Thursday Movie Picks: Old Coots Playing Along Much Younger Tootsie Rolls

 

Actually, the title is, “ Ageing Leading Actors Cast as Much Younger Men Playing Alongside Much Younger Actresses.” But it still applies. I decided to go with one lady, no, not Grace Kelly since she actually did sleep with almost everyone of her co-stars, because she was so young but seemed to exude a grace and poise that worked well with the old codgers she was paired with. Check out Wandering Through The Shelves to see what everyone else has chosen, here are my 3...

1. SABRINA-1954

Audrey Hepburn, a beautiful actress with such grace, poise and beauty that she just makes you believe in love and all that is good. In Sabrina, she plays the daughter of a chauffeur, to this very rich family, who is sent to an all girl’s school in Paris. When she returns, she is  every inch the beautiful young lady who immediately attracts the attention of the young rascal brother, played by William Holden. She is ecstatic since she has had a crush on him since she was a little girl but older brother, played by Humphrey Bogart decides to intervene so his younger brother gets in tune with his business side rather than his playboy side. This is a lovely comedy which introduced Audrey to her lifelong friend and clothing guru, Hubert De Givenchy. Audrey and Holden actually had a steamy affair  but, when she found out he had a vasectomy, she called it off. Bogie was 30 years older than  Audrey but, hey, it works in the movie.

2.  FUNNY FACE-1957

In this musical, Audrey plays a bookish waif who is greatly irritated when a troop of models with their boss lady and their premier photographer, played by Fred Astaire, come to her book store. Astaire is loosely based on Richard Avedon who was a free lance photographer for many major magazines but that is where it ends. Astaire sees a future model in Audrey who only believes in books but when she finds out she would be going to Paris and could meet her bookish philosophy Idol, she agrees. Off they all venture to Paris where she is groomed into a major model, becomes disappointed in the philosophy jerk she wanted to meet and finds out she is falling for Astaire and vice versa. In this instance, yes, once again, there is a 30 year age difference but, this time Astaire was uncomfortable playing her love interest because of his age. I like this movie which is beautifully filmed. 

3. LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON-1957

In this film, Audrey plays the daughter of Maurice Chevalier whohas been hired by a husband to get the dirt on his wife who has been having an affair with a devil may care cad, played by Gary Cooper. When she finds out the husband wants to kill Cooper, she prevents Cooper from being harmed and soon falls in love with him and he realizes he has feelings for her. Her dad is not amused. This is a nice film but, even then, it did not do well at the box office because the public did not take well to t(sir age difference. Cooper liked his role but when it came out why the film was not doing well, he went and got a terrible face lift. ..ughh, they never learn.  Cooper was the youngest..only 28 years apart.

Funny, how many old buggers found their true love in much younger women. I call it the Tony Randall syndrome. He is an actor famous for playing Felix Unger in the TV Show, "The Odd Couple", with Jack Klugman in the 1970s plus in the comedies with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. When his first wife died of cancer, he met a young actress  who was 25...he was 70 and, yup, they married and had 2 kids! The poor kids never could get to know their dad since he was already quite old. 

Which movies can you think of that fits this bill?