Discovering Film

I love this series.....really enjoying it. I love many of the films of the 30s and 40, 50s and 60s and the quality of the actors and actresses of that time, The Golden age of Hollywood.

Some of the films i want to watch again but they don't show them on TV as much as they used to-in fact they used to repeat show them when i was growing up such as Gone with the Wind

These films are not relying on special effects instead it is the dialogue, the story line and the high standard of acting . -they had to act. They have a story that stands on its own. Some are in black and white some were in colour.

Why is that american in the series talking about Sean Connery? She doesn't seem to know anything about him and just says the most general things anyone can say about films and acting. The other commentators speak with enthusiasm about Sean Connery but she seems quite clueless. Has she seen any of his films? It's embarrassing to watch.

It's obvious the people roped into to comment on the actors are chosen for certain reasons. Not because they are experts on the subject but because they fit the type of person which is fashionable to have onboard. So it is more important to have talking heads that match a certain type of person rather than for their expertise. The whole thing weakens the series and it cannot be deemed as a serious source of information regarding classic films.

Although generally speaking this is an interesting series about the actors in question it is the barrage of so called experts who can't possibly know the biographical stuff,that spoil it.In particular the Eli Wallach episode has Bonny Greer ,better known as an author and political pundit who appears to know all about Wallach.Who could've guessed? .She's not alone.Various individuals some about 20 years old,seem to know stuff too.Amazing! It's almost as if they'd been fed the stuff. This habit is not confined to this series.If you ever watch rock star biogs on BBC4, it is amazing how much these people know who weren't born until after the subjects career had finished. Could it possibly be a way to get the yoof to watch?

This, and its sister show about directors are both going downhill now the show has moved on from classic Hollywood. Yet there are many legends - such as Jean Arthur and Louise Brooks, to name but two of many, who haven't been covered while mediocre actors who debuted in the 80s are covered. What is there to discover about Emma Thompson, Matthew Broderick, and Julia Roberts? These stars are all relatively fresh, especially as this show is mainly just clips without showing us more of the context like it used to.

I'm also puzzled as to why the show has become so narrowly focused on Hollywood. They used to explore world cinema, with shows on the likes Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale. Now they seem to bypass legends of world cinema.

There's little left to discover in these shows, the magic has gone, but legends past and global icons are still out there to be rediscovered if the programme makers can find the attitude they used to have.

I just watched Discovering Film episode on Frederic March. But when they talked about his role in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. They actually showed Spencer Tracey in a later version of the story!! Am I right or am I seeing things!!??!!

Seems a very large blunder to me. I'm getting old but I'm sure I can still recognise faces.

Surely they must have realised a mistake was made or do they never preview their own shows? It was a massive mistake and I was hoping that something would have been said at the time. Ruined the whole episode for me as Ihave long been a fan of Frederic March. But no! It obviously went completely unnoticed!