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by Judy Howard Ellis

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Classic films and 'Indiana Jones' (Part 1)

If the box office trends continues, and movie houses are filled to the brim in the summer of 2008, here's my suggestion: Show classic movies! Some far-sighted theaters show classic films as a special offering, but I say incorporate these films as a part of the summer line-up, right along with expected blockbusters like "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." If people are escaping to theaters because of lean financial times - as moviegoers did in the Great Depression - offer classic films that will raise their understanding of America.

Bring in lively film experts, or, if a theater has connections, bring in a famous actor or two. Perhaps theaters nationwide can partner with Turner Classic Movies, which has a wonderful collection of films.

If increased filmgoing during a recession is not enough to entice theaters to show classic films, I will offer two of five reasons to watch a classic movie - whether inside a theater or not. (Look for the rest of my reasons in Part Two.)

Classic films offer us a complicated view of the past and they should be part of our cultural diet because:

*Classic movies are a part of us. When watching these films, you get a glimpse of how Americans once lived or how they aspired to live. Filter the classic movies you watch and notice how these films bridge the past with the present. Classic movies tell universal stories about power plays, love hunger, family strife, economic need, and ethical choices. Plenty of high-profile classic movies - "The Grapes of Wrath," "Twelve Angry Men," "To Kill A Mockingbird," "Mildred Pierce," "The Night of the Hunter," and "A Place in the Sun" - portray these struggles with extraordinary range. But watch enough classic movies and you will discover lesser-known films that beat out cable movies on any day. I recently viewed "Three on a Match" on TCM. The 1932 melodrama, which features young actors such as Humphrey Bogart, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, and Bette Davis, follows three friends and the choices they make. The movie was racy for its day and was released before heavy censoring was established in Hollywood. The most successful of the three friends, Dvorak's character, is unloving and self-absorbed. Despite her perceived success - high standing in society, marriage to a rich man and being a mother to a young son, she is dissatisfied. She flees with a gambler, with her young son in tow, and her choices have tragic implications. The film still resonates today.

*Classic movies help trace the history of race in America. Some folks thought supermodel Gisele Bundchen paired with LeBron James's growling expression on the recent cover of Vogue was nothing to protest about, but maybe these forgiving cultural observers haven't witnessed the crazed looks Hollywood forced African-American actors to wear (or dolled up white actors to wear) as maids, porters and "natives" running through the jungle. (And maybe they really haven't watched King Kong clutch Fay Wray in the 1933 movie.) Stereotyping blacks and other groups like Asians, Latinos and Native Americans - and thinking it's way cool are nothing new in America. For example, in the old movies you can witness how Hollywood thought nothing of altering the faces of white actors to create a so-called Asian appearance. That's why even a teaspoon of America's history can forewarn us about repeating our country's transgressions in today's movies. Maybe then racial and gender stereotypes wouldn't be as funny or as commercially popular. Maybe then we could humbly acknowledge the wrong attitudes we have absorbed into our cultural bloodstream.

More on this in Classic Films and "Indiana Jones" Part 2.

Learn more about this author, Judy Howard Ellis.

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