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.

Iconic shot:

Ninotchka (1939)

Why it's here:
We wanted to include something by Greta Garbo, the iconic, elusive figure of the silent era who transitioned well to talkies despite her accent. We went for this one, an unusual Garbo comedy.

Specs:
Almost two hours, black and white.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
7.0
Noteworthy that everyone in the family rated it a "7."

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is a funny story that is well-acted and enjoyable. The word "solid" comes to mind. It wasn't our favorite; it wasn't remarkable; but it is very good and fun to watch. Garbo is funny as the wooden Russian who comes to Paris to check up on the sale of crown jewels that has been delayed. Ninotchka is a comedy/romance about the clash of cultures and ideology that ensues -- which is deepened after she falls in love.

Garbo's performance here must have been the prototype for Seven of Nine in Star Trek Voyager. They share the same clueless, deadpan, lack of emotion and humanity. It is a nice performance.

The plot is a bit hard to follow, but it doesn't matter. The charm comes down to the very nice comedic performances and to the great contrast between stark Bolshevik ideology and the lush Paris lifestyle.

Iconic shot:

San Francisco (1936)

Why it's here:
I had seen this movie years ago and found it exciting and powerful. The depictions of the San Francisco earthquake are so realistic you have to remind yourself that they aren't actual footage of the event. Very evocative.

Specs:
2 hours, Black and white. I couldn't find the dvd anywhere so we had to rent it on Amazon.
The film is set in 1906.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
7.25

More about the film and our reaction to it:
Unfortunately, the film wasn't quite as good as I'd remembered. But it's still well worth watching. The problem is that it can't quite decide what it wants to be: a rough and tumble Gable male-bonding film, a romance, a musical, or a disaster film. It does all four very well, but your family isn't likely to respond to all the parts equally. In our family, for instance, the music numbers were too many and too long, the dramatic romance also was a bit much. But, once the earthquake happened, well then we were riveted. Families should know that the story is very sad. This is a disaster film and people are shown screaming for lost family members and mourning their dead. Although it has a religious-themed uplifting ending, it will likely inspire some tears.

San Francisco is a lush epic of grand scale and as such provides large scale entertainment value! The scenes of the earthquake are simply incredible. It had to have been a very expensive picture to make judging alone from the number of buildings brought to rubble.

One of the best parts of the movie is its talented cast. MacDonald (as Mary Blake) and Gable (as Blackie Norton) reportedly had trouble getting along off camera, but you would never know it from their chemistry in the film. They have to overcome their class divisions and a variety of misunderstandings in order to find each other, but they are appealing and sympathetic and you want it to work out for them. MacDonald had an incredible voice and belts out the tune San Francisco so many times that we have that permanently scored in our memories now. The film also benefits from Spencer Tracy's touching performance as the priest who is both Blackie's childhood friend and a pillar of support to Mary.

Though the film is long and gets bogged down a bit at times, it is excellent viewing.

Iconic shot: