TCM Big Screen Classics: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Thanks to TCM and Fathom Events, yesterday I was able to watch one of my all time favorite movies on the big screen.

Meet Me in St. Louis is pure movie magic at its best. Everything is as close to perfection as movies get. The songs are incredible, technicolor has never looked better, the performances are perfect, the humor is fantastic and there is a special charm in every second. Judy Garland is as perfect as ever, but in my opinion the show was stolen by Margert O'Brien as the very disturbed 5 year Tootie. She not only gives the film its best laughs, but she truly brings to life one of my favorite movie characters. There is often times a bias against sentimentality and sweetness with today's movie fans. However a film like this proves that when done right these things can make a great movie. These things have never been done better than in Meet Me in St. Louis, and here they help create a cinematic masterpiece.

Speaking of cinematic, there is no better way to see this film than in a theatre. On the big screen the vibrant colors and incredible performances truly come to life, creating an incredible sense of movie magic.

So I know this is a brief post but I just want to state again that if you are a movie fan these TCM Big Screen Classics are incredible experiences you can't miss. Next month is another fantastic technicolor musical from the same director (Vincente Minnelli), An American in Paris (1951).

-Michael J. Ruhland    

TCM Big Screen Classics: Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Thanks to TCM and Fathom Events, I had the great pleasure of watching Lawrence of Arabia (1962) in an actual movie theatre. This movie is one that needs to be seen on a movie theatre. This is a large epic film in every sense of the word. This is not a movie you can simply sit down to watch. To fully appreciate the film, you must instead experience it. This is of course something that can be done in a cinema much better than it can on a TV screen (or heaven forbid your phone screen (I have no problem with people watching a movie on their phones, but there are some movies, where it gives you a disadvantage)). As soon as the movie begins simply seeing these images on the big screen is breathtaking. This is not a movie where just some scenes amaze you on a big screen. The whole movie does this. Considering this is a near four hour movie, that is no small accomplishment. I love that TCM kept in the little things that make this movie an even greater experience. Before the film begins the screen stays black as we hear the incredible music score playing. This lets us feel like we are not just simply going to a movie but an event. It is like hearing the orchestra playing before a live play. I also love that they kept the intermission. For me an intermission does more than just give you time to use the restroom during a long movie. It makes the experience of going to the movie feel like something special and allows the film to stop to let us take in all that has happened. For this reason I wish more modern day epics would use this device in them.

This post is not a review of the movie or a history but rather an appreciation for seeing such films on the big screen. That is why this is such a brief post. Still I hope it has made you want to see future TCM Big Screen Classics or other great movies from the past in a theatre.

-Michael J. Ruhland

TCM Big Screen Classics: Ben Hur (1959)

Thanks to TCM and Fathom Events, last night I was able to see William Wyler's epic 1959 version of Ben Hur on the big screen. If you have not been to one of these TCM Big Screen Classics, you need to. Seeing these movies we have seen so often on TV or DVD on the big screen with an audience makes them feel completely fresh and new. This is a whole different experience and one that you should not pass up (May 5th and 8th will be True Grit (1969), so don't miss that).

 Ben Hur is of course a perfect movie to see this way. It is a larger than life spectacle and was intended as an epic experience, not just another enjoyable movie. Though the film is certainly something special on the small screen, seeing it that way gets you nowhere near the scope this movie is capable of on the big screen. Of course being TCM Ben Mankowitz comes on screen to introduce it and that is always a plus. After he is done though the screen is black for about 6 minutes as we hear an orchestra tuning up. Watching the movie at home, it can become easy to be impenitent and want the movie to start already. However in a cinema it has a whole different effect. It makes you feel as if you haven't just left the house to see a movie but a big event. What you are going to see is going to be incredible and deserves a big build up. As the sweeping score gets more passionate the excitement in you has built up huge. It is like when you go to a play and the orchestra is playing a beautiful score before the curtain comes up. When it does you respect and attention have already been earned and it just makes you appreciate what you are going to see all the more.

This film is a pure spectacle in every sense of the word and seeing it the way it was meant to be seen is simply breathtaking. Scenes like the famous chariot race, the storm after Jesus' death, the battle on the galleys and even just simple things as seeing the trumpeters line up, take on a whole new scope and power when presented on the big screen.

Unlike many of you I actually saw the 1925 silent version of Ben Hur before I ever saw this more famous version. The silent film blew me away, and I felt even though this movie is better known, it couldn't help but pale in comparison to that great movie. When I finally saw it I was shocked at just how well this movie can stand up against its silent counterpart. I will not say this movie is better than the silent version (I am not convinced of that myself), but it holds up very well along side it.

-Michael J. Ruhland

TCM Big Screen Classics: My Fair Lady (1964)

Thanks to TCM and Fathom Events, today I was able to see My Fair Lady on big screen for its 55th aniversity. This was not an art house or old time theatre type thing either, but rather shown at AMCs. Maybe someday later I'll write a large article on this film going over its history, but for now I am just going to write a brief little post about how much I loved seeing this movie the way it was meant to be seen.


This is a big screen movie there is no doubt. It looks good on a small screen and the story and songs are excellent no matter how you watch it. Still this movie was intended as a huge spectacle. It is rare to find a movie that uses color as incredibly as this film does. The opening shots of flowers as the opening credits roll, the beautiful shot of Freddie waiting outside for Eliza and the fantastically visually stylized horse race are images that when seen in a theater are jaw dropping. The beautiful choreography for many of the musical numbers can be fully felt here in a way they never could at home. In fact the pure scope of spectacle in this film is overwhelming when seen this way. Unlike so many movies today, this film truly feels like an event. Even for someone who goes to the movies as much as I do, can really feel like they are going to a special event seeing this in the theatre. Adding to this is the fact that the showing included a five minute intermission. It is almost hard to describe the effect an intermission can have on a longer film. A carefully placed and well planned intermission (much different from the horrible barrage of poorly placed commercials seen when you watch one on TV) can really increase the feeling of scope a film has and again make it feel like you are going to an event rather than just another movie.

Naturally this is still a great movie no matter how you watch it, it is just better in a cinema setting. Even on a small screen you can feel how incredible Audrey Hepburn's performance is. She is simply incredible in this role and brings such a charm and humanity to this film in a way no other actress could have. Her chemistry with Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway is also fantastic and the scenes they share together are a delight. The songs are fantastically memorable and Marni Nixon's (who dubbed the singing voice for Audrey Hepburn) is beautiful. Songwriters Alan Jay Lerner and Fredrick Lowe are truly incredible songwriters and each song is very sophisticated and complex, but catchy and fun at the same time. That is truly an achievement. Of course it doesn't hurt that this movie was directed by George Cukor, who was already an old pro by this time having directed movies since 1930. He was truly a master of his craft and this film shows that perfectly. This is a perfectly loverly film and I could not recommend it more.

This will be shown again in theaters Wednesday February 20. If you missed today's showing, and are interested try to make that showing. You won't regret it.


-Michael J. Ruhland