or style. There's something for everyone in there. B&W or colour, realistic or fantasy, happy ending or tragedy, location or studio based, exotic or homely. The only consistent feature is that every one of their films has something unusual and is of a superbly high quality in every aspect.

The tears I shed whenever I watch AMOLAD aren't because it's sad. Far from it, it's joyous. It's because it stirs so many emotions in me and tears are just the way these emotions express themselves. It's either that or I'd be singing and dancing in the cinema, and that might disturb the other patrons

All of the films you mention are now available on DVD in various editions. I Know Where I'm Going!, A Canterbury Tale and Gone to Earth are their great "landscape" films with a lot of the film shot on location and where the landscape itself is almost like another character.

The naked goat-herd on the beach is an allusion to the Elysian Fields and classical Greek mythology. When Peter washes up on the beach he thinks he's dead and as a history scholar he wouldn't be surprised to see something like that. It's only when the Mosquito bomber flies over that he realises that he's still alive

Steve

Thanksfor explaining about the goatherd!Of course! Now I remember Peter saying something like 'I always hoped there'd be dogs', as he fondles the tail-wagging black lab. But I hadn't picked up that the moment he whips his head round, following the low-flying bomber, is the moment he realises he's alive. And then of course there's The Burrows etc which doesn't sound too like the Elysian Fields...

Agree so much about the extraordinary quality. There's an absolutely even intensity throughout, I thought, balanced by the brilliant playfulness and joie de vivre. And yes, although there's an echo of torture somewhere far away, the experience is one of joy. Oddly, the bit I remembered most from my viewing all those years ago is the Midsummer Night's Dream rehearsal. I'm sure I'll watch this many more times, and start to pick up more details. Yes, I do have a P & P collection from Amazon. I think I've seen all or most of them in the past, except for The Tales of Hoffmann. I'm really looking forward to watching them again now, from my older vantage point. Had we but world enough and time, to watch all day would be no crime... I'm specially looking forward to A Canterbury Tale.

Thanks too for your fine summary of the P & P films in general - a great guide.

Nick

[aardvark]

Love Story (1944)

This is what made us cry in WWII.

I felt this was wondrous, weepy old fun - plus the Minack theatre, and Harriet Cohen playing Cornish Rhapsody.

A rather sultrily pissed-off-looking Granger put it like this - 'a load of crap - and a smash hit!' I wish I could remember who said, of which film, 'Nobody liked it except the public'??

Thanks for recommendations above of Plague Dogs and Watership Down. So glad didi-5 you're a fan of Millions Like Us and The Way to the Stars. Bright Eyes is playing in my head as I click the keys

[Steve Crook]

Thanksfor explaining about the goatherd!Of course! Now I remember Peter saying something like 'I always hoped there'd be dogs', as he fondles the tail-wagging black lab. But I hadn't picked up that the moment he whips his head round, following the low-flying bomber, is the moment he realises he's alive. And then of course there's The Burrows etc which doesn't sound too like the Elysian Fields...

And when I went to that beach, Saunton Sands in north Devon...
It's a long beach with an extensive system of sand dunes behind the beach (still).
Of course the dunes would have shifted a bit over the 50+ years since the film was made there. But by lining up a few stills and looking to see where the headlands were on either side of the bay I thought that I had just about worked out where they filmed from.

Then, as I was taking one final photo of the dunes, a black labrador came running up towards me


"Oh, I'd always hoped there would be dogs"

Sometimes the magic just works

Steve

[aardvark]

Wonderful!

The beach scenes in The Small Back Room stay in my mind too - I enjoyed Renee Asherson's small contribution.

Just followed your moving Violette Szabo links above, and so come to the Powell & Pressburger pages.