Old Films, Young Eyes

Why would a modern teenager find classic films enthralling? This book presents an eye-opening tour of how old movies foreshadowed, influenced—and continue to shape—popular culture in many surprising ways. From foreseeing today’s image-dominated social media landscape to ushering rock music into the mainstream, and sparking elements of the #MeToo movement, classic movies remain relevant and inspiring.
Despite prevailing attitudes that old films are outdated, many dramatically broke boundaries around racism and antisemitism. They predicted current trends in divorce and sexual relations. They helped shape current icons like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, as well as foreshadowing more sobering events such as the Covid-19 pandemic. A Gen Z-age cultural critic, author Simone O. Elias presents an insider’s perspective on the socio-cultural impact of classic Hollywood films on a modern generation.

Simone O. Elias started her career in podcasting: producing and writing for Teenage Golden Age, a podcast about classic Hollywood from the teenage perspective. She focuses on classic films, screenwriting, and songwriting. She divides her time between Placerville and Berkeley, California.

Simone O. Elias
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 192
Bibliographic Info: 21 photos, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9659-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5497-3
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments v
Foreword by Eliana Singer 1
Preface 5
How Classic Films Are Reflected in Today’s Pop Culture 9
Beach Party! What This Quintessential Sub Genre Says About 1960s Culture 18
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Interracial Relationships and Ethnic Biases in Classic Hollywood 27
What’s So Bad About Feeling Good? The ’60s Movie That Predicted the Pandemic 31
New Hollywood: How Two Movies Inspired a Whole New Generation of Filmmakers 36
The Effect of TV on the Movies 43
The Jews Run Hollywood? 46
What Musicals Say About 1950s Subculture 54
The 1950s Housewife 60
The 1940s Working Girl 68
“No law says you’ve got to be happy”: The Pessimism of Film Noir and Why the “Genre” No Longer Exists 77
The Snake Pit: Depictions of Mental Illness in Classic Hollywood 83
The Romantic Comedy and How Modern ­Rom-Com Tropes All Draw Inspiration from One Movie 89
A Tour of the Old Hollywood Studio System 102
Should Ladies Behave? ­Pre-Code Women Say No 113
A Cultural History of the “It Girl” 124
Anna May Wong: Typecasting and Asians in Hollywood 133
Looking at Old Hollywood Through the Lens of the “Me Too” Movement 140
Why Were There “No Female Directors” in Old Hollywood? The Secret History of Women During
Hollywood’s Inception 148
A Public Service Announcement on Colorized Films 156
Epilogue 161
My Favorite Films 167
Where Do You Go from Here? 169
Chapter Notes 171
Index 179

• “It’s the privilege of teenagers—in fact their virtue—to be impatient, take everything personally, treat each new experience as an unprecedented discovery (when it’s not a bore), and find obsessions to fall in love with. By these standards and her own reckoning, Simone O. Elias is the very model of a modern American teen. Where she breaks the mold is in choosing old movies as her obsession, making them vivid to first-time viewers and confirmed fans through fresh eyes, and plunging—impatiently but smartly—into the personal, familial, and historic connections that can make artifacts of old Hollywood matter deeply today. I second what the hot-headed politico said in one of the most classic of Golden Age comedies, The Great McGinty: ‘This book belongs in every home.’”—Stuart Klawans, author of Crooked, but Never Common: The Films of Preston Sturges

• “Simone O. Elias has written an inspiring book about the influence of classic Hollywood films and how they remain relevant and continue to influence contemporary audiences. With a clear and confident voice, this young author takes us on a delightful tour of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I found myself smiling and shaking my head in disbelief at the keen observations and insights Elias brings to her writing.”—Matt Williams, creator of Roseanne and Home Improvement, author of Glimpses

• “Thank goodness for Simone O. Elias. Her smart, vivacious writing should make even the most cynical of modern filmgoers stop and consider taking another look at classic Hollywood films, especially in the context of women in front of and behind the camera. I hope this is the first book of many more to come.”—Kristin Marguerite Doidge, author of Nora Ephron: A Biography and Woman on Top: Becoming Greta Gerwig

• “As someone who was once a movie-obsessed teenager, I wish this book was available to me when I was younger! Simone O. Elias has produced a perceptive and engaging guide into the world of classical Hollywood cinema, connecting the stars, films, and genres of the past to today’s popular culture. This young author has an immense breadth of knowledge, curiosity and passion for her subject, and she makes the case that historical inquiry can help us learn about ourselves and each other. Elias writes with a confidence and insight well beyond her years, and Old Films, Young Eyes is the perfect book to introduce the next generation of fans to the joys and complicated history of Hollywood’s Golden Age.”—Olympia Kiriakou, film historian, host of The Screwball Story and author of Becoming Carole Lombard: Stardom, Comedy, and Legacy

• “Simone Elias’s passion for classic cinema leaps off every page of Old Films, Young Eyes. This smart, well-researched book is the perfect introduction to some of Hollywood’s forgotten gems and funky experiments—for teenagers but also moviegoers of all ages. Reading it made me yearn for a darkened theater and a tub of popcorn!”—Katie Gee Salisbury, author of Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong

• “A fabulous book for film lovers young and old—or for anyone who harbors a curiosity about ‘old movies.’ At 14, Simone O. Elias is the perfect Gen Z guide to classic Hollywood. She writes with a teenager’s infectious enthusiasm and a sophistication beyond her years, drawing the line from Elizabeth Taylor to Taylor Swift, from Born Yesterday to Barbie. Hats off to Simone!”—Michael Schulman, author of Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears