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. We incourage our readers to submit information about their favorite film. We want to prepare more reviews on the various movies listed here.
Romance blossoms between a boy and a bare back rider in the circus.
"Le Chagrin des Belges" is a Belgian TV-series about Louis, a conflicted boy growing up with mixed loyalties. Louis is played by Mathias Engelbeen.
American update of "Le Ronde" recounting a series of romances. In one scene a philandering artist and his wife pose with their son, about 8 years old, for a family portrait.
Mickey Rooney
A divorced and washed up prizefighter attempts a comeback to regain custody of his son. Jackie Cooper
Remake. Ricky Schroder's first movie. Nice little scene where the champ tugs down his shorts playfully at the beech. I'm not sure that was in the script, looks like it may just have happened and they left it in. Ricky was adorable and just fantastic in the movie. A real tear jerker.
Horror movie with a twist, it is the parents who are evil, not the kids. A child is abducted. The police return a boy to the mother who claims the boy is not her son.
Fred McMurry movie. Two spoiled boys in Indian head dresses are involved. One is called Charlie. A HBC reader reports, "The film in which Fred Mac M. has two sons who dress up in Indian head gear souns like "Charlie and the Angel" from 1973. One of the boys is played by Vincent Van Patten, son of Dick Van P. I don't think the boys were bratty by any means in this film, though, so we may describing different films." "Charlie and the Angel" is a nice Disney film of the old Disney school: with the help of an angel (played by Harry Morgan), a family struggles to make ends meet during the Depression in a small middle America town. The boys wear good examples of clothes from that era, including flat caps and knicker suits with bow ties. In most scenes the boys wear long trousers and short sleeved shirts, though the younger brother wears shorts in several scenes.
"Charlie & the Chocolste Factory is based on the eponymous book written in 1964 by Roald Dahl. The film starred the 12-year old child actor Peter Ostrum as the title character Charlie Bucket. He gave a wonderful performance.
"Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" was remade in 2005 with Johnny Depp in the starring role od Willy Wonka. The new version stars the 13-year old child actor Freddie Highmore from London. He is becoming quite a veteran having found stardom in "Finding Neverland" in 2004. Jhnny Depp plays a much darker version of Willy Wonka than played by Gene Wilder in the original film.
An elderly man retired from the railroad and his spirited grandson (Moosie Drier) attempt to realize the elderly's man dream of flying a hot-air balloon across the country.
Maternal love turns obsessive with an illegitimate son. I'm not sure when the movie is set, it may be after the boy becomes an adult.
Rarely any children involved, except for occasional pictures with his family and even then the costuming is nondescript.
Charlie's number two son has a protracted role at the beginning of the film. He wears longs, but appears for a few minutes in shorts and knee socks for a fishing expedition.
The true story of Charlie Smith who came to America as a 12-year old slave in the 1850s and lived to be 137.
Disney show about a boy a his pet cougar when the family has to move to the city. The boy wears longs.
A spirited boy and his grandfather pursue the elderly man's dream of flying a hot-air balloon across country.
The ghost of Coronado helps a boy deal with the neighborhood bully and become closer to his archaeologist father.
A man with dishonorable motives becomes the legal guardian of a young French orphan.
" My Father's Glory " and " My Mother's Castle " by Marcel Pagnol is the two volume story of his childhood, delicately rendered. See also " La Gloire de mon père ". Le Château de ma mère " ( My Mother's Castle ) is more about his realtion with his mother. I have few details at this time.
Nicely done film about the hectic life of a large family ruled by efficency obsessed Clifton Webb. He is an efficency expert. The family has 12 kids. The girls and they have the bigger roles. It is set in the early 1920s. Except for the costuming there is not a lot about clothing. The one exception is the older girls who fuss about wearing old fashion bathing suits with long stockings. The boys wear suits and knickers. Some are above the knees knickers. Two younger boys wear knee pants sailor suits. The film is based on a real life familt--the Gilbriths. It is a reasonably accurate depiction of the family with accurate cstuming. A family portrait shows even more of the boys wearing sailor suits.
'Cheer Boys Cheer' is a 1938 British film about a big brewery trying to take over a smaller one which makes a better tasting beer. It is a comedy. In one scene the director of the larger brewery is seen reading Mein Kamf.
A Midwestern school teacher dedicates her life to her profession. I've only seen the ending if it is the film I am thinking of and even the Cub scouts are wearing longs. In 1941 the official uniform was knickers.
Mickey Rooney
An account of the hardships endured by Mary, Joseph, and 7-year old Jesus while fleeing from Herod's assassins. May be Italian as a lot of the actors are Italian. Received an International Emmy.
Realistic depiction of mentally retarded children.
A psychologist attempts to jar the memory of an 8-year old boy who witnessed his farther's murder, but can't identify the killer.
A lonely backwoods recluse is branded the prime suspect in the kidnapping of a 9-year old boy.
