You can also slect the movies available on HBC by using this alphabetical movie listing. At this time only a few movies have been analized by HBC for clothing information, but more listings are beding added as well as review pages are being added all the time. We incourage HBC readers to submit information or full reviews about their favorite films.
One of the first documentary film was shot in Samoa-- the silent classic 'Moana' which captured life in Polynesia (1926). It was filmed in and around the isolated village of Safune. The director was Robert J. Flaherty who lived in the village for more than a year and befriended his subjects had an unprecedented opportunity to film the villagers (April 1923 - December 1924). He and wife Frances Flaherty took their three young children and a red-haired Irish nursemaid. The Samoans were intrgued by her abnd named her 'Mumu' or 'Red'. Flaherty's younger brother David served as production manager. Flaherty chose a landscape and climate that could not have been more different than the snowy setting of his better known documentary -- 'Nanook of the North'.
Flaherty records the customs of the people of Samoa by focusing on the life and the coming of age ceremony of a young man named Moana. It is of interest principally because it cdaptures Polynesian culture before it was significantly impacted by Western culture. Every day tasks like cooking, fishing, hunting and gathering comprise much of the film.
Flaherty depicts Samoa as paradice with only wild boars and painful tattooing presenting minor discomfort.
Darryl Hickman
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The French film 'Moineaux de Paris' is a comedy drama (1952). The English translation is 'Sparrows of Paris'. It was directed and written by Maurice Cloche. The film starred Jean-Pierre Aumont and Louis de Funès. It provides a view about life in a French choir during the 1950s. The plot is about a choir who sings for a rich American family. In the past, many choirs were supported by important families, like aristocrats, and boys performed for the family during various private events. In this film, one boys saw the Madame of the house wearing a necklace, and he thinks it is owned to his grandmother. He tries many ways to take the necklace. Along the way, a ghost French soldier helps him with his work. While the plot is fiction, life in a boarding choir is depicted in the film. It featured an actul choir-- Les petits chanteurs à la croix de bois. This was the choir which revivded the French boy choir trdition. The boys wear the school uniform all the time , with rare exceotions. For example, they wear similar pyjamas to sleep. They also wear the aube sometimes. The boys always tuck their hands in their sleeve, even when they are not singing. There is also one scene when the boys visit a doctor, and he removes his sweater. A man holds the sweater. This happens a few times in the film. This film show that in the past, boys were not treated very well, unlike today. There is also an ugly scene where a boy is carried by his waist to receive a beating. There are various other scenes. The choir also had a bus that they use to travel to sing. The songs they sing are similar to what French choirs sing today. The plot is a little like a comedy. And like mt films can not be used a a documentary. We can not be sure how much of what is presented can be accepted as historiocal fact.
A mischievous young boy has trouble coming to terms with his new stepmother. Dan Dailey, Jr.
Roddy McDowell was growing up by the time this film was made. He was not as popular as a teenager as he had been as a boy. The film was set in London. He played a teenage school boy complete with a school uniform. It is a comedy film. The story is not about actors finding work as domestic staff and Roddy is the son of the wealthy banker where they work. There is a strange scene in which the House Keeper sings a lullaby to the 16-year old boy before he goes to sleep. The song is for a much younger boy.
Sweet little movie about an 11-year old girl and her career-minded mom. The little girl is darling and plays her part very nicely. Two nice boys have small roles, but they wear longs. This was the era where many American boys wore short shorts and two boys wearing basket-ball short shorts can be seen in the background of a skating scene.
Oakmont High School
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"Mommie Dearest" is based on the book by Christina Crawford's experiences with her mother, Joan Crawford. She was of course one of the greastest Hollywood stars. I don't particularly appreciate her, but of course coubtless movie fans did. She adopted four children at different times. It is diificult to know just what motivated Joan. Some have described a void in her life because she had no lasting relationships with men. We do know one motivation that does not see to hsve been present, the welfare of the children. She used her adopted children as ornaments for publicity about her homelife. Joan told her current boyfriend and lawyer, Greg Savitt, that she is lonely living in her huge Brentwood mansion with just her secretary Carol Ann and the housekeeper Helga (1939). Greg takes care of the paperwork for her adopt a baby girl. Joan named her baby Christina. She promises "to give her all the things I never had". The children, especially the first two she adopted (Christina abd Chrisgtopher), got an insight into her chracter and behavior that was hidden from her fans.
Christina's home life ranged from luxurious comfort to sadistic discipline. Joan is obsessed with absolute perfection, and Christina is caught in the bind of trying to live up to her mother's impossible standards. Her brother Christopher who Joan subsequently adopted found it even more difficult. Her mother was aging, but desperately struggling to keep her public life and movie power. She is beaten with clothes hangers, made to scrub floors, and sent to school all semester in only one dress. The best part, however, deals with her brother, Christopher who was kept in a harness when he was put to bed until he was 12 years old. The harness is pictured twice in the film. He usually appears in short pants outfits. The best is a blue suit with very short pants and mid-calf white socks. there is a nice long scene with him in his suit setting down between his sister and Joan being interviewed on the radio. Unfortunately his appearances are all to brief.
Yet, her problems with alcohol, men, and the pressures of show business get in the way of her personal life, turning her into a mentally abusive wreck seen through the eyes of Christina and her brother Christopher, who unwillingly bore the burden of life that was unseen behind the closed doors of "The Most Beautiful House in Brentwood."
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The simple, carefree life of Mr. Hulot greatly appeals to his young nephew, whose parents have become adapted to modern gadgetry. The nephew is quite a charming little chap, about 10 or so. He usually wears rather dressy clothes, often with a British-type schoolboy cap. He wears long pants, showing how long pants were becoming increasingly common in France by the late 1950s. His family is ultra modern, even with a ostentatious, hideously colored American car. Perhaps this is why the director put him in longs, to stress the parents modernity. He is pictured with his friends, some of whom wear shorts, but they are baggy, scruffy ones. Once when he comes home all dirty, the silhouette of the maid giving him a bath is pictured. There is a nice scene at his school, most of the other boys wear nice shorts and kneesocks, some in smocks. The scene is all to short and shot at a distance. The director is very well known in France for these kinds of virtually plotless films. He hardly ever provides closeups. There is a nice scene near the end of the film at the air port. Among the crowd going in are two brothers in very short blue shorts, the older of the two I would say is about 8 or 9 and wears gray knee socks. There is a similar film about the uncle's summer vacation.
Claude Jutra's lyrical masterpiece about the coming of age of a 15-year old boy in a small, emotionally depressed mining town. Some consider it to be the most honored Canadian film ever made.
George "Foghorn" Winslow appears with Cary Grant again. A chemistry professor discovers a youth serum. He and his wife psychologically revert to teenagers and children as their unspoken impulses come bubbling up to the surface.
A made for television movie. The subject was a famous figure during World War I who was court marshaled for leading a mutiny. Viewers see him as a boy being given a judicial birching for theft.
A HBC reader reports that there is a fairly recent English/German/French movie about a loner in World War II that opens with an extensive childhood sequence in boys' boarding school outside of Paris, in the 30's. It depicts school smocks, buttoning in the back. I can't recall now the exact name of the movie; I believe it translates (from French) into something like The Monster.
A British teacher has provided information on this Serbian film. 'Montivedeo' in Serbian means a remote place and in the case of the film an unlikely event. The meaning is similar to the English phrase: 'If Pigs can Fly.' However this only refers to an unlikely event such as Accrington Stanley winning a football match! Tge film is in Serbian so the dislog is lost on me but the female Serbian teachers I work with say they dn't like the language so about of profanity in the dialogue. It is not a family film if this is the case. The story is told in flash back. It is Yugoslovia 1930. The film starts with a Serbian youth who is a gifted football player. What he can do with a football is pure magic. However this is the end of the story. At the beginning of the story we see him as a young boy. He is a cripple. His leg is strapped up. He is very poor and shines shoes. His brother is a gifted football player and the hero of all the local boys who take great delight in playing football with him. The brother is selected to play for the Yugoslovia National Football team. There is an international match to be played in Belgrade, but the Yugoslovian team is the decided under dog. Hense the films title. It also appertains to the crippled boy who is not expected to walk normally. The crippled boys story is really a side issue the majority of the film is about the Yugoslovian team training and interpersonal relations. There are several scenes which show children's fashions at that time. Against all odds, the Yugoslavian team wins. There is an appeal for everyone to have their shoes cleaned by the shoeshine boy. He earns enough money to receive the medical treatment needed to make him walk perfectly and become a football wonder.
Moochie (Kevin Corcoran) works long and hard to make the team, but must wrestle with conscious when an umpire's error allow him to score the winning run.
Another Scout-themed movie is 'Moonrise Kingdom'. The film was made in 2012 but the story is set in 1965. A Scout at summer camp runs away. The Scouts are camping on an island off the Eastern Seaboard, but the state is not specified.
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This MGM 18th century tale is about an orphaned boy named John Mohune. He appears in the village of Moonfleet with a note his mother wrote to the local squire--Jeremy Fox played by Stewaart Granger. Fox is a morally ambiguous man with an unknown past relationshop to his mother. The man is an elegant gentleman, but involved with pirares and smugglers. Tge boy is a complication to him and his nefarious activities. Fox sends young John off to a boarding school. John as the film progresses learns that he is to inherit a precious jewel and comes to suspect that his guardian may have ulterior motives. John returns to Moonfleet after his diamond. Fox indeed has ulterior motives, but they do not include doing harm to the boy and in the end does rightb by the boy--perhaps thinking of his mother. The film is based on the novel of the same name by J. Meade Falkner. It has the feel of Robert Lewis Stevensipn and Treasure Island. The film departs significantly fron the plot of the book. The story is set England, along the Englisg Channel in Dorset. The title does not refer to ships, but rather the small village just west of Portland. The film was directed by the famed Fritz Lang. A rare adventure film he made that might be considered a family film, It is not one of his outstanding films, but certainly not a poor film either. I supose I am rather boased as I never cared much for Stewae\art Granger. Jon Whiteley (1945- ) who also appeared in 'The Spanish grdener' ably plays John. Jon was a popular British child star duringvthe early 50s. We suspect he was chosen because the film was shot in england and a boy with an English accent was wanted.
This Disney film starred Hayley Mills who was now bit beyond the goody-two shoes age. The film was set in Greece. One Greek boy looking to be about 13 years old has a prominent role and wears the short cut shorts that were worn in Europe at the time.
A sequel to "The Children Of Bullerby Village" (1986) was made called "More About The Children Of Bullerby Village" and deals with winter adventures.
High school students face the challenge of adulthood as they face the challenge of the 1960s. Sequel. Ron Howard.
American and British studios were hesitant to take on the NAZIs. We notice the same dynamis with how Hollywood and European studios refuse to address the dangers and moral chalenge of Islamic fundamentalism. The reluctance to address the NAZI menace did not begin to change until 1939, but only in a small way. Not until 1940 do anti-NAZI films begin to appear in force. This is one of them. This anti-NAZI film. Includes a German boy (Gene Renyolds) about 13 or 14 who wears rather Anerican-looking knickers. Short pants surely would have been more accurate costuming. He always appears in a suit.
See "Traveler".
Kurt Russel
Has a couple cute boys, but their roles are down played River Phoenix is especially nice in the film, but beginning to grow up. He has a noticeable sprout of light hair under his arms so we know he is just beginning adolescence. He is sensitive and sweat in his part. The American directors are typically paranoid about any nudity even though it would be appropriate, but River is seen dressed only in jockey briefs, swinging from a vine over an idyllic pond--while in the background children chatter and bird twitter. In the book the boy was the main character and disguised himself as a girl in one scene when his hair had grown long. He does dress up with a white shirt and tie with short pants for Thanksgiving. His little brother is about 11 or 12. He is a lovely boy, although he often wears a stupid looking baseball hat. After the bid?? point of the movie he appears in shorts.
Brawley Nolte plays his father's (Rick Nolte) character as a child.
"Mother of Mine" is a World War II drama about a part of World War II not often addressed in film. It was directed by Klaus Härö. It is about Finnish children evauated to the safty of Sweden during the Winter War (1939-40). The Soviet Union invaded Finland after the invasion of Poland. Eero ( Topi Majaniemi) is 9-years old and is one of the 70,000 Finish children evacuated. Of course at his age he does not understand the events that swirl around him. He misses his parents and feels abandoned. He is unable to engage with the Finish family that takes care of him. Tragically he experiences further problems when he is finally able to go home and grows up. The costuming is well done with examples of both World War II and modern clothing. The fikm won the 1995 Best Foreign Picture Emmy Award.
A latter day mother of the kings is trying to raise four sons by herself. She must see them through World war II, the NAZI occupation and the subsequent Stalinist repression. All she wants is a decent life.
Young Vaudevillians marry and raise children on the way up.
This New York shot Pathe film has little to recommend it except as an example of an early talkie. It is a sugary story of a mother and her boy played by Morton Downey Sr.--the father of the loud mouth TV host. Film viewers at the time weere less sophisticated than the modern rather cynical movie goer, but this film was too syrupy even for 1929. We mention it here because a scene in front of the premiere shows how New York boys were dressing in 1929. A surprising number of boys are wearing long pants, although many boys wear knickers--with sporty knee socks. Other photographs from the 1920s, even the late 1920s, show fewer younger boys wearing long pants and boys in knickers wearing long stockings rather than knee socks. I suspect that the boys here came from relatively affluent families with fashion concious families. Nitice how well dressed the chioldren sre. This is not the kind of film that the average American boy would have shelled out his pocket money to see.
A 10-year old boy sets out on a cross country journey in a stolen car to win a gas station card-collection game.
A city family seeks a simpler life-style in the wilderness.
I think this is a Disney movie about a haunted house. No especially interesting scenes, but two cute kids.
Typical movie about a long-suffering father sand his off spring. Some funny scenes. Two boys are involved an obnoxious little grand son who always wears longs and a son (Michael Burns) who is about 13. He is a little too old for the part, but does a reasonable job. He appears once in shorts, short ones--the kind kids used to wear at camp with a stripe down the side. The rest of the time he wears longs.
Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) is a man who takes his music and the students he teaches at John F. Kennedy High School very much to his heart.
It spans three decades from Holland’s arrival at the school in 1964 till his retirement 30 years later. His love for music is infectious and this he
passes on to the students he teaches. In a touch of irony, he lectures his students about Beethoven and how he overcame his deafness to become one of the world’s greatest composers, while he himself is the father of a boy who was born deaf. We see his son Cole grow from being an infant to a young man of twenty-eight who has followed in his father’s footsteps and become a teacher. Nicholas John Renner played Cole at 6 years old while Joseph Anderson took over the part to play him at 15 and then Anthony Natale in the role of the 28-year-old Cole. In between teaching and helping his students to appreciate the beauty of music, Glenn Holland is composing his own unforgettable symphony which reminded me in part of the John Williams’ score for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Mr Holland loved his music and he made the kids he taught love it too! The change in fashions is noticeable throughout the film, especially boys hair styles from the short cropped hair of the mid-60s through to the long hair of the 70s and then the punk styles of the 80's and 90s.
A newly unemployed husband has to take care of the house and kids while his wife works. The kids are quite young, two boys and a girl. A rather well done movie, but no particularly interesting scenes. The boys dress up a couple times, but always in longs.
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One 1953 U.S. film dealing with Scouting is Mr. Scoutmaster. It stars Clifton Webb as Robert Jordan, the host of a TV show which is in trouble with its
sponsor for poor ratings. Mr. Jordan decides his show must appeal to younger viewers, who happen to be the sponsor's best customers. When asked to become scoutmaster of a troop of Boy Scouts, Mr. Jordan thinks this is just the chance he's needed to discover what interests young people and possibly save his TV show. A Cub Scout, portrayed by George "Foghorn" Winslow, befriends both the scout troop and Mr. Jordan.
