I've never seen this movie that I'm able to recall, but want to express full agreement with your second paragraph. It's a shame how difficult (seemingly near impossible) it is on the TMDb message boards to succeed at getting discussions going about movies or their actors/actresses - even many major films and stars - of the first half of the 20th Century. My adding this comment is to show support for "the cause".

thanks genplant29,

I guess we have a younger readership here who have less exposure to older films. I recall seeing Casablanca for the first time in the early 1980s. It blew my mind how good it was. And a lot of the old detective movies I saw were great. I had grown up watching old monster films, the ones which used to be a regular feature on some channels, stuff like Bella Lugosi's Dracula, and a lot of sort of grade B horror and sci-fi monster films. I already had an appreciation for older films, but Casa Blanca opened my eyes to how great many of the older films are.

I have a 97 year old aunt in a retirement home who I sit with a lot now, so she doesn't have to move to a more skilled area of the home. We watch TCM a lot. I just ordered a copy of an old film called Only Angels Have Wings, Rita Hayworth's breakout film, with Cary Grant. I saw it once and want to watch it with her. It is so enjoyable to see great old movies like this, for many reasons.
They reflect a period of time when people understood they had to face up to some hard truths about how unfair life sometimes is, and knew the right approach was to choose to courageously press on. The WWII films were good at this, but also many others. The noir films showed us that crime doesn't pay in the long run. These films reflected the beliefs of the majority of the country in those times. Modern TV and movies often fail to do so.

I have abandoned several TV series because the writers decided to make the shows mouthpieces for political or social protest, sometimes in thinly veiled hateful partisan fashion. They seem to forget that people watch these media for entertainment, for enjoyment. And we're sophisticated and intelligent enough to know when we're being preached to, and when we're listening to propaganda. We can recognize authoritarian social engineering when we see it, and veiled attempts at revisionist history as well.

I realize that I may have different political and social points of view from a large number of Hollywood actors, and that is fine. We are a country of individuals with the freedoms to think, and believe, as we choose, and to speak our minds. Our system of government is designed to reflect our different perspectives within a framework that protects the rights and liberties of us all (when it is working right). And I don't mind having frank, honest, civil debates or good faith discussions with people who might see things differently to me. Sometimes I might change my viewpoint after such discussions.

But I don't want to watch movies or TV shows which push propaganda or partisan political viewpoints. I watch for entertainment. I respect and appreciate the abilities of the professionals who make modern media. But too often I see TV shows where the writers appear to be trying to capitalize on their early success by changing the show's content to include strong social justice messaging or partisan political statements. The shows didn't start out that way. Do the writers and actors think we don't notice the change? Do they think it is so subtle that we don't notice? Do they believe we are somehow "hooked" on the show and won't stop watching even though it has become political? Are the writers and actors so insulated from their viewers that they think we think as they do? Or do they believe we adore them and will adopt their points of view if we hear them espouse them? If the latter then they are deluding themselves. The statistics on how people view "political correctness" even after a couple decades of news and media indoctrination show that the majority of us are not on board with most of the vocal agitators and the underlying premises of PC. https://spectator.us/woke-go-broke/ And companies and performers who hitch their success to the social justice warrior wagon often see their profits and support begin to sink. For now I will pick and choose my shows and movies carefully. The old tried and true movies of the 30's, 40's, 50's and some beyond have plenty to offer.

I was born in the early 1960s and grew up on old movies of the '30s, '40s, and '50s, that I remember watching since starting as far back as I can remember, and loving them from the get-go. That's always remained with me. The '20s, '30s, and '40s are decades that especially very much "speak" to me.

I agree that the TMDb demographic seems to be primarily members who are, most likely, under age 50. Having said that, inevitably more people who are fans of the movies of the first half of the 20th Century will find their way to TMDb and this site's message boards after more time passes.

@write2topcat said:

I just saw this film on TCM. A young Robert Mitchum has a good role, the first love of a damaged lady who uses men and steals jewelry. She was falsely accused of stealing a locket as a child, which turned out to be a traumatizing incident that strongly influenced her life.

I haven't seen 'The Locket' but seems quite reminiscent of Hitchcock's 'Marnie'

I thought this was a cracker too. Very solid three main performances, really nicely shot, great use of flashbacks and keeps you guessing throughout about what is the truth (like a semi Rashomon, that pre-dates it).

Nice to see Mitchum in a non-macho role and I'm mystified why Laraine Day didn't become a bigger star - same for the director really. There was not a hammy bit of acting to be seen, none of the melodrama that some films of the 40s could show. This is way better than Marnie and is a superior examination on the similar themes of obsession and mental health generally.

8/10