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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 pages are being added all the time.
HBC knows very little anout this important French film at this time. It was directed by French filmmaker Jean-Loup Hubert. The movie stars the director's own son Antoine Hubert. He beautifully plays a sickly 8-year-old boy, Louis, who is sent off to visit country relatives while his mother has a baby. He stays in rural Brittany until the baby is born. Close knit French families did often send children to live with relatives for a time. The film covers his country adventures which vary from enchanting to scary. His mother's friend tries to pamper him. The film has a little of a European "coming of age" tone to it, although the boy far from being a teenager. The world begins to look like a threatening, unfriendly place to Louis. He has many misadventures such as the local tomboy displaying her knickers and stuffing eels down the front of his swimming trunks. Slowly he begins to grow up. A not very original coming of age film, but nicely done. Grand Chemin was released in the United States as Grand Highway. In "The Grand Highway" Antoine Hubert arrives wearing the typical shorter gray short pants of the time with white ankle socks and sandles and a sweater, button up shirt and a little peaked cap. He also runs around in a sleeveless white t-shirt, which is becomming popular again with older kids. A French reader tells us, "'Le grand chemin' is a very important film which is realy a deep story about the French character. I love this film very much, but I'm not sure how it could be translated to English".
TV movie dealing with a father returning for the funeral of his estranged former wife. He tries to develop a relationship with his grandson, a little guy about 8 or 9 years old. He appears in a long pants suit. Now this could have been a serious film. Given the number of divorces, many families have experienced such splits. A film seriously addressing the experience would could have been of interest. The acting was reasonable enough, the boy plays his part very nicely. Instead of having a well-written script, however, the network turns it into an unrealistic story where the father/grandfather becomes a virtual monster setting out to destroy the family. Typical American nonsense, turning to unrealistic suspense rather than offering a seriously written scrip addressing people's real life experiences.
The French film, Le Grand Chemin, see above, was distrunyed as The Grand Highway in the United States.
Rather dull film with subtitles. The clothing, however, seems very accurate and realistic. In one park scene two boys are seen playing in the background. One of them has on a velvet suit, white stockings, and broad brimmed hat, with the ribbon hanging down the back. He is chased by a boy in a plainer costume. They did not, however, have proper roles.
A little boy is brought by his nanny to live his grandmother. For 6-year old Sormand, his new environment is harsh, behind the distinguished facade of the elegant house. If there is one thing the boy does not want is to be his granny's "nice little boy." He takes up the fight with his granny in his own way. Luckily nanny is on his side. I haven't seen this one, but it sounds interesting. The boy wears a sailor suit. Set about 1905.
Darryl Hickman
A New York family packs up their children and move to the suburbs.
A former terrorist living in New Zealand is forced to flee. I don't know if there are any interesting scenes, but no one knows with New Zealand.
A young boy (Fred Romer) is abandoned with his dog in the rugged Alaskan Rockies.
Near the turn of the century, Tom, a 12-year old (Jimmy Osmond) con artist swindles everyone in sight. Most of the movie deals with Tom and JD (James Jarnagin), his younger brother. JD is about 8 years old and wears knickers. He is constantly being swindled by his brother. They befriend a Greek boy named Basil who is bullied for wearing sissy clothes. JD says that he never saw a boy dressed like him. Actually his outfit is nothing too elabrate, only the shirt with a ruffled collar and cuffs. A group of boys grab him and push him around. They taunt him about his sissy clothes which they taunt him for looking like girls clothes. They tie him up before Tom rescues him. The costumes of the other boys are not elaborate. The brothers wear nightshirts. The acting is rather poor, especially Jimmy Osmond's performance. The whole movie is one of those sickingly sweet depictions of children, never touching on realistic depictations. Most of the other boys swim with their pants on. The plot includes a sadistic school teacher.
Mario Lanza in "The Great Caruso" appears with a boys' choir. I'm not sure if the boys were from a choir or just recruited to play the choral parts. Mario Lanza's tenor voice made this film one of the top box-office draws of 1951. What's more, it helped to popularize opera among the general public and to inspire two boys to pursue opera careers -- Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. In the film, Lanza portrays the legendary tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), who first rises to prominence in his native Italy, then earns critical acclaim in America. In imitating the power and majesty of Caruso's voice, Mario excels.
Two boys, a Kenyan and an American, join forces to save an orphaned baby elephant from an unethical businessman.
Based on the classic Dicken's novel about a poor orphan made a gentleman of means by a mysterious benefactor. Kip is played by Jackie Searl. Orphaned Pip is brought up in Kent by his abusive sister and her long-suffering husband, Joe Gargery, who is the village blacksmith. Magwitch, an escaped convict, seizes Pip in the village churchyard and demands that Pip bring him food and a file to break his iron chains. Terorized by Magwitch, Pip does as he is told. The authorities eventually recapture Magwitch and transport him to Australia. There he makes a fortune. Meanwhile Pip is introduced to Miss Havisham, an mean-spirited older woman that had been jilted at the altar. Pip falls in love with her niece, Estella, who has been taught by Miss Havisham to break men's hearts. She sees this as vengenmce for Miss Havisham's broken heart. Pip is apprenticed to Joe but desires to become a gentleman. He was made to feel inferior by Estella who lookede down on his "coarse hands and thick boots". He comes begins to be ashamed of Joe. Lawyer Jaggers tells Pip and Joe that the boy has "great expectations" through an unnamed benefactor. Pip assumes it is Miss Havisham, the only person he know with money. The elder Miss Haversham, however, has no feeling for him or any one else. Pip is released from his apprenticeship to Joe and goes to London to be educatedn. Kip has no idea that his benefactor is the rough convict for whom he had done a kindness.
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The classic, richly textured film version of Great Expectations is generally considered to be the David Lean English version in 1946. Most critics believe this to be the finest adaptation of the Dickens novel. Unfortunately the fine old black and white films are known primarily by film buffs and not the general public. CThe cast included John Mills, Alec Guinness, and Valerie Hobson. Anthony Wager played Pip. Young Kip is beautifully played as a sweet, innocent boy by Anthony Wagner. The costuming seems reasonavly accurate Pip came from humble circumstances and would have been dressed very plainly as a boy. The film is true to the Dickens novel, beginning verbatim narration of the books first two pages, "My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip. ...." The visual impression of Miss Havisham's grand but decrepit house filled with cobwebs is stunning. Lean's depiction was extremely relevant in 1946. Dickens was a noted critic of Victorian society and the social inequities. Britain after VE Day had defeated Churchill and elected a Labour Government and in 1946 was in the process of remaking British society. This film is not meerly the best film adaption of Great Expectations, but some film critics put it on the list of the greatest films. HBC would not go that far, but it ceratinly is a fine film.
See plot above. I haven't seen this version, but it received poor reviews. It starred Michael York who played Pip. The cast also included Sarah Miles, James Mason, Robert Morley, and Margaret Leighton.
Simon Gipps-Kent played Pip as a Boy. Joseph Hardy (British) directed the film.
The American version of the Dickens film, starred Ethan Hawke, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Robert De Niro. The film wa a modern update and set in the United States during the 1970s through 90s. We first see Kip now styled Finn as a bright, but very poor orphan being raised rather neglectfully by his loose sister. He is about 10 years old and living in a backwater southern fishing village. His sister soon runs off leaving him with her boyfriend, Uncle Joe. While sketching fish in the shallow Gulf waters, Magwitch, the escaped convict played by Robert De Niro lunges out of the water and seizes Kip. Actually it could not happen as portrayed as no one could sneak up on a person in the Gulf shallows, but it was suspenceful. He forces Pip to help him escape. Jeremy James Kissner plays Finn as a child. He wears realistic "t"-shirts, cut-offs, and short striped tube socks. When he dresses up to go see Miss Haversham, he wears a button up shirt and slacks. A mediocre film at best, but the Jeremy did a good job as Pip in the first part of the film. He is appropriately wide eyed, but because of his circumstances, not very innocent. Like most modern updates, the modern setting seems out of place for the historic novels. Pip in this version becomes an artist. Acclaimed Italian artist Francesco Clemente actually created the drawing and paintings displayed in the film.
Two kids from New York meet invisible creatures. Michael Blouin
Bob Hope leads a scout type troop called the Boy Foresters in this Paramount film, all in short pants and knee socks. They wind up supervising him. Worth watching out for, many reviews don't even mention that boys are involved. This is one of many American movies with Scouts that do not call them Scouts or wear an official Cub Scout uniform. I'm not sure why this is. I think the Scouts have legal rights to the uniform and can demand a commision for using it in a film and perhaps some editorial input as to the plot. Perhaps HBC readers know something about this. Bob Hope is close to his very best in "The Great Lover" as a reluctant scout leader returning by ocean liner to America from Europe with his troop and drawn into shipboard murder, intrigue, and romance.
