The Movies I Saw as a Kid
When I was a little lad in the sixties I got taken to big old movie theatres to see all sorts of movies. These are some of them.
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- DirectorWilliam CottrellDavid HandWilfred JacksonStarsAdriana CaselottiHarry StockwellLucille La VerneExiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.The first film I remember seeing. Well, seeing most of it, because I was about six and I was hiding behind the seat in front of me once the Wicked Queen changed into the Old Hag
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongFord Beebe Jr.StarsLeopold StokowskiDeems TaylorThe Philadelphia OrchestraA series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.Taken to see this by my father, who loved classical music. As I remember, the ones that got to me were the Bach Toccatta and Fugue, The Sorcerers Apprentice, The Pastoral Symphony, the Dance of the Hours and the Night on Bald Mountain. The others - especially the Ave Maria - were a bit dull. And the dinosaurs were scary.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.Actually didn't like this much, but I was dragged along to see it when I was young and it was on re-release. The thing I remember most was my parent's disappointment when it started in Black and White because they remembered it in colour. Great relief all round when Dorothy opened that door in Oz
- DirectorJack DonohueStarsRay BolgerTommy SandsAnnette FunicelloMary Contrary is set to marry Tom Piper when he is kidnapped by Roderigo and Gonzorgo, two goons working for the evil Barnaby who wants to marry Mary for her inheritance.Once again taken to this by my Father, this time because he rather liked the Sigmund Romberg score. And thus began my pre-teen crush on Annette Funicello.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsGuy WilliamsHeidi BrühlPedro ArmendárizTo marry Princess Jana, Captain Sindbad must battle deadly obstacles and fight El Kerim, the evil ruler who also wants to marry the princess.I was taken to see this on the strength of it starring Guy Williams, who, at that time, was killing it on Sunday nights as Zorro. Great fun and if it doesn't have the style of Harryhausen's Sinbad movies it does have an evil magician with a heart kept in a tower guard by a magical, giant fist and a naughty thrill when the magician turns a girl into a bird and tells her: "Remove your clothes. I can't grow feathers on silk!" Very racy indeed!
- DirectorJerry LewisStarsJerry LewisStella StevensDel MooreA timid chemistry teacher discovers a magical potion that can transform him into a suave and handsome womanizer.Never a huge Jerry Lewis fan, but this certainly had entertainment value on a Saturday afternoon. And if his turn as "Buddy Love" was hardly the thing for seven or eight year olds, his Professor Kelp was a scream. Self indulgent, but fun.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDavid BradleyBrian GloverFreddie FletcherA working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.We were taken to see this as, of all things, a school excursion. Which of my Primary school teachers thought that a bit of gritty North Country Ken Loach realism was just the thing us middle class Australian kids needed I'll never know, but we were all in tears at the end. A beautiful film.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsAlan BatesBernard LeeHayley MillsWhen an injured wife murderer takes refuge on a remote Lancashire farm, the owner's three children mistakenly believe him to be the Second Coming of Christ.Went to see this with my Mother when we were staying with relatives at the Mount Gambier Drive In, probably on the strength of it having Hayley Mills in it. My mother was horrified at the use of "Jesus Christ!" by Alan Bates, and was a bit unsure of the whole thing. It is, however, one of the great movies about children.
- DirectorWolfgang ReithermanStarsPhil HarrisSebastian CabotLouis PrimaBagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.With both of my Parents being Cub Leaders it was hardly a surprise that I was taken to see this. And hardly a surprise that my parents, who knew their Kipling Mowgli stories backwards, forwards and sideways were very sniffy about this Disney adaptation / emasculation. All right, George Sanders was sensational as the tiger but as for the rest.... stick with Sabu.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsElvis PresleyJuliet ProwseRobert IversTulsa McLean, a soldier with dreams of running his own nightclub, places a bet with his friend Dynamite that he can win the heart of an untouchable dancer. But when Dynamite is transferred, Tulsa must replace him in the bet.We saw this, again when visiting relatives, at the Mildura Drive-in. I do remember Elvis singing "Wooden Heart", but other than that it could be one of any of Elvis's interchangeable movies.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.I was taken to see this along with just about every one else in 1965. Knew all the songs and would sing them at the drop of a hat. I was a Lonely Goatherd at heart
- DirectorRobert StevensonStarsJulie AndrewsDick Van DykeDavid TomlinsonIn turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.A film like a big bag of lollies - set piece after set piece and to be honest some of them are better than others. But the good ones are so good that the thing is irresistable. And Dick Van Dyke's accent is worth the price of admission alone.
- DirectorBob RafelsonStarsPeter TorkDavy JonesMicky DolenzThe Monkees frolic their way through a series of musical set pieces and vignettes containing surreal humor and anti-establishment social commentary.My sister was a big Monkees fan and so off we went one Saturday afternoon to see the kid's matinee showing of Head. If ever there was a "what the hell was that" moment this was it, although it probably looks a bit better in hindsight. Hugely self indulgent quasi surrealism.
