I love watching the old movies from the 40's and 50's, but it's the relationships that happen in these movies that I have a problem with. The way two people have one kiss and all of a sudden they're talking marriage. Is that similar to the way it was at that time? I would think two people would at least want to go on one date before getting married lol
sharePeople did generally marry faster and younger, although not every case was as in the movies, I'm sure.
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"Nice guys dont let men kiss them until their practically engaged"
ok different movie but the same attitude holds
if you let the guy kiss you and you were a 'nice girl,' you were either engage or heading there.
The only Abnormality is the incapacity to love
Speaking specifically of the early 1940s, there was a war going on. It was very typical during that time for people to meet, fall in love, and get engaged or even married very quickly. Since most young men were in the service, it was a definite possibility that once they were sent to where the fighting was, they might never come back. Urgency in relationships became pretty much a necessity.
Also, audiences wanted to see their favorite stars fall in love. Because of the production code, the only "happy" relationships that could be depicted on screen were those where the boy and girl either get married or at least have some sort of a definite understanding between them. Because of the time constraints of a film, the boy and girl had to meet, fall in love, and make a promise to each other in a short period of time.
I think too, at the time, there was a definite trend among young people to buck the "old fashioned" ideas of long courtships and engagements. And "love at first sight" is much more exciting and interesting than a boy taking his time to court the girl, even if it comes off as not quite realistic.
Another point to remember is that movies of that time period were not for the most part overly realistic, and weren't meant to be. Movies were meant to be larger than life, and an escape for audiences from the day-to-day cares of life.
Very well put, dmnemaine - My thinking exactly.
‘Six inches is perfectly adequate; more is vulgar!' (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Re: An open window).
I do notice people get engaged way too quickly in the old movies. Also, they always get out of the wrong side of the car. I see it all the time in older movies like this or Psycho or even shows like Andy Griffith show and so on.
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I did sixty in five minutes once...
But this is not a characteristic of old movies alone. The idea of a man and a woman meeting, falling in love, and getting married all in the course of two hours has been going on in the theatre for hundreds of years. Take for example, Shakespeare's "As You Like It." Rosalind watches Orlando win a wrestling match and falls immediately in love. As she presents the gold chain she is wearing as a victory gift, Orlando falls in love with her. Of course there are many misadventures after this in which they all end up living in the forest with Rosalind dressed as a man (whom Orlando does not recognize). Rosalind's cousin, Celia, meets and falls for Orlando's brother, Oliver. Rosalind and Celia's servant, Touchstone, falls for the lusty shepherdess, Audrey. The play ends with a quadruple wedding -- the fourth couple being another shepherdess, Phoebe, who fell in love with Rosalind when she was passing as a man and who is tricked into marrying the shepherd, Silvius, who has been panting after and enduring the abuse of Phoebe for some time. Shakespeare's other comedies follow a similar formula. They are classified as comedies because they all end with one, but usually more weddings.
As another poster commented, movies and theatre are escapist fare. We go to see a play or movie, especially comedies and musicals, in order to be taken to another world where the heroes are handsome, the heroines beautiful, where the villain gets his comeuppance, and all ends happily. Don't question or overanalyze it. Just willing suspend your disbelief and enjoy it.
Spin
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players . . ."
Most Cars before the 70s had bench not bucket seats, so you could more easily slide across the seat to get out rather than walk around the car.
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