A dim-witted drifter finds his values changing after he is manipulated into becoming a successful public official. I've only seen the end, but he has two children a boy and girl, I think his children. The boy is pictured briefly on a balcony after a big election dressed in a suit with a big white collar floppy bow, and I think shorts. I think he must have appeared earlier in the film, but I'm not sure about his costuming.
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Enjoyable little movie enlivened by Donald (Peter Holdeen). His sister is also a competent little actress. He has bangs and dresses rather formally with a white shirt, tie, and proper short pants. This is both his school outfit and the clothese he normally wears. At school the other boys wear knickers. Unusual for U.S. pictures he wears over the knee stockings. This is in fact the only American film that I know of that features a lead character wearing short pants and over-the-knee stockings. As his father is down on his luck, his stockings usually have holes in the knees, making it difficult to see precisely what he is wearing. In the scene at the end of the movie he wears a short pants suit, again with over the knee stockings, but without holes. A friend tells me that Donald's long stockings keep coming down, I remember one scene during which he and his sister go over a fence to get apples and she helps him pull up his stockings. The film is set around how his father votes in an election, which I am afraid I do not quite understand. In the final election scene there are boys in the crowd scene in shorts and knickers. One boy, the school bully, around 12 and wears a knicker suit gets a good boot from his father for almost messing up a business deal. Benny ? of Bowery Boys fame has a small part.
Typical mindless U.S. western. However in flipping the dials one day I did notice something of interest. In one scene set at a baseball game, one of the spectators is a naive boy, about 14 years old who is setting with the ladies and wears a wide, frilly white collar, which came to a "v" in the front. He wore a dark jacket, perhaps part of a velvet suit. Unfortunately he is shown only twice, and then only fleetingly, which was most frustrating as it was a long scene and quite a bit of time is spent panning the spectators. I've always wondered why go to all that trouble with the costumes and then not use them properly. Only torso shots were shown, so I don't know what kind of pants he was wearing. I did notice several other boys pictured, all in rough clothes and not sitting with the ladies. The film is not set in a sophisticated city, but rather as revealed by the title, a small rural town in Minnesota.
The unannounced arrival of obnoxious relatives turns a Chicago family's idyllic country vacation into a nightmare.
A tough marine pilot is also tough on his family, especially his eldest teenage son. There is also a younger boy, but he has only a small role. The younger boy also wears longs.
Nice little movie about the relationship between a poor southern preacher and his sensitive son (Lance Kirwin). The father clashes with a cold-blooded sheriff and hesitant church leaders in a small Southern town. Made into a TV series called "The Family Hovak".
A mischievous son runs away into the Senegalese bush, loses his way and is saved from a giant monster by a genie's magic.
Greek tycoon marries the widow of an American president. I haven't seen it so know little about it. The film obviously depicts the Jackie-Onasis relationship. I do not know to what extent John and Carolyn are depicted.
Basically uninteresting film, but it is set in an English village. Numerous boys in shorts can be seen in the street and carnival scenes. Curiously, the one Scout I noticed was in longs. Other than that, the costuming seems crather accurate for the early 1950s.
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Lovely movie based on the A.J. Cronin novel about Robbie, an Scotts-Irish boy. Robbie's mother was a Scottish girl who disgraced the family by marrying an Irish Catholic. When his parents die, Robbie comes to live with his aunt's family in a small Scottish village. The film begins when Robbie arrives in Scotland in 1900. The family is staunchly Church of Scotland, but allow Robbie to go to Catholic church when he insusts. There is an emotional scene in the film, when Robbie shows up in the Catholic Chirch, the priest tells him, "I've been waiting for you Robert Shannon." Robbie's uncle is a terrible penny pincher and sells Robbie's prized possession--his tricycle. His grandmother makes him a suit out of her green petticoats (with flowers) and he is teased and bullied. (In the book I believe that the suit is made from curtains.) Robbie's great grandfather tells him to pick a fight with the most respected boy at school. He is the only boy who hasn't been teasing him--Gavin. The younger boys at the Academy (the private school) all dress alike in dark kneepants suits with Eton collars. There does not, however, seem to be a uniform as such as the school does not object to Robbie's flowered green suit. There is a school cap with a badge that all the boys wear. The little girl Robbie falls in love with wears a tam--but the boys always wear school caps. His best friend (Gavin) wears a kilt, but not at school. He wears it while hunting for eggs. It is interesting that he does not just wear a kilt for Church, but for outdoors activities like hunting eggs. The film does not address whose ide, Gavin's or his mother's that he wear the kiklt, None of the other boys in the village or depicted wearing kilts. Robbie insists on remaining a Catholic and has trouble getting his First Communion suit. The boys have a strict, but understanding schoolmaster. Robbie is beautifully played by Dean Stockwell. This is wonderfully produced classic, well worth seeing.
