Times-Argus: What makes a film a classic?

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What makes a film a classic?
Local expert Rick Winston will be happy to tell you

“Some Like It Hot” (1959) is an American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Pictured are Curtis and Monroe.

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By Jim Lowe Times Argus Staff - Published: February 20, 2009


What makes a film a classic? Why do so many old films fail the test of time while a few are rediscovered by each generation of moviegoers?

"Certain films we like to see again and again," explained Rick Winston, local film expert and owner of Montpelier's Savoy Theater. "And for every movie we think of from what we think of as Hollywood's Golden Age, that is well-loved and well-seen, there are many, many that might be popular at the time, but if you saw them today, you can't help but laugh or say, 'What were they thinking?' They just do not hold up."

Winston will discuss exactly what makes films classics during Hollywood's Golden Age, Sunday, Feb. 22, at 11 a.m., at the Savoy, with admission benefiting the theater's Green Mountain Film Festival (March 20-29).

"I've been fascinated with that question of why we keep going back to see certain films, and they can be rediscovered with each generation," Winston said. "It's been 200 years since Jane Austen and 150 since Charles Dickens, and each successive generation finds that it speaks to them in some way."

In fact, Winston has discussed this matter publicly before, in presentations at the film festival.

"So what are of the qualities of these films, whether acting, writing, cinematography, message? That's what I like to explore."

Conversely, part of what prevents films from becoming classics is that they were made for a particular time and place.

"They really speak to what's going on at that moment," Winston said. "It's sort of like our generation going back and seeing 'Easy Rider.' It made such a big impression on so many people then."

Even Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made some real clunkers.

"Everybody on the list we're going to be illustrating made clunkers that haven't survived," Winston said.

Winston declined to list the films he will discuss, not wishing to give away too much of the program.

"But I can say which directors I'm going to be talking about," he said. "Nobody was more imaginative than Buster Keaton. People are still looking at some of the things he did in silent films and saying 'How did he do that?"

For examples of wit and crackling dialogue, there are Preston Sturges, William Wilder and Joseph Mankiewicz.

"If we want a film that speaks to our emotions, we go to some Frank Capra or William Wilder films. And then, I'm going to paying attention to some of the giants like Orson Welles and Hitchcock."

Winston did reveal that one of his favorite Hitchcock films, "Notorious," would come up.

"Part of that is he is dealing with something very primal, and the people respond to a film, especially in the dark, and how audiences love to be manipulated," Winston said "And with his skill he showed you where to look."

The clip he is showing will illustrate that.

"It's halfway through the film, but you don't have to know anything about the plot," Winston said. "You're immediately caught up in it. It was quite stunning to me when I realized that."

There were blockbusters in that era, but Winston didn't like them all.

"I personally am not a fan of 'Gone with the Wind'; I think that does not stand up," he said. "I think a version that was pared down to two hours – maybe."

Still, the year of "Gone with the Wind" was a great year of blockbusters.

"Critics say that 1939 was the high water mark for American film," Winston said. "In one year, you had 'Gone with the Wind,' 'Wizard of Oz,' 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,' 'Stagecoach,' 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips.' You look at the films that came out that year and you say, 'Oh my gosh, if only there was that kind of consistent quality these days!'"

Winston feels that the actors can also play a large part in a film's longevity.

"I am a very big fan of Henry Fonda, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant," he said. "I am in the school that thinks that Gary Cooper was very wooden, and he's not convincing to me in anything except for, maybe, 'High Noon.' An actor like Robert Taylor, who was a matinee idol, left something to be desired.

"I have rarely seen a bad Henry Fonda performance and Cary Grant is in a class by himself," Winston said.

The aforementioned are all parts of making a classic, but often it's a combination – of everything.

"I demonstrate with 'Citizen Kane.'" Winston said. "You can take almost any five minutes at random, and you can say, oh, sound, sets, camera movement, script, editing: It's all there.

"It's all the best that can be done," he said. "The overall effect is a movie that just sweeps you along into its power."