The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)

Why its here:
My sister-in-law added it to our list. It is not a movie I would have chosen; but it was the least I could do for her :)   so we watched!

Specs:
Hour and a half; color

Our family's rating on a scale from 1 - 10:
7.25

More about the film and our reaction to it:
I was stunned that this movie was as good as it was. I had very low expectations. haha.  In terms of plot, this film is very much like a Scooby Doo story in live action -- but with a bit more heart. Don Knotts is fantastic. He is very charming, funny and highly sympathetic as a doormat who wants to be a reporter and somehow gets swept in to a "spend the night in a haunted house" type of dare.

Even beyond the indisputable comedy chops of Knotts, this movie can hold its own. It is sweet and clever and well-acted - though simple.

It is also very appropriate for families and likely to be enjoyed by those who don't spend a lot of time in classic cinema. Youngest viewers will probably be scared, though. The chills value may be light by today's standards, but it is still scary and creepy. Make sure you have some blankets to hide under!

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Fuller Brush Girl (1950)

Why it's here:
Although we know Lucille Ball is primarily a TV star, we also knew that she had been a movie actress before she hit it big on TV. Although none of her films are particularly well known, I really wanted to include something from Lucy in the festival and thought this one sounded good.

Specs:
Not quite an hour and a half, black and white.
Might be available on dvd somewhere, but we couldn't locate a copy. We were glad that Amazon instant video had it available. It was worth the $2.99 rental.

Our family's average rating:
7.0

More about the film and our reaction to it:
The Fuller Brush Girl is a movie where Lucille Ball plays a woman who wants to work for the Fuller Brush Company, selling makeup door to door. I hadn't done much research on the film but picked it because it had Lucy in 1950, right on the threshold of her big TV career. So... I was expecting... I don't know, some light silly mediocre comedy about Lucy selling items door to door.  In fact, this was a murder mystery/comedy that was much better than and also very different from what I'd expected.

The film also stars Eddie Albert, who, like Lucy, was also more famous for his TV career (notably Green Acres) than his film career. But both made suitable film stars. They were funny and fearless and had a nice chemistry as an engaged couple that stumbles into their employer's illegal activity.

I really enjoyed this pre-I-Love-Lucy version of Ball. She is just as funny and there's a lot less whiney crying. She does a great deal of physical comedy that is really funny. The plot is interesting, not fantastic, and does a great job of giving us opportunities to enjoy Lucy's talent.

Content warnings:
Parents should note that there are some questionable scenes involving a burlesque show. Luckily, the dancing is not too bawdy and the idea of this type of performance will probably go over kids' heads. Lucy does a suggestive, but very funny, dance routine where she appears in just a slip. The whole scene is played for laughs and not for sensuality. Lucy also wears what would be considered a very short skirt for 1950) throughout the last part of the film and performs many stunts in it that reveal a great deal of leg (for 1950). (I also just gotta say this here, Lucy has fabulous legs!) A final content caution would be about the murder/crime part. Although this movie is played for laughs, there's no question that there are darker themes of shady crime and gang activity that ends with two characters being shot. (The murders are not shown, but the bodies are). And there are some tense, scary moments when our heros are evading bad guys who would like to kill them. By modern standards this stuff is tame, but worth mentioning.

Other than those parent cautions (which you'll have to decide on how troublesome for your family), this was an awesome film that we'd highly recommend.

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Mildred Pierce (1945)

Why it's here:
To include something by Joan Crawford in our festival. This film not only won Crawford an Academy Award but is also generally spoken of as some of her best work.

Specs:
Almost 2 hours, black and white, available on dvd

Our family'a average rating on a scale of 1-10:
7.13

More about the film and our reaction to it:
The film was quite good - a murder mystery wrapped up in a melodramatic tale that is a bit like a modern soap opera. Crawford plays the title character, who is a sympathetic, hard-working divorced mother. She gets ahead and manages to succeed fiscally, though she makes a mess of her personal life.

A murder opens the movie, and then the story unfolds through narrative as told by Mildred. I don't want to give any plot points away because the relationships and the mystery all unfold slowly and very well to create the tension in the film. However, parents should know that in addition to all the regular Hollywood stuff of the era (drinking, smoking, cheating, not to mention the underlying murder). . . there are disturbing themes regarding the older child's retrenched worship of money and status, and her clashes with her mother. It is a very interesting storyline and likely to provoke strong reactions. Also, the death of a child is an upsetting moment.

There's no doubt the picture belongs to Crawford, but there are other wonderful performances - notably Jack Carson as a real estate agent/friend who is smarmy but basically a good guy and Eve Arden who plays a supportive friend and business associate of Mildred's who has unfortunately too small a role. Mildred's messed up daughter is played well by Ann Blythe in a "love to hate her" role. Butterfly McQueen is also there providing some needed comic relief.

My older son noticed that the character Mildred is a bit like Scarlett O'Hara in that they were both strong women who worked hard to become successful. I thought that was a great insight. In fact, they are alike in another way - they both destroyed their personal lives in the attempt: Scarlett trying to desperately to win Ashley's love and Mildred trying against reason to give her already spoiled daughter every material thing she wants.

I had never seen a Crawford movie before and was truly impressed with her. She is very lovely. She has a businesslike charm and moves with a fluid grace that is easy to watch. Anyone wishing to know more about her (beneath the caricature), should see this movie. At the time of this film, she was a well-established actress (some might say already a has-been), and her "look" fully developed (the lips, the strong shoulders, the swept up hair, the long-lashed eyes), but she was still natural and, frankly, beautiful beyond what I was expecting. I was not anticipating her to be so fluid and believable.

On the dvd is an excellent special feature about the actress. Years have passed since Mommy Dearest took hold of the world's imagination and maybe there are people out there unfamiliar with Joan's daughter Christina's book detailing her unhappy childhood and shocking life with her mother. The special feature attempts to shed light on "who was Joan Crawford" and it neither ignores the negatives (like her obsessive tendencies, preoccupation with image and career, controlling temperament, and her poor (to abusive) parenting skills) nor paints her only with that brush. It seems to me that Joan, in addition to suffering from alcoholism, most certainly grappled with other personality disorders (maybe OCD). and clearly had a fair amount of personal troubles to struggle against.

But her career, in context, is fascinating. In early Hollywood, she most admirably worked very hard as a chorus girl, took on roles that would get her noticed and paid attention to publicity and image. She got to know, and took a special interest in, the behind-the-scenes team and paid close attention to the technical end of pictures - the lighting, the editing, the directing. These are qualities that tend to play-in to the idea of her being "a control freak", but had she been a man doing the same, chances are they would have been qualities that lead to her being called "a director." I wonder if a woman with Joan's same drive and interest -- in today's Hollywood -- with greater opportunities available to her, might be pour her energy into channels that could keep her grounded and healthy, unlike what happened to Joan?

As far as her image goes, I've always pictured Crawford in her later days with the crazy hair-horns, thick drawn eyebrows, oddly accentuated lips, etc. I picture her as intense, stiff and set, but in the clips from these early days she is anything but. She has tremendous energy and a great looseness in her movements. She was a perfect flapper type - though maybe too intelligent for that archetype. She clearly was always driven and has an odd duality about her that makes her look both relaxed and attentive at the same time. She seemed even then, ready to have it all -- and to fight to keep it.

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Maltese Falcon (1941)

Why it's here:
Suggested by a friend as a must see for our festival. Boy was she right.

Specs:
1 hr 40 minutes, black and white. Available on dvd

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

More about the film and our reaction to it:
There's something about star power. Regardless of the era, regardless of the genre, regardless of color, black & white, sound or silence, and regardless of whether you are 10 or 40, you know it when you see it. And Humphrey Bogart had it. The man just controlled the screen. His voice, his smile, his cool demeanor and great hats...all adds up to one sweet gumshoe.

This film was mesmerizing and compelling, even though we didn't always follow the clever plot,; we were spellbound by the drama. Its enough to say this is your basic detective story. Murder, intrigue, twists and turns, satisfying conclusion and, by the end, a wish that this were a series rather than a single movie. Because you just can't get enough of lines like "he's so full of holes he couldn't have gone far," "when I slap you you'll take it and like it," "keep on riding me and they're gonna be picking iron out of your liver," or the classic "I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But if you lose a son its possible to get another. There's only one Maltese Falcon."

Talented actors fill the cast - Mary Astor gives an incredibly interesting and believable performance as the apparently distraught sister who hands Bogart's Sam Spade the case and then turns out to be much much more. Fabulous Sydney Greenstreet is the big man sitting back and pulling all the strings. But most of all, the boys loved Peter Lorre as the wheezy-voiced, tightly-wound, nevertheless polite gangster Joel Cairo, with whom Spade has some tremendous interactions.

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The Thin Man (1934)

Why it's here:
Although I'd never watched a Thin Man, I'd always wanted to. It seemed enough of a cultural icon to include in the festival.

Specs:
An hour and a half, black and white. After this first Thin Man was so successful, another 5 movies were released in series over the next 13 years.

Our family's average rating on a scale of 1-10:
7.75

More about the film and our reaction to it:
I've heard it said about The Thin Man that it makes marriage look fun. This is absolutely true. Myrna Loy and William Powell have the most charming chemistry as the detective husband and rich dilettante wife who, unlike modern funny screen couples, actually seem to like each other, which is palpably refreshing. They are both sympathetic characters and equally matched so that their witty banter is a total joy. Another great reason to watch The Thin Man is to get acquainted with Asta, the dog, who is a sweetheart and, according to my husband, comes up constantly in crossword puzzles. So keep that in mind as you go through life.

We found William Powell to be a very charismatic star. He looks a bit like Clark Gable but is more dignified and smooth. We liked him enough to add a couple more of his movies to our list.

The underlying detective story is a good one. Never having been a huge fan of the genre I can't speak for how it compares to others, but it had us all highly engaged and surprised with the plot twists.

I don't think I could call this a family movie guide if I didn't at least mention the fact that the characters in this movie drink massive amounts of alcohol constantly. While old movies in general do tend to contain quite a bit of imbibing (even/especially the prohibition era ones), the consumption portrayed in this one was positively remarkable.

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