Fil-um vs Movies

[Paul Mackin]

On Tue, 30 Jul 1996, Peter Trachtenberg wrote:

> or, as insiders 
> would have said, "pictures." 

Yep, remember Jack Benny on radio saying "Phil, did you see my
new picture yet?" and such things. 


> And it's arguable that the very distinction 
> was one of the hairline cracks that eventually widened enough to lead to 
> the downfall of the American cinema.

You mean Hollywood shoulda stuck with movies (pictures)?

Back in the fifties, after all those technicolor and
cinemascope epics with casts of thousands (movies par excellence),
Hollywood's venture into "films" such as "Marty" and the like seemed
a new departure.

On the other hand, wouldn't a lot of the zany social comedies of the
thirties pass as films. They were a great escape from the Depression
and in retrospect on TV seem, to me at least, true works of art. All 
those rich people flitting between Park Avenue penthouses and
nightclubs.

Hey, ma, why can't WE go to places like that?

				P.