An orphan and his aging grandmother take to the road when the authorities try to place him in a foster home. The boy is a sweet little fellow, about 10 or so, but wears longs.
An English family tries to live normally during the German siege. This highly acclaimed classic is a real tear jerker. As bad as endeavors to make out the NAZIs, the actual fact was that they were much worst then they made out. The film deals with how one British family was affected by the early years of the war. The oldest son is in the RAF, but the littlest one is still a boy. He wears shorts and knee socks and has long hair with curls, but is very young and there are few good shots of him. There are few shots of other children, but the local aristocrat takes in a large group of city children. The boys are in shorts, but you have to really look hard to see the boys.
Useless movie, but there was a nice scene at the beginning with her in her classroom with one of her students. Nothing special, but the boy was real cute and played his part so realistically that I was rather taken by him. unfortunately he doesn't reappear in the movie.
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
An English waif tries to meet Queen Victoria, secluded in her castle since Prince Albert's death. The movie is set in London during 1875. The main character is a little by named Wheeler. He is the Mudlark for which the film is titled.
"Mudlarks" were the name given to poor London street children who survived by scavenging along the banks of the River Thames which flows through London. Wheeler is a little orphan who during his scavanging finds a beautiful cameo of Queen Victoria. He is almost killed in retrieving it. An older friend tells him that the Queen "is the mother of all England," Wheeler who does not have a mother of his own sets out on a quest to meet her. Queen Victoria profoundly affected by the death of her beloved Albert (1861) is still mounrming him. She dresses in black and continues to shit herself off from the world. Wheeler's manages to penetrate the Beefeaters who guard the palace, but has many close calls wondering around the vast Windsor Palace. He finds a state dinner being served. The Queen did not gt on at all with the stiff Gladstone, but Disraeli was much more ingenious in his efforts to convince here to make public appearances. Victoria is played by Irene Dunne and Disreli is played by Alex Guinness. Wheeler is played by Andrew Ray.
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Young English actor, Freddie Boath performed well as Alex in the latest release "The Mummy Returns". The "leave your brains at the door" blockbuster was entertaining if not enlightening, and worth a look.
For some reason, Alex wore what appears to be school uniform during his adventures. The planned sequel may have an actor playing an older version of Alex, and a new set of Mummies. Attached picture shows Alex fleeing as a tomb collapses around him. He confronts his parents in the wreckage with, "I can explain everything."
The exploits of a 7-year old boy left in an orphanage at an early age. The boy is nicely played by Romi. Because his caste and creed are unknown, he is considered unadoptable. He runs away in an attempt to find his mother, but falls into the clutches of a charlatan who runs a gang of street urchins. The boy is finally taken into the home of a wealthy couple where his mother finds him.
