Knights and Ladies and Pagentry, Oh, My!

When I was a wee one, I had the movie recording of Camelot, with Richard Harris as King Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Guinevere and Franco Nero as Sir Lancelot. I loved that record, listening for hours to the songs until I could sing them by memory.

Was there a more congenial spot to spend than with knights of the Round Table and their ladies? Not in my opinion and I could hardly wait to introduce this wonderful musical to my children.

The girls enjoyed the songs and beautiful costumes, although at six and nearly 8, most of the storyline was not apparent to their young minds. But the songs, and the horses and jousting, wove their magic around them.

While dated in some respects, it's easy to forget that this movie won three Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Music-Scoring and Best Costumes in 1967.

As an aside, I found it highly entertaining to find that Nero and Redgrave were paired again as lovers torn apart as young people and reunited in older age in the recent Letters to Juliet. I wondered how many of the young women in the audience with me saw the irony of these two great actors together again on screen.

Camelot fires our imagination with its songs, beauty and, of course, tragic love triangle. It's a movie that will bear repeat viewings well for both young and old, as we slip into through the mists of time to Camelot.

Next up: Anne of Green Gables

Horse Crazy With National Velvet

What girl doesn’t love a good old-fashion love story involving a girl and her horse? National Velvet is must-see viewing for young and old girls alike. The delightful debut of Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney in a serious role and, of course, the beautiful Pie makes this movie go down easy among the younger set.

The story of Velvet, a young, horse-crazy English girl, captured the imagination of my two girls. They thrilled to watch Velvet win the Pie in a lottery contest and then secretly train him to race in the National steeplechase.

This is a timeless story for any boy or girl who loves horses. I found the mother particularly moving and well-fleshed out, a sensible woman who loves her family and who gently guides them through their growing-up years. The kind of mother I aim to be as well.

While some of the story might be missed by the younger set, this will be a film seen again and again, if only for the spectacular steeplechase seen at the end.

Next up: Camelot

Dancing Into Top Hat

Irving Berlin’s Top Hat, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, is nearly the perfect film to introduce children to black and white movies. What’s not to love in this classic story of boy meets girl, with a case of mistaken identity and plenty of fancy footwork thrown in for good measure.

Your kids will be humming along to one of the best musical scores in history with such classics as “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails,” “Isn’t It a Lovely Day (to Be Caught in the Rain)?” and “Cheek to Cheek.” Four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this 1935 film has lost none of its staying power all these years later.

Glorious costumes accentuated by the two-tone colors made my kids quickly forget the film is not in color. Ginger’s infamous feathery dance dress makes quite the splash even in black and white, and Fred’s tuxedos have that touch of class that makes every girl wish they were in his arms swirling around the dance floor.

While some of the humor flew right past their wee heads, the children thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent dancing sequences. As one of my girls said, “I want to dance like that.” And who can blame her when Astaire is the hoofer and Rogers is his partner?

Next up: National Velvet

Splash Into Million Dollar Mermaid

One of my all-time favorite Esther Williams’ vehicles, Million Dollar Mermaid tells the true, Hollywoodized version of Annette Kellerman, the Australian swimmer who introduced a one-piece bathing suit to America in 1902. The film follows Annette from a crippled child who swam to strengthen her legs to a worldwide swimming champion who became the toast of New York with her water-ballet shows at the Hippodrome.

Directed by Mervin LeRoy, the splashy water-ballet sequences are pure joy to watch, especially with Esther Williams’s superb stylized swimming. This is a great movie for kids to watch, especially girls, because of the music and the girls swimming around in beautiful bathing suits.

My girls love this movie (in fact, one of them asked to watch it again today), especially as it fulfills one of their dreams to be mermaids. Even my oldest son (a three-year-old) said he would like to watch the “mermaid movie” again.

While a bit thin on the plot, children can easily follow the story line and the water scenes tug at their imagination, especially if they’ve seen The Little Mermaid and other animated water pictures.

Highly recommended viewing for children, I encourage you to check out Million Dollar Mermaid for your and your family soon.

Next up: Top Hat.

Ah, Lassie, Transport Me to Brigadoon!

