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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African Queen (1951)

Why it's here:
We knew Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart separately (and younger) from other films and were anxious to see them together in this highly acclaimed one.

Specs:
1 hour and 45 minutes; color. We watched on dvd from the library
Set in 1914

Our family's average rating:
8.0

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This movie is amazing. And so unexpected. I mean, of course, I'd heard of it and figured it had to be good, but it's not the type of film that succeeds in the way you are expecting it to. You really just don't see it sneaking up on you until you are already deep within its grasp.

So, the film starts out with a middle-aged missionary and his sister (Katherine Hepburn) in Africa -- then enters an ugly, disheveled Humphrey Bogart looking worse than you can imagine. The missionary dies (not really a spoiler since it happens right away in the film) and Hepburn and Bogart are left travelling together for the rest of the film. Getting to know each other as they float down a river may not sound like compelling film making. But it is so stunningly well made and well acted that it's all that is needed to carry the film.

We were all impressed. And that is really saying something when a teenage and preteen boy 50 years later can watch what is basically as much a romance between two middle-aged people as it is an adventure film, and LOVE it. Their story is so believably done that it still engages. But, when I stopped to think about it, our whole family taking to this movie makes total sense because it is much like It Happened One Night. It's a simple, well-written, well-acted, believable, fantasy adventure between two people and the countryside.

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Adam's Rib (1949)

Why it's here:
I was drawn to the Hepburn/Tracy pairing, knowing of their famous on- and off-screen chemistry and thought this one, with it's law drama and courtroom humor, might make a good choice.

Specs:
Over an hour and a half; black and white. We watched on a dvd from the library

Our family's average rating:
6.67

More about the film and our reaction to it:
Although both Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy are great actors and this was probably a very relevant and witty film in its own time, it felt more than a bit dated to us.

Curious that Adam's Rib was our lowest rated film since The Lady Eve and I'm wondering if Adam and Eve just aren't where its at for us. . . . I'll be interested to see how All About Eve plays for us next week. . . .

I spent a fair amount of time wondering if I'd made a mistake introducing this material to my kid. The film starts with an attempted murder where a jilted wife follows her husband to another woman's apartment. The themes of adultery and spousal abuse are heavy and, by modern standards, pretty unsettling, though clearly meant to be light-hearted and played for comedy at the time. The film explores the ideas of how spouses mistreat one another and drive each other away. The plot twist comes from Tracy playing the prosecutor who is attempting to convict the murderous jilted wife while the prosecutor's wife, Hepburn, plays the private practice defense attorney who takes on the job of defending said murderous jilted wife.

The underlying marital problems of our defendant/victim couple are mirrored (or maybe prism-ed)  through the lawyers' own marriage as the case gets further along.

These are fairly adult and unpleasant themes dealing with the worst sides of a marriage; though, very loving and caring sides to marriage are shown as well. The film is very sexist by today's standards (though it plays as if meant to be a feminist message). All in all, though an interesting film and clearly well-acted, it is probably not best suited to family viewing.

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The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Why it's included:
Directed by George Cukor and starring not just Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, but Jimmy Stewart as well. What's not to love.

Specs:
About 2 hours, black and white. Available on dvd. Our library had a copy

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

More about the film and our reaction to it:
I do get star-struck, I can't lie. Halfway through the movie I was sitting there watching Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart sharing the screen and felt giddy and goose pimply. Here were three enormous talents with enough star power to light up the sky for a week, together in a smart, sophisticated, beautifully filmed production. It is really almost more than words can get around.

This is a brilliant picture -- in the bright sparkly wonderful sense of the word. I've seen it several times and wanted to share it with my kids, but after having done so, I do have to say that on the whole this might not have been the best movie choice for families.  The film really is over the head of most kids with its adult themes (divorce, philandering husbands, heavy social drinking and its after-effects, the intrusiveness of the press, blackmail, etc. etc.) not to mention its witty, ironic tone. But the performances are wonderful throughout and one of our favorites was the 13 year old actress, Virginia Weidler, who played Hepburn's little sister in a charming and very funny way. The humor in the film is more grown up and glittering, than some of the screwball comedies we've been watching of the era, so we appreciated a slightly different style of movie.

While both of my kids liked the movie, their 11 year old friend who was over only gave it a "3"! My kids are a bit more used to classics and already knew the three leads from other film appearances, which always adds to the experience, but overall, it is probably less accessible for family viewing than some others we've watched.

That said, it is cool that shortly after watching this, we caught a reference to the film in an episode of the TV show Phineas and Ferb! "My she was yar!" is a line exchanged a couple of times as the characters reminisce over their happier days on a yacht designed by Grant's character CK Dexter Haven. ("Yar" meaning particularly well-built, seaworthy and fine.) We spent a fair amount of time discussing the idea of "yar". So we nearly swallowed our gum when Phineas said the same about about an ocean liner he'd just built for his friend: "My she's yar!" An homage to The Philadelphia Story for sure. One of the neatest things about watching classics has been noticing that references to classic film is all around us in pop culture.  We are pretty sure that most other viewers of Phineas and Ferb did not pick up on this one.

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Bringing Up Baby (1938)

Why it's here:
We'd seen this film before and knew it was fantastic; we included it in the festival to enjoy it again and to help spread the word.

Specs:
About an hour and a half, black and white. We found it on VHS tape from the library. Oddly there was a long waiting list for the title. So clearly others have good taste too!

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
8.5

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is truly a great movie!  Laugh aloud funny throughout, it is fast-paced, silly and surprising. It benefits from Katherine Hepburn in a ditzy role and Cary Grant in a nerdy one. The two are always good together and this film showcases their individual and collective appeal to tremendous advantage. The whole cast is deeply talented and everyone seems to get into the absurdness of the film.

The plot turns on the paleontologist David (played by Grant), seeking a huge donation from a Mr. Peabody, and tracking him to a golf club where David instead encounters Susan (Hepburn). As she blazes into his space, playing his ball and crashing, then taking, his car, David realizes he is seriously in over his head and wants only to get away. But for her part, Susan falls in love quickly and does all in her power to keep him around. When her brother sends her a beautiful tame leopard ("Baby") they all end up at Susan's aunt's country home attempting variously to keep track of the leopard, find David's "intercostal clavicle" dinosaur bone, deny David's identity, and stay out of the crazy house, or the big house. It's good stuff.

One of the more amazing things about the movie is the beautiful leopard "Baby," played by Nissa who seems really quite gentle and reportedly got on splendidly with Hepburn - who clearly was not afraid of the cat. The movie made use of optical effects (split screen and rear screen projection) and puppets in order to portray the cast interacting with Baby. These effects are really well done and never distracting.

It is extremely family friendly a picture -- kids (and grown ups) are bound to enjoy it. My kids were laughing fit to burst and we can't wait to watch it again. We recommend it highly.

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