Reply
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,383
Registered: ‎02-19-2015

Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

Question for TCM and vintage movie fans...do you read the credits at the end of old movies?

Lately I've been looking at the makeup artists listed and, more often than not, it's "Perc" or Wally Westmore. (If you buy Westmore Beauty products on QVC, it's amazing how many times a member of this family is listed in the credits!)

I also look at the costume designer...very often one of the giants like Adrian, Edith Head or Orry-Kelly.

@Oznell I know from your posts you probably check out the set designer! And, my daughter loves vintage composers like Bernard Hermann, so she always checks out who did the movie's score.

The credits also reveal the small and cameo roles played by major stars, just beginning their careers. And, of course, the writers...I always look for the Mankiewitz family, since I love their complex and smart dialogue.

I find the scroll at the end of old movies fascinating, but I'm wondering if other classic film fans do as well.

(My husband never reads the credits in old movies...and he walks out the minute "THE END" flashes on the screen in a movie theater.
I, inevitably, am the last person standing alone in a dark theater, watching the final credit roll, the Humane Society assurance that no animals were harmed in the making of the film and the MPAA Ratings Stamp.)

There's usually only ushers sweeping up the popcorn on the floor as I'm doing this, so perhaps I am alone in my fascination with credits!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,329
Registered: ‎02-07-2011

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

@MarnieRez3  Yes, I do read the credits.  The old movies usually had the credits at the beginning of the movie.  But I am like you, and if I see a current movie in the theater, I stay until the end and am usually one of the last to leave.  I am fascinated that more modern movies list "caterer" "accountant", etc. positions that have no creative input whatsoever but everyone wants their 5 seconds of fame!!!

 

 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,383
Registered: ‎02-19-2015

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

@kaydee50
Lolol...oh yes...the grips, the accountants, the personal assistants, the caterers, the lawyers, the handlers and the dressers...in every country the film was shot!
And, in new movies with CGI, it seems like EVERY employee at Pixar is listed! Five seconds of fame, indeed...sometimes the credits seem longer than the actual movie. 🙂
I do enjoy when directors put deleted scenes and/or bloopers during the credits.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,415
Registered: ‎03-12-2010

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

@MarnieRez3  and @kaydee50 

I do, and I always used to stay to the end of the credits, too, back when I went to movies.  Now, I watch them mostly on tv or DVD and I also make sure no animals were harmed.

 

I find it annoying when watching credits on a movie that was just shown on tv when all of a sudden the credits shrink so the channel can show what's coming up next.  Starz is the worst.

 

I could have written your whole post, @MarnieRez3  Woman Wink

[was Homegirl] Love to be home . . . thus the screen name. Joined 2003.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,222
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

Oh, yeah, agreed, @MarnieRez3, the credits are an integral part of the film!  As you've observed, you start to see many of the same names over and over, and get a feel for the style of the different craftsmen that work on a film.

 

I also get caught up on the "font" of the credits and titles-- some of them are art deco, midcentury modern, or in some interesting way representative of their era, or of the genre of the film...

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,383
Registered: ‎02-19-2015

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

@GingerPeach @kaydee50

Oh my friends, so nice to hear I'm not the only one in the dark reading the credits!

Shrinking credits drive me CRAZY too, Homegirl!
I agree...Starz and FX and BBC America all do it and I hate it! It's especially annoying when you are trying to identify who played "Girl at the Counter" or "Man on Bus."
TCM is really great about showing the full credits at the beginning of a movie, including the studio's trademark, and the full credits at the end of a movie.

I appreciate that none of their hosts or hostesses come on until the very end of all the credits.
I love seeing that fabulous MGM growling lion, even in black and white.
Valued Contributor
Posts: 860
Registered: ‎10-05-2012

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

I usually google it.  On Sat nights I sometimes watch Svengoolie on ME TV channel. He's a really goofy character and his show plays old horror films. He always goes thru the actors in the movies and their past/present accomplishments. Amazing to see a young Clint Eastwood playing a lab assistant in "Revenge of the Creature"  or a very young Steve McQueen in The Blob. 

 

 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,262
Registered: ‎03-26-2017

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

@MarnieRez3 

 

Another credit reader here!  Sometimes I like lingering after a movie just to stay in the mood too.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,383
Registered: ‎02-19-2015

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

@Oznell
Wow, interesting point about the fonts...I never even thought about that! I remember when funky, stretched out and very colorful credits started to appear, such as in those Pink Panther movies, but now that I think about it, the fonts DO change from bold script to neoclassical to Art Deco in older movies too. Great observation.
Credits are filled with such interesting tidbits...I recently re-watched the campy 1970s remake of "A Star is Born" with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand, and, in the credits it said, "Wardrobe from Ms. Streisand's closet."
And, her manicurist was listed in the credits! You know how she always has those signature long fake nails, even to this day, in her movies.
Whenever I see Edith Head listed, I know I will be swooning over the wardrobe. Same for Adrian, who, I recently learned, was married to Janet Gaynor!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,019
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Classic Movie Fans: Do you read the credits?

Yes, I do.