Great Old Movies To Watch With Your Kids
Written By Ty Burr
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Will your children really sit still for classic movies? Mine did. Exhausted by the same kidvid 34 times, we embarked on a tour of Hollywood's Golden Age, where they learned that black-and-white isn't medicine, the past can be magical, and Kate Hepburn is the coolest. I learned to trust my children's ability to get into old movies on their own level and share what they found with their mom and me. It's important to know your kids (I have a 12-year-old who avoids anything scary and a 10-year-old who loves gangster flicks), but in general classic films can unlock the grown-up world in ways much safer for children than modern multiplex fare. A rare home-video experience that everyone can watch together beats Shrek 8 hands down. Here's where to start.
Top Movies for Kids Ages 3-4
Top pick:
Singin' in the Rain (1951)
The first movie anyone should see. This classic musical is filmed in bright, happy Technicolor, the songs are delightful, Donald O'Connor is a clown for the ages, and the title number, with Gene Kelly dancing up a beautiful storm, will have kids imitating him for the next 10 rain showers. The story is set during Hollywood's transition to sound, so tell the kids that movies used to be silent and point out some of the goofy things (lip-synching, microphones buried in bushes) that happened once they tried to talk.
If the little ones get itchy during the plot scenes, fast-forward to the musical numbers. By the time O'Connor is jumping through walls to the tune of "Make 'Em Laugh," even the wariest of kids will be enchanted. "Moses Supposes," "Good Morning," "The Broadway Melody" (a.k.a. "Gotta Dance") — the return on these is pure joy.
Runners-up:The Gold Rush (1925)
Here's what's great about little kids: They don't know that a black-and-white silent comedy is 81 years older than Ice Age 2. They just look at Charlie Chaplin dining on his boot and think: This guy's hilarious. The Gold Rush is the one with the dance of the dinner rolls Johnny Depp imitated in Benny & Joon (a good movie for tweens and teens).
Safety Last (1923)
Everyone knows the famous image of bespectacled Harold Lloyd hanging from the face of a clock, but have you ever seen the movie it's from? This is one of the great thrill comedies of the silent era, and kids will be happily wrung out from the slapstick suspense of watching Lloyd scale that "skyscraper" (12 floors!) obstacle by obstacle.
