Much older men chasing young women in 1950s movies - General Discussion Discussion

[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

I think in many flicks like that, we were supposed to somehow pretend the guys were actually younger than they appeared. NOTD was a great movie, though.

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[–] MovieFhan (129) 7 years ago

Haha, I think you could be right. An ego boost for these old stars.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Night of the Demon is a CLASSIC horror movie!

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[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

The director didn't want to show the demon. The studio made him. Still, pretty good FX for the era.

The character of Karswell was based on a real mage, one of the most prominent: Aleister Crowley.

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[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

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[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

Thanks. I always thought it was based on Crowley, but was never sure. NOTD would be one of those films that could be a fantastic remake if done correctly. Unfortunately, there's almost a 100% chance Hollywood would totally screw it up to be just another sub-mediocre "horror" flick.

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[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

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[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

True, there are similarities. Both are movies and both had human actors... :-)

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[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

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[–] Frogarama (12942) 7 years ago

Could be divorced, but not everyone marries. Also, attraction to youth is instinct, particularly with males, due to the nature of sexual reproduction.

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[–] MovieFhan (129) 7 years ago

I understand Frog, but I find something distasteful about it. Like these women aren't 5, or 10 years younger. Sometimes they're 30 to 40 years younger. To me, it looks ridiculous.

I know that was one of the reasons Cary Grant quit movies. He hated that he was being paired romantically with younger women when he was a much older man. He did say while making Charade in 1963 that he thought Audrey Hepburn was way too young for his love interest. By this time Cary Grant was 60 and white haired.

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[–] Frogarama (12942) 7 years ago

Yeah it's not for everyone, I agree. Personally, I like both ways. I like women 20 years older than me, and 20 years younger. I'm 40, FYI. But I'm also not looking for a "love interest" specifically, which makes me avoid my own age range.

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[–] db20db (16147) 7 years ago

And to me, you're a sanctimonious prude. I've had two relationships with women half my age and one with a woman ten years my senior. In each case, the sexual gratification was very mutual and satisfying.

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[–] MovieFhan (129) 7 years ago

What's wrong with women your own age? You like immature young women then. That's up to you, but it doesn't change my opinion.

And the fact they're willing to take on an old man, is up to them. But I don't like seeing it in movies.

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[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

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[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

They don't, unless it's current happenings or shallow stuff. Having dated a couple much younger (20 years) women because they were intelligent and exceptionally mature for their age, both relationships ultimately fell apart in a short time because there was so little common reference ground for basic conversation. Research cannot replace experience, if that makes sense.

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[–] db20db (16147) 7 years ago

Mine were short lived as well, naps, but they were just fun filled summertime flings to begin with. Ironically, in my case, it was the older woman who was often immature. I'd have to say they were all doomed from the beginning but fun while they lasted.

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[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

Can't say I ever had that experience with older women, except one who was terrified of getting older. That lasted less than 2 months.

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[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

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[–] db20db (16147) 7 years ago

So, in the movie The Pelican Brief, you would find the relationship between Julia Roberts and Sam Shepard offensive and inappropriate ? If so, I would definitely consider that as prudish.

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[–] Barclays (960) 7 years ago

Night of the Demons again??
How much longer are we going to discuss the same 50 movies?

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[–] klownz (478) 7 years ago

Hopefully we discuss them forever.

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[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

Nobody asked you, "barclays." You don't like NOTD, go to another thread.

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[–] klownz (478) 7 years ago

Reported.

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[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

For what? Telling "barclays" to go elsewhere?

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[–] klownz (478) 7 years ago

"chill Winston" i am merely fucking around... don't be so sensitive.

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[–] napsdufroid (2077) 7 years ago

With some folks here, one never knows anymore. But I realize I did post that response in the wrong place.

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

It was about popularity and what would sell tickets.
It seems back then it was more about looks and chemistry vs. talent.
They wanted men who were debonair and women who were young and pretty.
Not much different now but at least there are roles that aren't just grandma's, mothers and character roles.

