This board makes me so sad.
How sad it is to me that things people have laughed at since ancient Greece, through Commedia dell'arte, Moliere, Goldoni, through the farces of Feydeaux, then into the 20th century right up until my generation (my guess those of us born before 1970) are no longer valued, or found funny.
Exceptions noted, but I would be willing to bet that most of the posts decrying the "dated" quality of this film, and it's humor, or complaining about how a certain scene is not funny or overly long, were all made by those of you under 40.
And it's not a question of being "dated." Comedy has changed so drastically (or rather, what is perceived to be comedy, and what passes for comedy) that so much of pre-1980's humor is unappreciated.
When I was a boy this film was 30 years old and stylistically, from a different world. Yet we all thought of it as comedy of the first rank. But we also appreciated the music and all pop culture that came before. I'm talking WAY before, like the songs of Stephen Foster, which was taught in schools and learned by everyone. It gave us a shared, common heritage. Plus, the songs are beautiful. No one, or precious few, are taught this any longer. We knew and appreciated such names a Jolson, Merman, Crosby, Cantor, etc, even though they flourished 30, 40, or 50 years before our time. We knew them. We knew and loved the films of Astaire and Rogers, that few of my students know. Most never heard of them.
Sad.
Sorry, didn't mean to write a manifesto.
Your thoughts?