I recently introduced my children to the wonders of Brigadoon, the 1954 Vincent Minnelli musical starring Gene Kelly and Van Johnson as two Americans who stumble upon the village of Brigadoon when lost in the mountains of Scotland. There, the two encounter Cyd Charisse and other locals who awaken every 100 years to go about their business.

The lovely Lerner score and book is packed with gems, from tender ballads (“Waiting for My Dearie,” “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Come to Me, Bend to Me”) to rousing, toe-tapping numbers (“Go Home With Bonnie Jean” and “The Chase”).

My girls loved the pageantry and dancing, sitting silent and enthralled by the bright colors and swirling skirts.

Our copy of Brigadoon is on an obsolete format called laserdisc, and is letterboxed, which allows the viewer to see all the nuances of the filmmakers vision. However, my girls are used to watching full screen cartoon movies, so this format can be disconcerting to their eyes. My eldest commented, “Why isn’t the movie on all of the screen?” when it first started. After a while, though, even she was transported to that mystical city of Brigadoon.

Next up: Million Dollar Mermaid.

Toddler TV Time

Another new study was released this month decrying the side effects of too much television on toddlers. According to an article in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (a JAMA/Archives journal), the side effects of too much screen time may not be evident until the child enters grade school.

Children who watch more TV at 29 months old (2½) seem to exhibit more problems in school and poorer health behaviors when they enter fourth grade.

A study of more than 1300 kids around 29 months old found that each additional hour of TV in early childhood corresponded with a 7 percent unit drop in classroom engagement, a 6 percent decline in math achievement and a whopping 13 percent decrease in weekend physical activity.

It gets even scarier: Each additional TV hour in early childhood is linked to a 9 percent higher score for soda consumption and a 10 percent higher score for snack consumption. In other words, watching TV as a 2 year old contributes to fatter kids.

“The long-term risks associated with higher levels of early exposure may chart developmental pathways toward unhealthy dispositions in adolescence,” the study’s authors wrote.

This research, coupled with previous studies, shows that television programs on a regular basis are not good for toddlers and preschoolers. In my house, the TV is rarely on during the day and only at night when the children are all in bed. Yes, sometimes I do long to pop in a video because the kids are driving me crazy, but I curb that tendency and instead kick them outside for some playtime. With more and more evidence stacking up that TV time is not good for the health and well-being of children, especially young children, I think it’s time we stop our love affair with the boob tube and start realizing the very real dangers even “educational” programming can do to our kids.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

One of my all-time favorite musicals, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers stars Howard Keel and Jane Powell. The 1954 film has seven brothers searching for brides in the Oregon Territory, 1850. Worth watching for the smashing musical numbers, such as "Sobbin' Women," "Going Courtin'" and "When You're in Love." The barn raising dance sequence and the "Lonesome Polecat" choreography are simply stunning.

As I write this, my children are sitting on the couch watching this movie for the second time. All four are enraptured with the music and dancing--I'm sure much of the plot escapes them.

I remember watching this as a young girl and loving every minute. There's something almost magical about the obviously non-farm set and men who love to dance.

When I compare this film to movies aimed at children today, such as Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel, there's really no comparison. Even at its worst, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers stands tall above the animated and non-animated fare for children.

For two girls who want to marry princes when they grow up, this represents a fairy tale come true for seven maidens who find their princes in backwoodsmen who know their way around a song and the dance floor, even if that dance floor is an unfinished barn.

My three-year-old son's favorite part was "when the horses were running," so I guess my next classic movie ought by all rights be a western with lots of running horses.

What is the Movie Classics Project?

For anyone who loves movies, introducing films to your children can be a particularly rewarding experience. Now that my two oldest children are in elementary school, I realized that now was the ideal time to start their movie classics education.

When I was child in the mid-1970s, I wasn't allowed to watch network TV. Back then, cable channels had little original programming, and most fare was old black-and-white 1930s and 1940s movies, as well as plenty of splashy and colorful musicals. I feasted on watching Cary Grant, John Ford Westerns, screwball comedies, Fred and Ginger, Hollywood musicals and other gems.

This blog will comment on the films from the Golden Age of movies and how my children react to seeing such classic movies.