Golden Era Movie suggestions for teens

[RetroMom]

My oldest son is thirteen, which means basically anything my husband or I like as far as music and movies, must be boring.

He is interested in WWII (I knew there had to be something good about those video games ) my dad (deceased) was a WWII vet and my son is interested in all my dad's old service papers and medals.

I'm at a complete loss as what he would like, since the movies I watch (what would have been called "women's pictures" )would not appeal to him. Any good ideas?

 

[Paisley]

The Longest Day, Bridge Over the River Kwai, there's a movie where Audie Murphy plays himself (he was a war hero), So Proudly we Hail...there are so many. Swing Kids is good, too, although it's about, but not from, the Golden Era.

 

[carter]

Here are a few of my favorites:

Dawn Patrol 1938 - Errol Flynn and David Niven (actually WWI but a terrific film)
Command Decision 1948 - Clark Gable and a young Van Johnson. Based on a play so there is a lot of dialogue vs action.
Mrs. Minniver 1942 - Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon (British civilians deal with the Luftwaffe bombing during the 1st months of WWII. This is a beautiful film.)
Run Silent, Run Deep 1958 - Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden, Don Rickles. (One of the all-time great submarine movies)
Battle of Britain - an all-star British cast w/ Michael Caine, Harry Andrews, Trevor Howard, Susannah York, Lawrence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, and many more. Terrific aerial combat sequences.
Action in the North Atlantic 1943 - Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey (The Merchant Marine during wartime)
Imitation General 1958 - Glenn Ford and Red Buttons (A GI impersonates a General - comedy)

What branch of the service did your dad serve in? It may be of interest to assemble a list based on the branch he was in during WWII.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

First, what branch of the military is he interested in? There are lots of good Army and Marines films, also Navy and Air Force.

If he's interested in all of them, then there's lots to chose from.

If you want to spare him the gore of Saving Private Ryan, you could get him The Longest Day, for years considered the definitive D-Day film. To Hell and Back was a film on Audie Murphy's war experiences.

Oh, so many -- Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, Iwo Jima, which is not very accurate but WW II John Wayne movies are always interesting, Battlecry, Guns of Navarrone, you can also get documentaries of WW II, Victory At Sea was a good series, saw it back in the late 50's, Ken Burns has a film series coming out on WW II, also.

Lots to chose from.

karol

 

[DanielJones]

A good WWII Battle of the Bulge film would be Battleground with Van Johnson.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[RetroMom]

Thanks everyone for the great titles!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Reefer Madness. Makes potsmoking look terminably unhip.

.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Stalag 17" is a film that covers a lot of bases -- it's suspenseful, sharp, and funny, and I'd think a bright teen would enjoy it loads!

 

[Paisley]

That reminds me of another movie: The Great Escape.

 

[dhermann1]

My mother, who served in the USMC during WWII, turned me onto several WWII flicks. One of her favorites was Noel Coward's "In Which We Serve". Another is "Stairway to Heaven" (A Matter of Life and death - UK), with David Niven going to heaven and coming back. In the same genre is "Corvette K229", and "The Cruel Sea", with Jack Hawkins, about a corvette captain running convoys to Russia.
"Back to Bataan", "They Were Expendable", oh, hey, you have to include "South Pacific".
"Midway", "Tora! Tora! Tora!", "The Story of GI Joe", "A Walk in the Sun", "The Americanization of Emily", "King Rat".
"One Against the Wind" is a 1991 made for TV flick with Judy Davis about a Frenchwoman in occupied France who works for the resistance.
"Memphis Belle", both the original and the remake.
"The Counterfeit Traitor", "The Man Who Never Was", "The Dam Busters".
I can't believe nobody has mentioned "Casablanca"!
"Four Sons", 1940, about four Czech brothers and how the Nazi invasion affects their family. And another 1940 (i.e. pre Pearl Harbor) flick, "Night Train to Munich".
There are thousands and thousands.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

My WWII veteran dad took me to see A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Sam Fuller's The Big Red One (1980) which he said was a much more realistic depiction. Both were enjoyable and I reccommend them for your teen.

 

[carter]

RetroMom, These are all excellent suggestions. You may want to look at when the films were released and do something chronological. Movies made in the 40's didn't have the advantage of looking back that later films did. It would be interesting to see the differences over the decades. Just a suggestion. Carter

 

[Nick D]

Movies made in the 40's didn't have the advantage of looking back that later films did. It would be interesting to see the differences over the decades. Just a suggestion. Carter

How the point of view changes over the year is interesting. I think some of the films made during the war, when the outcome was still uncertain, show that uncertainty, and it adds something to the picture.

To add to the list, perhaps "Tora! Tora! Tora!"? It's one of my favorite Pearl Harbor movies. A lot better than "Pearl Harbor!"

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Agreed, Nick D. I own Tora! Tora! Tora! and love it and also reccommend it. Hubby liked Pearl Harbor and Tivo'd it for when I visited his place before our marriage. I watched 10 seconds of it and dismissed it with a Blecch. He likes chick flicks, however, so. [huh]

 

[pretty faythe]

I haven't read beyond your post yet, but I wonder if it is something good that the schools are actually teaching them in history that is sticking. My 14 yo daughter decided she loves this period in history when she was about 13 too.

My oldest son is thirteen, which means basically anything my husband or I like as far as music and movies, must be boring.

He is interested in WWII (I knew there had to be something good about those video games ) my dad (deceased) was a WWII vet and my son is interested in all my dad's old service papers and medals.

I'm at a complete loss as what he would like, since the movies I watch (what would have been called "women's pictures" )would not appeal to him. Any good ideas?

 

[carter]

To add to the list, perhaps "Tora! Tora! Tora!"?

A great film from the viewpoint of the unvictorious (is that a real word?).

Clint Eastwoods two recent films contrast Iwo Jima from both perspectives. "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" should be viewed back-to-back.

 

[RetroMom]

Wow, more great titles!

All of my kids watched "The Best Years of Our Lives" on TCM a few nights ago, and even my younger ones enjoyed it. "Flags of Our Fathers " is one that my son has mentioned, so I'm gonna check that one out along with the "Great Escape" ( I can't believe I forgot that one, having seen it in a film class in High School)
As always you folks are a wealth of information - Thanks again!!