A British reader writes, "I caught the last half hour or so of this deeply moving film. The costuming in this film is illustrative of what American boys wore during the late 1950s early 1960s, that of jeans and plaid shirts. Stars Burt Lancaster (Dr Mathew Clark) as the head of the institution and Judy
Garland (Jean Hansen) as a teacher who becomes attached to one particular student who is played by Bruce Ritchey. As this film was shot in black and white I felt that this made it more realistic and much more believable. Some of the children in the film were obviously not actors and suffered some form of mental handicap, but the subject was handled with great care."
Child delinquency told with a cool aestheticism.
Stresses are felt in the children of wives who have remarried.
A 13-year old boy discovers that he has supernatural powers and begins communicating with the ghost of an 1860s Creole girl after his family moves into an old southern mansion. Biff McGuire plays Alexander reasonably, complete with a southern accent. The only interesting aspect is that Alexander has to wear a period costume which he dislikes. It has ruffles at the collar with long pants. The adults are terrible actors. Steve Shaw
Adoptive payments uncovering an alarming history of abuse when they search for the reasons behind their child's violence.
This is the first installment of "The Gorky Trilogy." The 4-year old boy is left in the care of his grandparents. His grandfather is arrogant, vain, and cruel. He find affection with his grandmother. When his grandfather's business fails, he has to help feed the family by rag picking. The boy reacts against the poverty, attempting to escape through education.
A social worker suspects that a 6-year old boy has been abused by his father. The boy (Peter Coyote/Taliesin Jaffe?) is a little blond boy who handles his part effectively. He wears a smart suit several times. He always wears long trousers throughout.
A doctor suspects that her patient's mother is the cause of his mysterious illness. The boy is a cute little guy about 9 or so, but is shown only briefly in bed, usually asleep, from time to time.
An unpopular master at a boy's school is harassed by an anonymous malefactor.
The effect of a student's malicious lie at an exclusive boarding school. Based on Lillian Hellman's play.
True story of two American women who attempted to evacuate a large group of war orphans from Vietnam during the communist takeover.
|
Another interesting Swedish film is "The Children Of Bullerby Village". It is about the summer adventures of six children (three boys and three girls) all about 8 - 10 years old, living in a small village in rural Sweden during the late-1920s. The film was made in 1986
and is dubbed in English. The three boys in the film Olle (Harald Lonnbro), Bosse (Henrik Larsson) and Lasse (Crispin Dickson Wendenius). They are poor rural children, and are dressed in buttoned shirts (except Olle who wears a type of pullover shirt) and lengthy shorts. They are barefooted through most of the film, but wear sandals or shoes in some scenes. A sequel was made called "More About The Children Of Bullerby Village" and deals with winter adventures.
A search for six siblings scattered by occupation and war.
An exploration of the impact of divorce on four youngsters from three families at different social levels. Lance Kirwin
Based on a Stephen King short story. A young physician and his wife find themselves in a Midwestern town where youngsters have murdered the adults and established a strange religious cult.
|
Horror movie about six alien infested children. They have super-human powers and defend themselves from the scientists who are experimenting on them. As it is set in the U.K. during the 1960s, three of the boys wear short pants and kneesocks. The British boy is about 11 and wears a suit. The Indian and African boy also wear British style short pants school outfits. The American boy wears a casual jacket and long pants. The movie persues the theme that the various contending nations in the Cold War were little different.
An exploration of the impact of divorce on four youngsters whose families come from various social levels.
"Children On Their Birthdays" is based on a Truman Capote story with the same
title. It's set in the small, fictional town of Medda, Alabama during the summer of 1947. The main characters are two 13-year old friends, Billy Bob Murphy and "Preacher" Star, and Lily Jane Bobbit, a 13-year old girl who speaks and conducts herself with a wisdom far beyond her years. Billy Bob and Preacher play their share of mischievous
pranks and live and die with the fortunes of their beloved St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. On the day that Billy Bob celebrates his thirteenth birthday Lily Jane and her mother come to town. Lily Jane's grammar is perfect, her words well chosen. She's dressed in an
exquisite dress made by her mother, a mute who is an exceptionally skillful seamstress. Lily Jane uses a silk parasol to ward off the summer sun. Billy Bob and Preacher have never seen a girl quite like her, and the boys develop quite a crush on her.
The effect of a student's lie at an exclusive boarding school.
Live action miniseries set during World War II. Adventures of a group of British evacuees who are ship wrecked on a deserted island. The children must learn cooperation, friendship, and survival in a lush island setting. J.D. Roth
A master at a boys' school becomes the victim of an anonymous malefactor.
Horror movie about a mysterious wall that appears around a family's home. The child is a girl.
A divorced mother buys a talking doll, which unknown to her has an evil spirit, for her 6-year old son Andy (Alex Vincent). An evil partnership is born.
A teenage boy befriends a half breed and helps him to run his New Mexico horse ranch.
|
The title in Spanish Chiquitas means "Litte ones" referaing endearingly to children. Belén is a young charmer of 20 years who, at the request of two fantastic personages, a young goblin and the wise person of the library, [? to let her world of innocence and magic to face the challenge to choose its own and personal history]. Belén finds a book left in the library from which pages come out the laughing and weeping of boys. Belén decides to contact a group of orphans lodged in a dismal and sad orphanage run by a Colonel and his collaborator, Marl (Alejandra Flechner). Both are admired by the inhabitants of Villa Golden Red deer who contribute to the maintenance of the Home of Orphaned Children. Particularly the Intendant of the village, supports the Colonel and Marl, since she does not know their true intentions. The children in the film wear quite a number of different costumes.