A young boy who lives at the edge of an enchanted forest ventures into the woods despite warnings. He finds a glowing green stone that transports him into a world of fantasy and adventure.
A Scottish school boy falls in love with his soccer team's first female player. Gregory is a teenager, I'd say about 16 or 17, but rather an effective little actor. The film is set in a coed Scottish comprehensive. The boys wear uniforms, but of course all longs.
A man brings back a special present, a furry little creature, for his sons. The younger boy is nice, but has only a small part. The cute little pet causes a population explosion of monsters when they don't follow the instructions for its care.
A remake of the Tarzan saga. Tarzann is depicted at various ages. The reviews of the movie itself were largely negative. The kid who played the 12 year old Tarzan in "Greystoke" was Eric Langlois. I guess they saved money on costuming as he didn't wear a thing.
A successful journalist tries to deal with the demands and expectations of his family.
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A famous book also made into a movie is Louis Pergaud's La guerre des boutons (The War of Buttons). It describes war between the kids of two villages where our hero invented the war trophy of all buttons of trousers/smocks. I'm not sure to what extent the boys' clothing is described in the book, but you would assume that is necessary given the importance of the buttons. The movie was made in 1961 by Louis Malle and is very descriptive of French kids and a result French boys' clothing is extensively illustrated, including the smocks that were still commonly worn in the years in which the book was set. A remake of the movie filmed in Ireland was released in 1995 amid some controversy.
A man shows up at his ex-wife's house with his new wife and their baby. A cute little boy about 9 or so has a prominent role. He only wears longs, even though his father is often in shorts.
A young housewife dreams of having an affair. She has two kids, one a boy about 6 or so. In one scene he wears short shorts. He only appears briefly.
Keith Mitchell
A prestigious public school decides to offer scholarships to bright boys from humble families. The boy chosen to try the experiment has a difficult time. The boy, played by the now famous director -- Sir Richard Attenboro was I did not think was a particularly good choice for the role. He was really to old for the part. He wore longs. Also features a teenage Anthony Newley.
Western classic about an aging gunfighter played by Gregory Peck who seeks to see his wife and son. The boy is 8 years old and wears knee length pants and stockings with a little cap. His mother has to drag him home to keep him off the streets. I'm not sure who he is, but turns in a credible performance.
Not many kids in this comedy about an American auto plant reopened by a Japanese company, Kaz (the Japanese plant manager) has a 6 to 8 year old son who's first seen wearing a black shorts pants suit on his family's arrival in the U.S. Japanes boys in the 1980s still wore short pants suit with usually quite short shorts. Later he runs across the screen playing "GI Joe", in full camo--apparently having fully embraced America. The irony is of course that the fatheris sent to America to fix a closed car plant. His short pants suit symbolized how dutiful and completely Japanese the boy was as American kids wouldn't dress like that. While dad his hard at work on his assignment of instilling Japanese dedication into the worknforce, his formerly dutiful son is won over to Americam ways. There was a short-lived TV series based on this movie; one episode had the kid attempting to cheat on a test by wearing a T-shirt with the answers emblazoned boldly across it, in Japanese!
Spencer Tracy stars as a bomber pilot in this World War II drama with Irene Dunn. Tracy dies bombing a German carrier (the Germans did not have any carriers). He comes back to help other pilots as a guardian angel. The film begins in England where the local children idolize him. The boys wear short pants and kjneesocks and have charming English accents. As the film wasmade in Hollywood, they must have been local English boys. As the film was made during Wrld War II, I wonder if the could have been evacuees. One boy wearing a rather American looking long-sleeve "T" shirt wears long pants, He sounded more American than the other boys. The chldren give the only interesting performance in the film. Tracy makes the War look like a Boys' Own adventure. Not one of his better films.
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Rosalind Russel stared in the film version of the hit Broadway muscial--Gypsy. This and Aunty Mame were her two best films. The boys invoved in the act wore knickers. There was an act wih newsboys, but they also wore knickers off stage.
Bethe Middler musical version. The film begins with a tryout for a children's show. Of course the two main characters are the two girls (Baby June and Louise, aka Gysey Rose Lee), but on the stage are two boys in shorts. One is in a tux outfit with a big red bow, short pants, and white stockings. Another little boy wears in a blue short pants sailor suit complete with cap, again with white stockings. Next several boys in knickers play newsboys with Baby June's act. These boys wear knickers both on and off the stage in the early part of the film.
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