On Golden Pond (1981)

Why its here:
The driving reason for its inclusion was the chance to see Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn again, this marking our 5th and 4th film by them, respectively. Toss in a 2nd Jane Fonda appearance and a heart-warming tale of family stress and love and how can you go wrong?

Specs:
1 hour 45 minutes; rated PG* (see parent cautions below)

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
8.25

More about the film and our reaction to it:
Henry Fonda plays Norman, and Katherine Hepburn plays Ethel, a married couple that vacations on Golden Pond in the summers. Norman is celebrating a birthday and their daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) comes to visit, along with her soon to be husband Bill and his teen son, Billy. Its a small cast and a small set-up. That's it right there. Not surprisingly, it is based on a play. The story is highly character-driven and very appealing.  The cinematic vision is quiet -- shot in muted colors, with a slow methodic and peaceful tone.

But the acting is energetic and mesmerizing. Our family's favorite parts of this film centered on Henry Fonda's incredible performance (and the great dry humor of his character Norman) and Norman's relationship with his step-grandchild, Billy, a slightly bitter but basically compliant teen.  (Layer on top of this, my own profound appreciation for the locale and gorgeous scenery and Katherine Hepburn's loveliness and skill, and I was in love with the picture).

While the film's primary audience is grown ups, it should be a hit with any kids that are old enough, or troubled enough, to recognize that family relationships and aging can be hard. Still there are several cautions for parents:

* First of all, language is much harsher than the PG rating would suggest (or than a modern PG would contain). "God damn" and "son of a bitch" and similar words make many appearances in the film; "bullshit" is highlighted in one comic scene.  There is also some very frank discussion of sex, as Bill asks Norman for permission to sleep in the same room as Chelsea. The dialog goes on for several minutes making it clear that they are sharing the room in order to have sex and Henry Fonda crudely mentions the room in which he first violated her mother. Its a bit jarring.There are a couple of places in the film where we are meant to feel fearful (primarily for Norman's well-being) and it is clear he is in a declining state. This is unsettling for adults and kids, though it ends without tragedy. Its main themes are aging and debilitation/fear, dysfunctional connections with adult children, and quirky blended family -- as they say, "thematic elements."  Still, we recommend it very highly for the right families. It is a beautiful film.

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Sometimes a Great Notion (1970)

Why it's here:
Years ago we had a backpacking buddy who used to reference this film's line "wake it and shake it you Stampers" whenever he'd wake us up to get hiking on cold early mornings. I was always curious about the film and thought we'd include it.  Somehow I had the idea in my head that this would be like Grizzly Adams but with a heartwarming family tale behind it. I could not have been more wrong!

Specs:
Almost 2 hours. Rated PG. (This is not a "typical" PG film by modern standards).

Our average rating on a scale of 1-10:
5.38

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This film gets some dubious distinctions in our fest. It is our 4th LOWEST rated film overall. In fact this is our lowest rated film since 1935's Becky Sharp, and one of only 6 in our festival that received less than a "6" average score. Perhaps it is not fair to say that we hated the film or that the film was bad, but better to say that the film was wholly unsuited to our purposes. I strongly encourage you and your family to skip this one.

The film is rated the equivalent of PG, which just showcases the shortcoming of ratings in trying to convey audience appropriateness. It is shot in a slow, plodding, 70s era style. The natural locations were gorgeous, I guess, but the film never felt lovely or attractive, because the whole thing was shrouded in a dark complicated tone of family disharmony. There was a constant sense of foreboding that terrible things would be happening. And it was the tone that made the film very hard to watch. In fact, many terrible things do happen in this picture.

The story is about a proud and defiant logging family headed by Henry Fonda and with Paul Newman as the eldest son. They stand up in principle against a logging union that is strongarming them into not cutting wood in order to raise prices. However, the Stampers do what they see is right, and do not cower under threat of violence. As good as that might sound in terms of providing positive role models, the film is not meant to be a positive story of standing up for what's right, so much as a depressing exposition of a disfunctional family's ambiguous principals. The film explores adult themes of divorce and blended family along with much younger second wife having a quasi-incestuous relationship with one of the sons. It also involves two horrific logging accidents and a very grotesque (in my opinion) display at the end that is played for humor.

(Welcome to the 1970s!  I should probably have known/noticed that this was an adaptation of a Ken Kesey novel and was unlikely to be a good choice. ha. I guess maybe you have to be from the 70s - as our backpacking partner was - to enjoy this type of stuff.)

Let me be clear: I'm not saying the film was poorly made or bad, but rather that it was not at all what I meant to pick for our enjoyable family festival. If you do want to watch this one with kids, I'd suggest that you know your kids and their tolerances and I'd still suggest a pre-watch just to make sure you know what you're in for.

Truth is, we realized early on that this film was not a good fit for us and didn't really "watch" it. After about the first 30 minutes or so, we started skipping on fast forward and pulling out various scenes to watch. We sort of skip-watched the whole thing.

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12 Angry Men (1957)

Why its here:
It had been many years since I've seen this film, but I was pretty sure it would be perfect for our festival. I was right.

Specs:
1 1/2 hours, black and white. Available on dvd

Our rating on a scale of 1-10:
8.5

More about the film and our reaction to it:
I can think of few films in our entire festival that had us riveted, literally, on the edge of our seats riveted throughout like 12 Angry Men did.  That statement is all the more remarkable given that the entire film (save the first and last minutes) took place in a single setting -- two, if you count the bathroom of the jury room.  What a remarkable acheivement in drama and performance. Simply incredible.

