This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. Since we went back to college on TV last week, I suppose it's not a bad idea to have a back-to-school theme this week:
Technically, the theme for this week isn't back to school, but the new kid in school:
Wait, not those new kids. At any rate, I realized there were a couple of films that would fit well here, but that I already used, such as Running on Empty, or The Mayor of Hell. So I had to think and come up with three other movies:
Tomorrow the World! (1944). Fredric March is a widower who is somehow able to get his orphaned nephew (Skippy Homeier) out of Germany to raise the kid in America. The only thing is, the kid is a dedicated Nazi, and dammit, he's going to try to make everybody else Nazis if he could! It's one of those movies I just can't help but laugh at how ludicrous the premise is.
Au revoir les enfants (1987). A new student comes to a Catholic boarding school in World War II France. Of course, the new student is really a Jew, being hidden in plain sight by the headmaster and the priests. Of course, ultimately too many people learn about the secret, which means soon enough the Gestapo will learn too, which would be fatal for the boy. Louis Malle directed, basing it on some of his own childhood experiences.
The Little Princess (1939). Shirley Temple plays a girl who has been raised by her British Army officer father in India, but gets sent back to England to boarding school. Dad is eventually called to fight in the Boer War, where he's declared killed in action, resulting in the wealth that he'd been using to send Shirley to school being liquidated and poor Shirley suffering a host of indignities now that she's an orphan who can't afford school.
MEL BROOKS AT 97
3 hours ago
4 comments:
OMG! I forgot about the Little Princess! This is a sweet film even though I do snicker a bit when her father rises out of his seat when the Queen appears. Shirley Temple is at one of her best and I love it how she gives it to the bratty girl. I could have chosen that one and the remake which I think, is slightly better. I could have also chosen The Major and the Minor..slamming palm against head. I have not seen the other 2 films but the first one sounds so typical from the 1940’s. I have had Les Enfants on my list for years to see.
I've seen your last two picks this week and love them both! I didn't even think of A Little Princess qualifying for this. That's an inspired pick.
Haven't seen any of these. Au revoir les enfants has popped up a couple times. It is one I've been meaning to see forever.
It is severely dated now but the acting in Tomorrow, the World! is very good and you can tell it was a sincere effort. Skip Homeier is deeply disturbing as the Hitler youth.
While it's not quite Bright Eyes The Little Princess is one of Shirley's better films as a child star. She really gets put through the wringer but with her customary pluck you know she'll be a-okay!
We match! Au Revoir is so beautifully done and deeply touching. I'm not surprised it's shown up so much today.
Aside from it I went with an absurdist black comedy and an underknown gem.
Lord Love a Duck (1966)-Pretty, pert and madly ambitious Barbara Ann Greene (Tuesday Weld) is the new girl at Consolidated High (overseen by Principal Harvey Korman) who befriends outsider prodigy Alan "Mollymauk" Musgrave (Roddy McDowell) who is dazzled by her and sets out to make all her dreams come true. That begins innocuously with her admission to an exclusive girls club within the school but rapidly escalates to far more formidable plans calling for drastic measures which her eager acolyte gleefully pursues. The blackest of black comedies with a cast including Ruth Gordon and an excellent Lola Albright as Barbara Ann’s cocktail waitress mother this study in absurdity’s skewed viewpoint isn’t for everyone.
My Bodyguard (1980)-New kid in school Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) a shy, quiet teen becomes the target of bully Melvin Moody (Matt Dillon). Nearing the end of his rope Clifford approaches fellow student, gentle giant Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin) to be his bodyguard. Though initially reluctant Ricky agrees and while offering protection the two disparate boys form a friendship until circumstances put a strain on their bond. Compassionate film with a great message and wonderful naturalistic performances.
Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)-When three new students, including Jean Bonnett (Raphael Fejto), arrive at his French boarding school during WWII Julien (Gaspard Manesse) doesn’t take much notice of them thinking they are no different from the other boys. What Julien doesn't know is that they are Jews passing as Gentiles trying to evade capture by the Nazis. While headmaster Père Jean (Philippe Morier-Genoud), works to protect the boys from the Holocaust the at first antagonistic Julien and Jean develop a tight bond. Louis Malle’s deeply moving film captures the idiosyncrasies of boyhood, structured education and the fear of a creeping menace.
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