- DirectorRod KinnearHoward RubieStarsBruce WoodleyKeith PotgerAthol GuyWhile flying to the first stop on their latest tour, the four members of the Australian music group The Seekers recall in flashback the origins of the group and their rise to success.It might say "TV Movie", but round our way this had a cinema release. The Seekers were HUGE in Australia at the time in a sort of sub Peter Paul and Mary way and this told their story in a fake kind of way. Pretty much the exact opposite of Head.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.Went to see this for my eleventh birthday on its initial release. I even bought the program - a big silver book with photos and cast lists and background information that, sadly, I've since lost. This was a film that changed me and the way I saw movies. And, clearly, is the greatest movie on this list.
- DirectorDaniel MannStarsJames CoburnLee J. CobbGila GolanWhen scientists use eco-terrorism to impose their will on the world by affecting extremes in the weather, Intelligence Chief Cramden calls in top agent Derek Flint.I saw this at a Scout Picture Night. Sexist trash disguised as a Bond parody. Not as trashy as Dean Martin's Matt Helm movies, but still pretty awful.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsDick Van DykeSally Ann HowesLionel JeffriesA down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.Take Dick van Dyke from "Mary Poppins", a story by Ian Fleming, a screen play by Roald Dahl, songs by the Sherman Brothers and a rock solid cast including Robert Helpmann, Gert Frobe (who just keeps turning up on this list), Benny Hill, Lionel Jeffries, James Robertson Justice and even dear old Richard Wattis, a huge budget and then watch it turn to mush.
It has its charms - the child catcher is the stuff of nightmares, the songs are not unpleasant and the car itself outacts some of the humans - but ultimately it is mediocrity defined. - DirectorRichard FleischerStarsRex HarrisonSamantha EggarAnthony NewleyAfter the animal communicating veterinarian goes too far for his clientele, he and his friends escape their hometown to the sea in search of the Great Pink Sea Snail.But if "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" is mediocre, then this is really quite dismal. Even as children we watched this and felt cheated. I read quite a few of the Doctor Dolittle books when I was a child and this clearly didn't have any of their charm and most of their faults. Richard Attenborough cavorting about singing (more or less) "I've never sen anything like it" is probably the highlight.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsTony CurtisNatalie WoodJack LemmonIn the early 20th century, two rivals, the heroic Leslie and the despicable Professor Fate, engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris.This is sort of the comedy of excess. Jack Lemmon sends up silent movie villains mercilessly and Tony Curtis takes the mickey out of his dashingly handsome image. Larry Storch turns up at one stage in a huge bar fight and theres a massive pie fight. Totally ridiculous and mindless fun.
- DirectorKen AnnakinStarsStuart WhitmanSarah MilesJames FoxHoping to push Britain to the forefront of aviation, a London publisher organizes an international air race across the English Channel, but must contend with two entrants vying for his daughter, as well as national rivalries and cheating.This was a huge hit in its day and still stands up pretty well, although it's rather dated. Plenty of national stereotypes on view and Gert Frobe shows up as well as Benny Hill, while Terry Thomas plays a cad and a bounder. Fun to be had.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsAudrey HepburnPeter O'TooleEli WallachThe daughter of an art forger teams up with a burglar to steal one of her father's forgeries and protect his secret.Probably largely forgotten these days, but I remember it as an enjoyable heist with class
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsJohn MillsMichael CaineRalph RichardsonIn Victorian England, a fortune now depends on which of two brothers outlives the other, or can be made to have seemed to do so.Just hilarious. Pretty much every English comedian of the day shows up at some point. Highlights are Ralph Richardson's crashing bore, Peter Sellars as the doctor and Michael Caine as an innocent young man left "alone with her in a room full of eggs".
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsEdward JuddMartha HyerLionel JeffriesWhen a spaceship lands on the moon, it is hailed as a new accomplishment, before it becomes clear that a Victorian party completed the journey in 1899, leading investigators to that mission's last survivor.Lionel Jeffries does battle with Ray Harryhausen monsters. Tremendous fun for young and old.
- DirectorDon SharpStarsBurl IvesJimmy ClitheroeTerry-ThomasIn Victorian England, an American showman uses a wealthy Frenchman's finances to build a German explosives expert's giant cannon designed to fire a people-filled projectile to the Moon, but spies and saboteurs endanger the project.Jokey and kind of cheap, this was an independent production with Terry Thomas and Gert Grobe (I see a pattern forming) There are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsStephen BoydRaquel WelchEdmond O'BrienWhen a blood clot renders a scientist comatose, a submarine and its crew are shrunk and injected into his bloodstream in order to save him.Everyone remembers this as the one where people in a submarine get shrunk and injected into a dying man to save him. Spectacular, if not exactly a lot of sense and really a lot of it is an excuse to get Raquel Welch into a wet suit.