My love of Old Hollywood

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I've always been obsessed with old Hollywood. Ever since I was a kid, I can remember watching old movies with my dad and just being entranced into this world so different from the one I was in. I think a big part of the reason I love them also has to do with the fact that that was one of the ways I connected with my dad. I have read a lot of biographies and autobiographies of older celebrities. I prefer autobiographies if I can find them but some actors just had no interest in sharing their life and that's fair. My most recent autobiography was that of Ray Milland. I found him particularly interesting because he was a sharpshooter and was in the Royal Horse Guards of the Household Calvary. He was one of the guards that stood outside the palace and couldn't react to anything around him. He told the story about a girl who came up to him and put a note with a phone number in his hand that he couldn't respond to while he was on duty. It turned out it was a girl from his childhood and she ended up instantly friend-zoning him much to his dismay. I thought it was a funny story. He was an interesting human and had a wit about him that I can appreciate. He is also not as well known as some actors like Cary Grant or Clark Gable. I have read biographies on both Cary and Clark too. Some of the actors I have read about: Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, June Allyson, Van Johnson, Dean Martin, Esther Williams, Doris Day, Clark Gable, Gene Kelly, Cary Grant,Rock Hudson, Jerry Lewis, and there are a few others I can't remember off hand and a few I have yet to get to that I bought like Shirley Temple. This love of old Hollywood also comes with a love of old movie theaters. I get really excited when I come across an old movie theater. When I was a kid we had this movie theater downtown that closed when I was in my early 20s that I loved going to. There was a feel about it that just made me feel at home like I belonged there. I was so sad when they closed it. I told my husband my eventual goal was to make our living room into a movie theater theme and he was ok with this idea. When watching old movies I tend to find an actor I like and go through all of the movies of theirs that I can find. I always get excited when I find one I haven't seen before. I have recently been going through Ray Milland's movies. As I mentioned he isn't as well known as some but was famous in his own right. I watched one of his first movies he made called "The Lady from the Sea" and it was his first leading role and while I'd love to tell you it was great I can't. It was a terrible movie and his acting along with all of the other actors acting wasn't the best. I feel like it was probably a low-budget movie and Ray having been new to the acting world hadn't quite found his legs yet. He'd later go on to win an Academy Award for his acting ability in "The Lost Weekend" but he had to find his way there. Some people are naturally gifted and have natural talent, but I think it's fair to say poor Ray did not. Ray mentioned in his autobiography that he didn't enjoy acting at first he did it as a job but later came to like it and I think that could have played a part in his first movies not being as good as the ones he made later. I feel like my love for old Hollywood and old Hollywood actors has a lot to do with how my dad raised me, of course, my brother had the same parents and doesn't like old movies. Watching old movies was a way I connected with both of my parents but especially my dad. I loved learning about old Hollywood including the different studios and how things were done back then. MGM was the biggest studio at the time and was well known for its musicals. They hired actors on contract at the time which means actors got paid whether they were working or not. There were a lot of benefits to being a contract actor at the time, of course, later MGM went under and old Hollywood went with it.