As Hollywood prepares to honor its own at the Oscars, we should take a quick look at the stars of the past. Their faces and their acting strengths remain in my memory. Names include Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, James Stewart, Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Angela Lansbury, Shirley Temple, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn, and  more.

Early in my long life, I was a real movie fan. Movies were affordable entertainment. The stories they told were varied and well scripted. The actors were trained and well-seasoned. In other words, movies were often memorable and could even prove to be life-influencing.

My personal list of memorable movies would include Days of Wine and Roses, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Hustler, Chariots of Fire, Casablanca, High Noon, Bridge Over the River Kwai, and Twelve Angry Men. I would challenge those who still go to the movies to share their list of recent movies that match these.

What has happened to movies and acting is much like what has happened across our society. Everything from food to music has become fast and easily forgotten.

As another year of declining ticket sales concludes, the stars of today will gather in glitter to stroke each other’s egos. And once again this year, I will not attend a movie or watch the Oscars.