Twentieth Century-Fox Studio mogul Darryl Zanuck predicted of television, and was quoted as saying, “People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” He could not have been more wrong. By 1953, cinema attendance dropped nearly fifty percent from its peak of ninety million per week in the late 1940s. Communism was not Hollywood’s greatest growing menace; it was the exponentially growing television industry. To entice the public from the small monochromatic screens in their homes, the motion picture industry introduced spectacular novelties only available in theaters: simulated three-dimensional effects, stereophonic sound, and — the pièce de résistance — widescreen projection.
Let’s skip forward sixty-seven years later. In 2020 film theaters closed due to the Pandemic and everyone relies solely on television viewing. Only this time it's streaming services.
I didn’t have the opportunity to go to the cinema in 2020 before they closed. However, during the 2019 holidays, I did catch up on a few films. I saw the Last Pope, Marriage Story, and the Irishman, which incidentally made it to the silver screen and then to the small screen rather quickly.
Where am I going with this you ask? It’s a reminder that the best films are stories that have to be told. Out of the three films mentioned I preferred the Irishman. I liked that it was grand and ambitious, a tribute to what Scorsese says about crime life. It was melancholic and leaves a door ajar as a hollow space that is hard to fill.
By the time Covid hit, I turned to Netflix and overdosed on series that didn’t provide me with simulated three-dimensional effects, stereophonic sound, or widescreen projection, but with great storylines, superb acting, and character development that was phenomenal. It glued me to my seat and had me hankering for more.
I returned to the cinema last month when American Cinematheque offered me a showing of a drama-comedy, Confessions of the Felix Krull (https://www.americancinematheque.com/now-showing/confessions-of-the-imposter-felix-krull/) It was based on a novel by German author, Thomas Mann. As a film, it was a step back in time metaphorically, and as a cinema attendee, I took a step back in time literally.
I have read short stories in the New Yorker that I feel ought to become films. Many don’t know that a favorite Holiday film classic, It's A Wonderful Life was originally crafted and published as a short story. Although short stories seem to have gone out of favor, like so many priceless treasures from yesteryear, they provide writers a way to learn their craft quickly. And when they translate onto the screen they help us discover why we are here and what we are supposed to do.
We consume stories every day if our eyes and hearts are open to experiencing life. So stop consuming and start creating! Maybe that’s a reminder for me too.
Yes, good reminder. To me if, im not consumed, I have to look at my self and, be responsible. Funny,thing, I just told my 16 yr.,granddaughter,what someone,thinks of you, is not,your business,so mind your owe business and, not to worry,about what others think of you. Hmm,.Great, Linda, thank you. I hope I understood. Love you.