As our regular followers well know, we really do welcome getting e-mails and hearing back from readers.
We enjoy receiving praise, of course, but also complaints — about our reviews, opinions, subject selections, picture selections, you name it.
These reinforce the communal ideal of our site, dedicated to”chats” between like-minded classic movie fans. The rule is — the more we hear back the merrier. Contrarians especially welcome.
On May 17, we received the following e-mail from Graham Hill, one of our contributors, following a week-long look-back on the career of Steve McQueen:
When it comes to commenting on Remembering Steve McQueen… I seem to be the only one interested.
You do a great job guys keeping the old HOLLYWOOD flag flying, and you paid a fine tribute to Steve. But somehow, the vast majority of your audience doesn’t seem to want to take the time and salute anything you write.
“What we got here is… failure to communicate.”
And it’s certainly not the fault of Joe and Frank.
Fan based voluntary sites like theirs need support and encouragement. I’m a late-comer, but I know there must be many more than just a very few of you, who care enough to add a line or two.
We appreciate the gist of your view, Graham, but we are a tad less pessimistic. We really do hear from readers in interesting ways, and cite the following e-mail received on June 17 from new reader Betty Hale (prepare yourself, it’s a beauty):
I ran across your site/blog this morning and have been reading it for the past hour or so.
Your site so resonates with me that I am left with a sense of being welcomed to a club of other people who are as interested in the movie business as I have always been. I can’t tell you how much reading your site has done for me this morning.
It’s also a catharsis of sorts, as I recently lost a beloved brother who loved old movies almost as much as I did. I’m sure he too would have enjoyed reading your posts/stories.
Thank you for transporting me back.
Thank YOU, for contacting us Betty. (Please allow us to collect our breath for a moment.) This is why we keep chugging along. Thanks, again.
We hope the photo above transports you back to the 1940s. It’s from 1948’s Words and Music, about the musical creating team of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. That’s actor Tom Drake (left) as Rogers. Janet Leigh is to the right. Center is Judy Garland, who in this movie was paired for the last time with Mickey Rooney, who portrayed Hart.
Again — we urge you to keep the cards and letters coming full of words — and music.