We decided to throw a party today and invite some of our favorite people.
Hello everybody, Mr. Joe Morella and Mr. Frank Segers here again with Mrs. Norman Maine and Mr. Jordan.
We’ve invited a diverse bunch to our little soiree today. A few of our writer friends, Addison DeWitt and Waldo Lydecker, a few of our Southern friends, Blanche DuBois and Ashley Wilkes, a couple of high brows, Charles Foster Kane and Fanny Skeffington, and even a couple of low brows, Walter Neff and Joel Cairo.
There are a few silent types, Norma Desmond, Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood, and a couple of actresses, Margo Channing and Eve Harrington. To round out the guest list we included a few internationals, Victor Lazlo and Ilsa Lund.
It should be a fun party if Stella, Laura, Gilda and Marnie come too.
The point is, you know all these people and you know exactly where they come from. What Classic movie they live in.
There’s a lot of discussion about what makes a film a classic. Does it have to be old? Should you be able to watch it over and over again and always find something new in it? Does it have to have a cult following?
Well, one of the criteria for making a film a classic, in our opinion, is that it should have characters who become as famous as the film itself. This is an idea spawned by our friend, the late Johnny Madden. John was a critic and reporter at Variety, and a film buff of the first order.
Madden was notorious among his friends for his postcards. Whenever he traveled (usually with Morella) he’d send dozens of cards to friends and relatives signing each with the name of a famous character from a famous movie.
So if the card was signed by one George Amberson, you knew that John was full of himself and having a good time.
