by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. We have a rich history of movies about fathers, from King Vidor’s silent classic,The Crowd, to Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) in the Andy Hardy series (keeping Mickey Rooney on the straight-and-narrow), to A River Runs Through It and Finding Nemo. So many others. Today I thought I’d share few favorite clips. Enjoy!
Tarzan adjusts to fatherhood in Tarzan Finds a Son:
Spencer Tracy gets ready for his daughter’s wedding in Father of the Bride:
Laurence Fishburne starts his son on the road to responsibility in Boyz N the Hood:
Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) teaches Scout an essential lesson in To Kill a Mockingbird:
So what film fathers would you like to mention? And Dad, enjoy your day.
Disney’s The Lion King. It’s a moving lesson on some hard facts of life, though hopeful at the end.
George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life.
Disney’s Lion King, Dennis Quaid in The Parent Trap, the grampa in The Princess Bride, Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker when he decides to save Luke from the Emperor, and Mr. Incredible.
Father of the Bride (1991 Film) – All fathers should make their daughters watch that one before they plan their weddings. My daughter didn’t like that suggestion.
Happy Father’s Day, Jim!
Happy Fathers Day to all the dads!
Atticus Finch is my favorite film dad. (Although it’s a completely different topic, I actually quote from that scene in my TKZ post tomorrow.)
It’s an over the top action movie inspired by classic serials, but “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and elder Henry Jones and how he and his son reconnect, is powerful stuff.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!
That’s my favorite Indiana Jones movie.
I was never much of a movie person. TV was more my thing. We refered to Bonanza earlier this week and when it comes to dads, Ben Cartwright is an excellent example of a listening Dad.
Great question, JSB…
One of my favorite film dads is James Cosmo. Who’s that, you ask.
He played Campbell in Braveheart, father to William Wallace’s best friend, Hamish Campbell–who was played by Brendan Gleeson.
The loyalty displayed by these two was exceptional to watch, and the scenes in which the elder Campbell saves the day, then later dies when he pulls the arrow out of his own chest are some of the best in the movie.
He also played Father Christmas in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. 🙂
Always loved the movie The Descendents. Plot focuses on a marital infidelity discovered after the wife goes into coma and about the husband/lawyer’s attempt to save family land from development in Hawaii. But George Clooney (as the husband) turns it into a bittersweet portrait of a father finally waking up (from a symbolic coma) to connect with his three daughters.
Lorenzo Anello, Robert DeNiro’s character in A Bronx Tale. He was the stable, boring, reliable shelter in his son’s stormy life.
Let’s not forget Charlie Andersen, Jimmy Stewart’s character in Shenandoah.
On television, It’s hard to beat Andy Taylor and Lucas McCain. More recently, George Cooper Sr. in Young Sheldon provided reliably good counsel. At his core, even Archie Bunker had a good heart.
“The Game Plan,” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The Rock plays a rich, successful NFL quarterback. A little girl knocks on his door and says she’s his daughter. A little sentimental, but good father-daughter bonding.
Lucas McCain – the Rifleman
Been watching these and impressed with the straight forward, no nonsense way things use to be.
Lucas always stood his ground with Mark, but gave him enough rope to make mistakes, and when he knew his son had to know something he made him do it even if at first Mark didn’t like the idea.
I think as writers we should have more of this to inspire readers/watchers, too much mocking and irreverence.