Mike Huckabee has written a tribute to Robert Osborne, praising the late film historian for his promotion of movies made in an era when "producers wanted to entertain Americans, not lecture them or insult them by depicting them sexist, racist and homophobic."
Osborne, who died on Monday at the age of 84 after introducing films on TCM for over two decades, had "a love of Hollywood's golden era" that was "contagious," the former Arkansas governor and 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said on MikeHuckabee.com.
"I'm sure many a young film nut caught the bug from watching him on TCM. As I've traveled around America, I can't even count how many people have told me that they love movies but no longer go to theaters; they just stream old movies and watch TCM," Huckabee said.
"Today's critics might look down on studio films of the '30s, '40s or '50s, but what modern filmmaker could produce anything as well-written as 'All About Eve' or 'Double Indemnity,' as romantic as 'An Affair to Remember' or 'Casablanca,' as epic as 'Gone With The Wind,' as enchanting as 'The Wizard of Oz' or 'Top Hat,' or as funny as 'Duck Soup' or 'Some Like It Hot?'
"Frankly, there just isn't the talent now that there was then. These days, 'La La Land' is hailed for saluting old movie musicals, even though the leads can't sing or dance very well. When Hollywood wanted to salute old musicals back in the 1950s, we got 'Singin' in the Rain.'"
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