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[–] db20db (16147) 7 years ago

Dana Andrews was an obviously physically attractive man during that decade, hence his popularity as an actor.
And Hollywood was also much more sexually sedate than how the OP alleges. I think it's gross hyperbole.
Exactly not much different now, but actually maybe more pronounced, the immense, burgeoning male sexual enhancement industry as an indicator.

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[–] godewey (16472) 7 years ago

Bogart and Becall obviously comes to mind.
Grace Kelly and Gary Cooper.
Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine
Gregory Peck and Lee Remick

The list is seemingly endless.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Night of the Demon was directed by Jacques Tourneur, an outstanding director of the macabre. Among his other film credentials are the original Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie. He knew that we are more likely to fear what we DON'T see than we are what we do see. There's an amazing scene in Night of the Demon where Dana Andrews' character is walking through woods outside Karswell's home, and we see the footprints of the invisible demon that is stalking him sinking into the ground! Scared the shit out of me as a little boy. Much more frightening than seeing the demon puppet the studio insisted that Tourneur use in the final edit. My sad belief is that, if this film were remade today, we'd have a CGI 3-D demon rammed up our ass for 75 percent of it, the very antithesis of Tourneur's genius. It would star Vin Diesel. I mean, compare the original Day The Earth Stood Still with Michael Renny to the vomitous remake of Day The Earth Stood Still with
Keanu Reeves and Will Smith's repulsive spawn. By the way, there are two versions of the Demon movie. The original, first released in Europe, IS Night of the Demon. It runs for 95 minutes. For the US release, it got chopped to 83 minures, eliminating the sceance scene (which I think adds so much to the narrative, because it gives us insight into Karswell's mother), and was retitled as The Curse of the Demon. There is a wonderful DVD release, digitally remastered in anamorphic widescreen mode and containing both versions, that I found on Amazon a few years ago. Enjoy. And lock your doors!

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[–] db20db (16147) 7 years ago

Cat People is one of my favorite movies RK. I've never seen the original. Nastassja Kinski , to me, was the epitome of sensuality for quite awhile after seeing the '82 version. And I love the Bowie soundtrack.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

I like it as well, it's in my library. Annette O'Toole nude? I am so there. Watching tree-hugging Ed Begley Jr. die a humiliating and stupid death? Ditto. Natassja Kinski nude? Roddy McDowel pouncing up onto her bed? Ditto, ditto. This was what a remake should be. I saw the original when I was, what?, 8? And I saw it at a drive-in years after its release. (Same place where I saw I Walked With
a Zombie, a movie that was obviously ahead of its time), so I really can't compare them. I can say that the remake is head, shoulders and belly-button above most contemporary horror movies. And the Bowie soundtrack?? All that I can say is this: I saw his footage spliced into the most recent episode of Twin Peaks, and I stlll can neither believe nor accept that the man is dead. I never thought of myself as a Bowie fan while he was alive, though his Heroes album is one of my favorites of all time; but I realized that, when he died, I had believed that he was an Elemental, a force of nature, who could not die. His influence on music, on--fuck fashion!--STYLE (which rivals the influence of my touchstone, Fred Astaire), digital media, culture--was, simply put, staggering. The guy reinvented himself more times than Richard Nixon. If you can end your movie with Bowie singing Putting Out the Fire With Gasoline, you've got a good fucking movie on your hands! Not for nothing, Bowie and Freddy Mercury shared the same idol. His name was Francis Albert Sinatra.

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[–] db20db (16147) 7 years ago

I think you mean Malcom McDowell, RK. For me, her allure wasn't the overt sexuality you mention. It was her facial features, the way she carried herself and especially that subtly erotic fishing scene with John Heard's character,where he was eyeing her posterior.

And yeah, the scene with Ed Begley Jr. was damn graphic and intense, very realistic looking. Kudos to the filmmakers on that one.

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[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Absolutely correct, as usual: Malcolm, he of Clockwork Orange fame, and not Roddy, of Fright Night (the original, and terrific)
horror movie from the 80s that got a fairly
recent sub-par remake with Collin Farrell as the vampire.

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