SO MANY MOVIES, SO LITTLE TIME

Hello Everyone,

Many of you in the community may know me from the "classic" films that I show at the Barrington Library. I've been presenting film series since early 1999. Over the years, I've honored such performers as Spencer Tracy, Alec Guinness, Judy Garland, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Lemmon, Anthony Quinn, Paul Newman, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, and Cary Grant. I've also saluted directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder. And I've shown movies falling into genres like screwball comedy, film noir, and musicals.

These film series are an avocational passion of mine. I'm not employed by the library to offer these programs. All of the planning and research for these series are done on my own personal time. I receive no remuneration from the Town for offering these programs. I simply want to keep these films, performers and directors alive in the public's consciousness. I feel that my responsibility is to present these movies as a significant part of our popular culture. Before each film, I provide some commentary on it, which might include behind-the-scenes information, what was happening in the actors' personal or professional lives at the time of production, and things to "watch for" while viewing the film. I may try to present the importance of the movie in a social or historical context. You may also hear samples of the critical response to a movie at the time of its release (or retrospective appreciation). And I'll probably give you an indication of why the film matters to me.

And what a venue I have to help me share my passion with the community! As many of you may know, the Barrington Library has a wonderful auditorium, equipped with a large screen, state-of-the-art video and audio equipment, and stadium-style seating. It's even air conditioned, so that if you choose to take in one of my movie programs during the summer, you can come in from out of the sweltering heat and enjoy what's playing up on the screen.

Part of the joy--and frustration--of developing my film series is the sifting and reading and viewing involved. It's always gratifying to learn about the history of these movies and the lives of the creative people who made them possible. Then there's the challenge of narrowing down the choices to fit a four- or five-week series. Which films to include? Which ones to eliminate? Which ones are commercially available and, if they are available, what kind of shape are they are in? I clearly remember trying to show the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers classic Top Hat as part of a "Hollywood Musicals" series that I was hosting about 10 years ago. How could I not include such a classic? But, at the time, all that was available was an old VHS tape version, complete with blurry image and hissing, crackling sound. Should I show the film in spite of these limitations? I did... but, about five minutes into the film, a woman who was sitting in the audience got up from her seat, stopped in front of where I was seated in the front row, shook her head back and forth as if to say "no, thank you," and then walked out of the auditorium. Although everyone else stayed, that experience taught me that a film that is not in "presentable" form cannot be enjoyed by the audience.

I've really become excited with the advent of the high-definition video format. We have a blu-ray player connected to the projector in our auditorium, and--wherever possible--what you're seeing is the movie in high definition, with an image resolution that hopefully approximates how it looked at the time of its release.

Initially, when the blu-ray format was introduced (and, after some "back and forth" with a competing format, HD-DVD, finally accepted as the standard), I was disheartened. There didn't seem to be many older films ("catalog titles," as their known) being released on blu-ray. I can't blame the various studios, because newer titles would have a potentially bigger market in the short term. And the fact that the higher resolution of blu-rays would magnify flaws in the source print for older films often meant that these movies would require some kind of restoration work. That meant an outlay of time and, more importantly, money for the studios. Since consumer adoption of the blu-ray format has been much slower than for standard DVD (in many ways, it's still considered a "niche" market for cinephiles), one can understand why the studios decided to hold back a bit before unleashing a torrent of older films on blu-ray.

But the past year or more has seen an increase in the number of catalog titles seeing release in high definition. Just recently, I have acquired (for my own personal home library) blu-ray editions of John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath, Billy Wilder's The Apartment, and the "glorious" MGM musical Singin' in the Rain. Coming down the pike, in the months ahead, are blu-ray releases for many of Alfred Hitchcock's Universal movies, and even Marilyn Monroe can be seen standing over that skirt-raising grate in high definition.

So there's hope for lovers of old movies, like me... and, hopefully, you.

Until next time,

Doug