Watchingwell 

                                                                              

                                                             Curated classic films

Happy Families

 

My thoughts turn to family at this time of year. In this season of family gatherings, I am reminded of some films where families are a necessary background to the plot. Some of these are genuinely heartwarming. And then there are some -- well, you might want to think twice about spending the holidays with some of the families in the following films.

Joy of Living (1938)

Directed by Tay Garnett

Irene Dunne is a successful star of Broadway musicals (she even gets to display her lovely voice in some Jerome Kern tunes).  Constantly working, her family demands don’t allow for any relaxation.  Enter Douglas Fairbanks, a sea captain, who offers her an escape to the South Seas to experience some joy.  Irene must wrestle with responsibilities to family versus her own needs. With Guy Kibbee Alice Brady, Lucille Ball.

True to Life  (1943)

Directed by George Marshall

Franchot Tone and Dick Powell, radio writers for a show that is losing in the ratings, look for a new angle.  A chance meeting between Powell and Mary Martin leads to Powell moving in with her family and using their daily life as the subject of their radio show.  Things fall apart when Martin, with whom Powell has fallen in love, finds out.

5^th Avenue Girl (1939)

Directed by Gregory La Cava

An unhappy, wealthy businessman, Walter Connolly, and an unemployed young woman, Ginger Rogers, meet in the park and devise a business arrangement where she comes to live with him and poses as his mistress to shake things up among his neglectful family members. And she does, indeed. With Veree Teasdale, James Ellison, Tim Holt, Kathryn Adams.

The Young at Heart (1938)

Directed by Richard Wallace

A family of grifters, Billie Burke and Roland Young, and their son and daughter, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Janet Gaynor, on the run from the law, see opportunity in a train wreck when they rescue an old woman who invites them to live in her mansion. Alas, the woman is cash poor so they decide to work themselves into her will to gain possession of her property.  Meanwhile, they have to earn money and as time passes, they become somewhat successful and with the help of love interests, Paulette Goddard and Richard Carlson, develop a collective conscience.

Bombshell (1933)

Directed by Victor Fleming

Jean Harlow basically plays a parody of herself and the chaotic off-camera life of a Hollywood sex symbol.  Frank Morgan, the head of her dysfunctional family, is also her terrible manager, Lee Tracy plays her outrageous press agent, Franchot Tone and Pat O’Brien are possible suitors. Hilarious, rapid-fire, pre-code dialogue, good performances by all, especially Tracy, but this is Harlow’s film.

You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

Directed by William A. Seiter

In Buenos Aires, Fred Astaire woos suitor-less Rita Hayworth, oldest of four sisters, as a favor to her father, played by Adolphe Menjou, who insists on marrying off daughters in chronological order.  (Sounds a little like The Taming of the Shrew, doesn’t it?) Mistaken identity complications are punctuated by great tunes by Jerome Kern and of course, the dancing.

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Teresa Wright is excited when her favorite uncle, played by Joseph Cotten, comes to visit the family, but starts to suspect that he may be the serial, “Merry Widow” killer, and finds herself in danger when her uncle recognizes that she knows.  As with most Hitchcock films, there is great tension that comes when the audience knows the truth before the characters.

Four Daughters (1938)

Directed by Michael Curtiz

The story of Claude Rains, the four daughters he has raised, played by three Lane sisters, Priscilla, Lola, Rosemary, plus Gale Page, and their suitors, in their quiet, cultured family setting until rebel John Garfield, in his first film role, bursts on the scene, in his tough guy pose, and things are never the same.

You Can’t Take it With You (1938)

Directed by Frank Capra

Typical Edward Arnold role of ruthless industrialist and estranged son, James Stewart, who doesn’t understand why he shouldn’t marry Jean Arthur, granddaughter of the anarchistic Lionel Barrymore and daughter of dotty, Spring Byington, and a father, Samuel S. Hinds, who makes fireworks. A very Frank Capra ending with reconciliation and harmonicas.

Meet Me in St Louis (1944)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli

A year in the life of Judy Garland and her family in St. Louis in 1903 awaiting the opening of the World’s Fair commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, when papa, Leon Ames, announces that the firm is transferring him to New York.  Not only will all their social plans and budding romances be ruined, but the family is crestfallen about missing the World’s Fair. Family solidarity saves the day. With Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Margaret O’Brien.

The above are from the golden age. But I also recommend a modern family saga -- Avalon, from 1990, directed by Barry Levinson, the heartfelt story of four generations of an immigrant family in Baltimore.

Oh, and then there’s this family:

The Godfather

(1972) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola