Interacting with Humphrey Bogart
by
Terry Whitsitt

*see footnotes at bottom
     In this hi-tech world we live in, everything is interactive. The television, the DVD player and the digital downloads, and probably at the top of the list is the computer and the Internet. Sometimes, after a hard day of adjusting the imbalance rating on your giga-watt meter to 3.7293 nano seconds, and then struggling with an error code on your hyper-drive,*1  it’s relaxing to sit back and watch a classic Hollywood movie. You remember those films: they were full of elements seldom seen today - like, plot, story line, and hardly anything getting blown up.*2  Meaningful dialog ran rampant through films of the "Golden Age of Hollywood." There are, however, those of us who just don’t get enough of the high-tech world and want to bring a little of the past along with us. As a long-time classic movie fan, who is also a techno junky, I plead, "no contest."*3 

     I have written about classic Hollywood films, and write a column called, The Classic Movie Corner. I also have acted in community theater productions of some these films. Moreover, long before anyone thought of VCR’s and DVD Players, in 1957, (at the age of 11) I was already taping classic movies being aired on television, on a reel to reel tape deck to enjoy again and again. I now have an extensive video library of classic movies from this great era of Hollywood.

     To keep my passion in harmony with the hi-tech side of my life, my column, The Classic Movie Corner, also has an Internet site with reviews, photos, sound bites, and contests with prizes,*4 for our visitors, who include the readers of The Classic Movie Corner column in newspapers and magazines. One of the main reasons for all of this hoopla, is to inform readers of the column and visitors to the Internet site about the largely untapped wealth of highly entertaining movies, made during this "Golden Age," (1930's through the 1960's) which are now available on DVD and download. There are great comedies, like Harvey, with James Stewart, in which a grown man's best friend is a 6' 3½", invisible, white rabbit. There are also great adventures, like Journey to the Center of the Earth, starring James Mason and Pat Boone. This 1959 movie, based on Jules Verne's classic tale, is truly an adventure for the whole family.

     Likewise, it's so hard today to find home entertainment the whole family can enjoy. There are many films produced each year, but only a few are intended for the family. However, there are hundreds of movies that are great, with hundreds more that adults can watch, without fearing that if the kids walk in, they will see or hear something they shouldn't. As a matter of fact, the kids may even sit down and watch for a while. The problem is most people have never heard of many of these films, and have no idea what they are about. My hope is that my column, The Classic Movie Corner, and the Internet site might open or re-open a vast area of excellent films for many to enjoy. As you will see on the site, there are reviews with photos of scenes from each of  the movies, and you can also listen to sound bites from the films. Last but not least, there is a great contest *5 every month.

     To enter, all you do is listen to the sound bites and answer questions *6 about them. Questions like, name the actor, the character he or she is playing and the name of the film. We even have a sample sound bite, with Humphrey Bogart *7 and the answers already filled in for the first timers. We also can’t forget the prizes. Each month we give away a classic Hollywood movie, to the two people who get the most correct answers to the contest. But it doesn’t end there. Twice a year we draw a name from all the contestants and give away an exact replica of the "Black Bird" statue used in the classic Humphrey Bogart *8 film, The Maltese Falcon.

     So be sure to read The Classic Movie Corner column, visit the Internet site, and watch those classic movies. Oh, and don’t forget to enter our contest. Where else do you have a chance to win, "The stuff that dreams are made of?"