Several movies have been made based on the classic TV series "The Munsters". Although the series had a relatively hort run, in syndication it has attracted a near cult following. We know of only one film made by the original Munster cast--"Munster Go Home". The rest were made subsequently. None of the film versions have the same wondeful camp humor of the TV series. This is especially true of the later version without the original cast. For the most part they are very disappointing. "Here Come the Munsters" (US, 1995) is a very weak film based on the TV series. It explains how the Munsters come to America, chased out by the villagers in Transylvania. There family already occupies 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Grandpa in particular is very poorly done in this film, his makeup is comically amaturish. There are several feeble attemps at humor such as Eddie eating from a dog bowl. Eddie has a good size part and like the TV series wears a velvet short pants suit, this one in burgandy. One boy at school wears long baggy shirts. One interesting aspect of this film is that the Munster cast excet for Herman make a cameo appearance. The lovable Herman Munster in "Munster Go Home" (US, 1966) inherits his British uncle's title and manor. This is the best of the Munster films, primarily because it has the original cast. Eddie, played by the TV series Butch Patrick, and wears his bright blue velvet suit with the wide white collar. Presumabaly the same suit he wore in the black and white TV sereies. He wears it with dark knee socks. A group of short-panted village boys throw tomatos at him. "The Munster's Scary Little Christmas" (US, 1996) is another Munster film. This group of Munster's just doesn't have the charm of the original TV Munsters. The script is particularly hokey. This Eddie is older than the original Eddie, I'd say 12 years old. He looks very smart in his very nice burgundy velvet suit with the wide collar and floppy bow. He wears girlish dark knee socks with his suit. Except for his pajamas, this is his only costume. At the beginning of the film he is being teased by the other boys, but not about his sissy suit. Unfortunately that is the last you see the other boys and his one friend. Eddie has quite a big part, in fact the film is set around him because he is having trouble getting adjusted to California. There are only a few really good scenes of him, despite the fact he appears in almost all the scenes--but enough to make it interesting. Unfortunately his hair is really sgragaly, rather detracting from his boyishness. At the end there is a monster party. I believe that among the guests were another boy. I'm not sure what he was wearing. In "The Munsters' Revenge" (US, 1981), an evil villain masterminds an art exhibit heist and somehow gets the dim-witted Herman Munster involved. I haven't seen this, but the TV series had a nice little boy (Eddie) in a velvet short pants suit.
Roddy McDowall has a bit part.
Jackie Searl
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Murmer of the Heart or Le Souffle Au Coeur is another of Louis Malle's films. Malle is also famed for Aurevoir les Enfantes. Lovely little French film about Laurent, a 14 year old school boy (Benoit Ferreux) who wears the traditional French schoolboy shorts and white knee socks. Many interesting scenes, accurately depicting what real boys do in their free moments. He is diagnosed with a heart murmer and has to go to a sanotarium/spa for treatment. Clothes and school uniforms worn in the 1950s are nicely illustrated in this classic French film. Of special interest is the boys school uniform. Most French boys did not wear school uniforms and in the 1950s smocks had begun to decline in popularity. The main character in this film went to a private French Catholic college(private secondary-level day and boarding schools). A common uniform at these schools was a white shirt, blue seater and short pants, and white kneesocks.
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The Music Man is a nostalgic look at Midwest America about 1910. The 1962 film was based on the popular broadway musical. A con man romping through Iowa charms all in his path until he meets a suspicious librarian. One of the characters, Winthrop, the librarian's little brother is usually dressed in a knickers suit or sailor suit. He sings the song "Gary, Indiana" with a lisp. Ronny Howard, Oppie from the "Andy Griffith Show," plays Winthrop who is unhappy because he lisps. Winthrop wears a knee pants suits. The boys all wear knickers. There is also a scene where they sing the song about the pool hall. Boys are shown in knickers peering into the pool hall. One of the tell tale signs of corruption is for a boy to rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee, to look older, after he leaves the house. A young culprit is caught and his parents yank his knickers up exposing his knees. Here's that memorable quote from the Music Man, in the song "Trouble" sung by the bogus Professor Harold Hill, warning the River City parents of the need to set up a boys' band in order to stop their sons going off the rails: "The minute your
son leaves the house, does he rebutton his knickerbockers BELOW THE KNEE?" (A sure sign of incipient delinquency!)
I always wonder why film meakers set out to remake movies thatwere so well done to begin with. Almost always they are going to come off as ceating an infrior product. It is hard to see how the original 1962 film can be improved upon. I can understand remaking the old black and white film as many young people now adays don't want to watch black and white films. But of course the original version of "The Music Man" was in color. There is nothing wrong with this version. The music of course is great. It would be difficult to create a bad film with the glorious music of Meredith Wilson. And the actors turn in creditable performances, but the remake adds nothing new. Some remkes are useful because they provide a new interpretation of the original. There is no effort to do this here, or for that matter is it needed. And overall the remake is just not as good as the original. The supporting actors in prticular are not nearly as fun, especially Winthrop and the mayor and his wife.
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