It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Why it's here:
Because we love comedy and, since this is the 60s, we were looking for anything to lighten the mood.

Specs:
Epic comedy - 3 hours long; color

Our family's average rating on a scale of 1-10:
8.0

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is a funny, funny, funny, funny movie. Still. Yes, it's from 1963, but it is hilarious and an extremely well-made film that, though dated, holds up very well. In fact, it feels like you are actually watching the birth of modern comedy take place before you. This film is at the roots of Monty Python and Airplane! and much that came after.

If this gives you any indication of how much we liked the movie: the running time is 3 hours. We watched it twice this week.

The barrage of great icons of classic comedy in the film is nothing short of breathtaking and the humor ranges from silly, to irony, to absurd, to slapstick. But there's more -- The film also goes beyond the sidesplitting fun with a real plot and what seems like a true/honest purpose. I think this accounts for why the film still feels solid and relevant 50 years later.  It starts with a speeding car on a mountain road, and then several strangers who come upon the driver who lies dying after having crashed. The dying man discloses the location of a huge sum of money and a chase to find it is on -- complete with police secretly following. The film is simple - but simply well-made too.

So many scenes from this film have clearly inspired Hollywood movie making to this day, and I found myself constantly thinking: "I've seen that before". From the car chases, the money raining down from on high, the slow fleeing on a bicycle, the deadpan control tower guy trying to talk hapless accidental pilots down, the police operations-center scenes, the hardened cop on the line between good and bad, the guys all in traction at the end, and on and on and on this film includes many moments that have become quintessential in comedy.

All in all this has to be one of our most loved films of the festival so far and we highly recommend it for families!

Iconic Image:

Inherit the Wind (1960)

Why it's here:
The double pull of a courtroom drama and an education-related theme. Had to pick it.

Specs:
2 hours

Our family's average rating on a scale of 1-10:
6.67

More about the film and our reaction to it:
We knew the famed Scopes "monkey" trial was the inspiration for the film, but we learned later that the film is actually a very accurate portrayal of the real-life events: the clash of famous lawyers, the climatic "placing the prosecuting attorney on the stand as the defense witness" move, the testimony from the bible, the odd twist of verdict and many other features of the film that screamed like cinematic licence to us, were actually real.

One of the pieces of the film that was so frustrating to me as a lawyer is that legal issues never seemed to come out - it all just felt like grandstanding and bluster. A good courtroom drama is hard to pull off. It has to be dramatic; but it should also be rooted in well-reasoned legal issues that carry a certain truth to them. This one didn't cut muster. The idea of a court trial dealing with a teacher who stands up and teaches according to his principals is such a good one for kids, but, truly, we wouldn't recommend this film broadly for families, simply because it does feel very dated and overblown.

We all agreed though that Spencer Tracy is a fabulous actor and we were glad to have another chance to see him in a courtroom drama. Unfortunately though, the last one was Adam's Rib (1949) and I can't say we liked that film any better.

Iconic image: