In the early l950’s when television was in its infancy, there were doomsday predictions about the impending demise of the motion picture industry. Families clustered before their sets on Sunday nights across the land to watch the Ed Sullivan Show. Uncle Miltie became a cultural phenomenon. Arts and Entertainment pundits looked back at l939 – the peak year when “Gone With The Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Stagecoach” and “Ninotchka” entranced movie viewers – and then wrote dismal forecasts of Hollywood’s future.

As we now know, their dire predictions turned out to be completely wrong. Hollywood, European and Asian film makers continued to bring their stories and stars to the screen in the decades that followed. Although television did grow to play a major role in our lives, with news, drama and entertainment in many forms, motion pictures apparently were here to stay. The cultural habit of “going to the movies,” complete with popcorn and a candy bar, was firmly entrenched. In recent years, India evolved into a major part of the industry; the term Bollywood coined to reflect their genre. 2009 brought the greatest number of people flocking to movie theaters, with box office revenues

reaching more than $l0 billion.

That’s the quantitative bottom line. Let’s take a look at the qualitative side of the equation. What is the main audience for most of the movies that fill our screens? It’s not a secret that the prime viewer is a young man in his late teens to early twenties with the emphasis on fast moving plots, plenty of special effects and a large measure of violence. Just seeing the previews of the next features tells us that explosions, adventure, chases and technological mayhem are essential for this audience. A second important cohort of viewers is children. Witness the current “Alvin and The Chipmunks:The Squeakquel” and “The Princess and The Frog,” Disney’s first film with a black princess. A growing target group are older women. The adult comedy, “It’s Complicated,” starring Meryl Streep, is a hit that men appear to be enjoying as well.

Are there movies being made for grown-up men and women who are looking for an inspirational story? Does a musical extravaganza pull in the viewers? How about a nail-biting suspense thriller? Perhaps a historic drama filled with political intrigue and romance? Or a realistic sophisticated take on the current economy, reminding us that 15 million people are out of work? Films that fit these descriptions are in the theaters now. Have you seen any of them? Did you like them?

We decided to follow the rave reviews of leading critics and saw more movies in two weeks than in the entire preceding year. “The Blind Side,” “Up in the Air,” “An Education,” “The Young Victoria,” “Invictus,” “Nine” and “It’s Complicated.” Two were very disappointing:

• “Nine” is a musical mish-mash with Daniel Day Lewis wasting his talents through two hours of Woody Allen style angst. Judi Dench, who started her career as a song and dance girl, was the bright spot in the movie with her “Follies Bergere.”

• “An Education” is the cynical story of a teenage English girl’s seduction by an older man with great wealth and charm - as well as a wife and children. She abandons her cello and dreams of an Oxford education only to accidentally discover the truth. The “happy” epilogue of her cycling at Oxford was the final indignity to the viewer.

• “It’s Complicated” lived up to the critics’ superlatives. All the ingredients were there: superb acting by Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, a fast moving plot, hilarious situations and witty dialogue. Families are complicated especially when divorce is a factor, but results can bring laughter as this sophisticated film proved.

• “Up in the Air.” George Clooney’s role is to visit companies and inform the people who are losing their jobs. He keeps his distance from any emotional involvement and appears to enjoy the life of a loner, flying millions of miles from city to city. This is a provocative movie with excellent acting, but the interviews he holds and the faces and reactions of those who learn of their fate cut too close for us to the 15 million unemployed men and women in the country today.

• “The Young Victoria” brought history to life with a teenage princess resisting pressures to cede her right to become Queen of England. Emily Blount is Victoria in body, mind and spirit, ascending the throne at eighteen years and learning how to rule. She glows in the role and her courtship by Prince Albert is completely believable. It is a treat as well to see the palatial settings and gorgeous costumes.

• “The Blind Side” became a box office smash as viewers told everyone they knew that it was a “must-see” movie. The story based on truth is almost too remarkable to believe – but it enfolds as it actually happened. An affluent white family in Memphis, Tennessee reaches out to a destitute black high school student, taking him into their family and their lives. Sandra Bullock as the mother conveys a steely determination combined with spunk and compassion. It’s a movie that touches the heart and lifts the spirit.

• “Invictus” should become a classic. Nelson Mandela, played brilliantly by Morgan Freeman, is faced with bringing the white and black peoples of his country together after he is elected President of South Africa. The deep-seated hatreds still exist and he has to exert his will upon his followers to fulfill his vision of a united nation. In this dramatic true story, Mandela uses the Rugby World Cup as the way to make it happen. The Springboks, the traditional South African team, have been the despised symbol of apartheid to the black population. He insists on keeping the name and the colors, and with Matt Damon as the team leader, they work together toward victory. It is not an easy path.

Mandela had spent thirty years imprisoned in a small narrow cell – with only a barred window to see the sky. He kept the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley with him and drew strength and endurance from its stirring words. Here are the first and last verses:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Joyce S. Anderson is the author of “ Courage in High Heel s,” “Flaw in the Tapestry,” “ Comes” and “The Mermaids Singing.” She can be reached at JSAWrite@ aol. com.