airport-1970

airport-1970

lady-in-cement1

lady-in-cement1

out-of-towners

out-of-towners

pillow-talk

pillow-talk

best-of-everything

best-of-everything

movie-recommendations-1

movie-recommendations-1

airport-1970-2

airport-1970-2

Movie Recommendations

Part 1

Film April 19th 2006 by Christopher

I have a keen movie interest and therefore I would like to recommend some lush movies I have seen recently. Most of them are what most people would refer to as “oldies”, but I think some of the best movies was made in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. If you are expecting to see masterpieces by famous directors, you are wrong. I watch movies that make me feel good, happy or movies that has a certain feel to them. And that is all that counts.

The Best of Everything

Very nice timepiece showing the life of some career women of the 1950s. Think of Working Girl meets Sex and the City. Has some great New York shots and a lush musical score by Alfred Newman.

Lady in Cement

Frank Sinatra also had a brief movie career and this is the second movie about his alter ego Tony Rome who works as a private detective in Miami, Florida. Great music by Hugo Montenegro and some very nice Miami shots. I believe they used the same hotel as they did in Goldfinger in one of the scenes.

The Out of Towners

This is the original movie, not the crappy remake with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn. The premise is about the same though. Jack Lemon is going to New York with his wife where he is about to take a new job. But the trip turns out to be a one way to hell and back.

Airport

Melodrama about a bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved. Nominated for 10 Oscars, but only won one for best actress in a supporting role. George Kennedy is hilarious, Dean Martin plays a airline pilot.

Pillow Talk

The first movie in a series of three starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson and Tony Randall. This is one of those 60s sex comedies about trying to get the opposite sex attracted to you. Very light weight entertainment which will appeal to anyone who like comedies. If you have seen Down with Love you will instantly recognize where the screenwriter got the inspiration from.

About the author

Christopher founded Ultra Swank in 2005. Has a crush on mid-century graphic design, defunct airlines, Disneyland and the Century 21 Exposition. Is a collector of easy listening music from the 60s and 70s and a Swedish expat living in Barcelona, Spain. Read more articles by me

Comments for this article

  • Marble River

    My girlfriend in high school had a cameo in “Lady in Cement”. She was a girl in a phone booth. Her father ran the sound system for some of Sinatra’s shows in Las Vegas. I never got to meet Sinatra, but we did get free tickets to a few rock concerts.

    Nice blog!

    Marble River

  • Tony

    Yes! The Out of Towners–I grew up near the airport you show here. It’s called Islip MacArthur Airport. It’s on Long Island, about 50 miles east of NYC. It’s named after the WWII general, Douglas MacArthur.

    The structure remained unchanged from the early 1960′s to about 1990. Sadly, it has been “remodeled” and “enlarged” to the point of obsenity. It once had a beautiful map of Long Island set into the floor. Now it’s all-weather carpet!

    These are great movies for the “populuxe” era of American culture. I can’t say minority rights or women’s rights were better “back in the day”, but we weren’t as overweight as we are now and we wore cooler, more stylish clothing back then!

    So I say, let’s continue being social progress, lose weight and put on slim slacks and pointy shoes!

    |•|
    We had some great pals from Sweden, but they moved back after 9/11. 8-(

  • Chris

    Thanks for the information Tony! It is always cool to hear about things like this from people who grew up near a location and know the facts.

    Agree with you about the “populuxe” era, it sure was better back in the days. Nowadays, there are no uniqueness or genuinity of anything. Everything is just the same, boring and uncool.

    Will try and do another “Movie recommendations” post with similar movies very soon! Thanks for writing!