And those two elements (the actors and their performances) are in fact almost the whole enchilada here. The story itself - from a play about jury deliberations in what appears to be an open and shut murder case is an excellent one. There is almost no action, rather, through the jurors' discussion of the pieces of evidence, the story slowly unfolds along with revelations, interpretations and the disclosure of our jurors' prejudices, strengths of charaacter, backgrounds and vulnerabilities.  However good the story is, the film would be lost without excellent interpretative performances by its entire cast. Henry Fonda is again a standout. I have come to believe that he is one of the best actors of all time. His performances in everything we've seen him in (Grapes of Wrath, Mister Roberts, even The Lady Eve) have never failed to move me.

This is simply a perfect film for the pre-teen/teen set and gives wondrous introduction into the legal system as well as a grand study into character and duty.  Not to be missed.

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Mister Roberts (1955)

Why it's here:
Henry Fonda, William Powell, James Cagney (who we've seen and enjoyed separately) and a chance to introduce the kids to Jack Lemmon. What an impressive cast!

Specs:
About 2 hours, black and white. Available on dvd.

Our family's average rating:
8.13

More about the film and our reaction to it:
My family's reaction to the film was that this wasn't exactly full-on comedy, nor was it really war drama, but it was a perfect mix of the two. We laughed a lot throughout, but the film is much deeper than it is silly. We gained incredible insight into the emotions and conditions of men on a boat in WWII.

The film resonated a good deal with us because the boys' grandfather had been at Pearl Harbor and must have lived the experiences of the navy in the era as portrayed in this film.

The performances by all the leads are incredible. As always, we adore William Powell. He is my favorite character here as a dignified, clever, but basically warm-hearted doctor. James Cagney is wonderful as the horrible (and still hilarious) captain Morton. Henry Fonda has to be at the very top of the list of all the actors we've seen during our festival in terms of sheer acting skill. We saw this film weeks ago, and as I sit writing this, I still feel attached to the man he played here. Fonda makes Mr. Roberts incredibly real.

Finally, this was our introduction to Jack Lemmon and a great one at that. Lemmon plays a slightly inept, but extremely energetic and randy young man.  A parent's note: a few of the scenes, especially those involving Lemmon's character, are a bit risque in theme. One scene in the beginning has the sailors using binoculars to watch when they discover that a nurses barracks and shower is viewable from where they are anchored. Although that scene may make the film objectionable for some families, the sexuality doesn't get any more involved than that. There is a fair amount of suggestive innuendo about Lemmon's pursuit of a particular nurse, but overall, this makes a small part of the film, is not too lascivious, and simply adds to the light humor.

The film is exceptionally well-made and does a magnificent job of setting a mood and creating memorable characters. We absolutely loved it.

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The Lady Eve (1941)

Why it's here:
To include something from Barbara Stanwyck. This was directed by Preston Sturges and was supposed to be hilarious

Specs:
Hour and a half, black and white. Available on dvd

Our family's average rating on a scale of 1-10:
6.63

More about the film and our reaction to it:
Though billed as a screwball comedy, this one really wasn't laugh aloud funny or charming to us. Although there were some funny parts, the movie had the overarching theme of card sharps taking our sympathetic hero for a ride. Worse still, Barbara Stanwyck's character spends much of the movie stalking Fonda to torment him, with vengeful and cruel motives. These don't add up to side-splitting humor any more than say, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction did (and no, that's not on the list).

The movie was well-made, obviously, and the performances were good throughout -- leading us to appreciate the talent behind the movie, its just that none of us really liked it all that much. On top of that, because the film delves into unpleasantries in romantic relationships and spends a good deal of time at the beginning with seductive and passionate interactions that might be a little much, we really wouldn't recommend it for family viewing.

One clear highlight of the picture that needs mentioning though was Stanwick's glorious wardrobe, designed by superstar Edith Head.

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The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

Why it's included:
We wanted to see Henry Fonda at various stages of his long career. The Grapes of Wrath -- a wonderful adaptation of a poignant novel -- was a perfect choice. My only concern was weather the kids could handle the pain of the Great Depression and the power of the movie's themes. The answer was 'yes'.

Specs:
Just over 2 hours, black and white. We watched on a dvd from the local library.
The film is set during the Dust Bowl

Our family's average rating on a scale of 1-10:
8.33

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is an extremely powerful and well made movie about an important and very real topic in American history. Although it is probably better suited to the 12+ crowd, for its themes, my 10 year old got a lot out of it too.

For any one who doesn't know, the film, based on the John Steinbeck novel of the same name,  opens with Tom Joad (Fonda) getting out of prison and returning home to find his family and neighbors in the throes of the dust bowl in Oklahoma. Sharecroppers, they are forced off their land by wealthier landowners attempting to put more acreage under mechanized farming. The Joads move west toward what they hope will be greener pastures, in response to advertising pamphlets that have overstated the land of opportunity that is California. The story chronicles their difficult journey west and the conditions of life they meet and endure once there.

This is beautifully acted, directed and photographed. The landscapes are so starkly gorgeous, they are highly evocative. The performances of Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell, as Tom's mother are simply phenomenal and director John Ford, has a clear knack for how to just back off and tell a story. This makes for an exceedingly heart-wrenching and moving tale that will give your kids a powerful understanding of what was going on in our country at this time. We highly recommend it -- but only for those who can handle these themes.
The film ultimately has an uplifting message of hope and fighting injustice (with Henry Fonda's famous "I'll be there" speech to his mother at the end), but there's no getting around the idea that the movie is a serious downer.

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