The film is set in Edwardian England in the years before World War I. A peculiar inventor well played by Dick Van Dyke cares for his odd father and two sweet children. They fall in love with an old junk car and a beautiful rich lady who finds them playing hooky from school. Their father fixes up the car which the children call Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because of the noises it makes After a rocky start he falls in love with the rich lady. They use the car to travel to a fantasy land in a dilapidated magical car. Lots of children in the movie. In a key part the king in a mythical kingdom has all the children locked up. The primary children's roles are Jeremy (Adrian Hall) and his sister Jemima (???). They are both suitably adorable and give fine performances. Not a serious film, but fun and the music is rather catchy. One reader reports quite rightly that the children's bathing suits are not quite right for the early 1900s.
A Canadian reader reports, "I watched the movie 'Chocolat' this weekend and it is set in France in the 1950s with accuarate depictions of contemprary clothing. There were quite a few scenes of boys in the typical French clothing of that era, such as short pants, kneesocks, berets, and duffle coats."
Brother Leon, a malevolent teacher at St. Trinity, a Catholic high school, seeks to impress his superiors in an effort to become headmaster. In a candy sale fund raiser, he insists that the boys sell a larger amount at double the price. A secret society called the Vigils operates at the school, playing sophomoric tricks on the teachers and quietly dominating the school. A recent freshman initiate named Jerry (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) refuses to sell the chocolate. He soon faces the combined wrath of Brother Leon and the Vigils.
An Australian reader writes, "The movie 'The Choir' was on our multi-cultural channel in 2002. Because all of the credits are in japanese, it is difficult to glean information about the movie. The movie is part of a series from the "Tales From The Orphange" range." The movie starts with Michio (stutters badly) sitting alongside his uncles sick bed. He his taking copius notes on his uncles health. Every time a nurse takes his uncles temperature or checks his heart beat, Michio writes it down and formulates it into a graph. The nurse comments on Michios uncle reaching the 'cross of death' and she rushes off to find a doctor. At this stage, Michio connects the graphs together and realises what the nurse meant when she spoke of the cross of death, all of the graphs cross over, obviously, this indicates a point of no return. His uncle then sits up in bed and talks to Michio before he collapses and dies. Michio has taken this very hard and runs from the hospital. Sometime later he is told that he will be enroled at a boarding school (unsure if Michio was living with uncle or not) and would be leaving straight away. This is interesting because we have not note much information about boardung schools in Japan. Once he arrives at the school, he is introduced to the other students and they make fun of the fact that he has a bad stutter. Only Yasuo (a student with a voice of an angel) takes any interest in him and encourages him to join the school choir. It is the singing with the choir and the help of a sympathetic teacher that help Michio overcome his stuttering. I tried doing a search on the internet, but found very little on the movie. Even IMDB did not have it in their extensive records.
|
A Dutch reader reports, "I was in Chartres (France) during the weekend and heard people speak well of ´Les Choristes´ by Christophe Barratier.
The French Film "Les Choristes" is a lovingly done remake of an acclaimed French film. The original title was "La cage aux Rossignols". It ran in Britain and the United States as "The Chorus"/"The Chour". The film is set in France during 1949. Clément Mathieu, a unremployed music teacher, is hired by Monsieur Rachin, the very strict principal of a correctional boarding school ( reformatory ) for boys. By introducing his pupils to music he changes their lives. The film features a choir from Lyons, les Petis Chanteurs de Saint-Marc. The reviews I have seen have been quite positive. A Dutch reader reports, "I was in Chartres (France) during the weekend and heard people speak well of ´Les Choristes´ by Christophe Barratier. The music in the film is stunning. The film is a competently told story of an inspirational teacher. There are several similar films. What makes this film rise above the other movies in this genre is the music. Viewers will take the haunting music with them and it lingers in the memory in a way that few film music tracts do.
Filmology
Chaim Potok's novel about a friendship which developed between two youths coming from two very different Jewish traditions. One boy is a worldly, assimilated Jew and the and other an extremely observant Hasidic rabbi in the years following World War II. The boys are all older teenagers. Robby Benson does give an impressive performance as does the boy playing the Hasidic teenager. The film persues the relationship between the two teenagers. It's an absolutely charming film--both moving and funny by turns. And the acting of the two boys is just superb. It also illustrates the somewhat unusual dress of Hasidic Jewish boys in New York during the 1940s as well as the dress of teenage boys who are a bit less religiously oriented. It's a remarkable record of period boys' dress. The two boys are 16-17 years old, highschoolers.
A young girl falls for a 15 year old boy prostitute. They descend into Berlin's drug underground and then attempt to escape.
Story of the first sex change operation. Eddie Frank plays Christine as a young boy. I haven't seen the movie, but I know he is appears in a dress or frilly blouse. His mother catches him and wipes the make up off his face.
Classic Dickins Christmas story about the miser Ebinezer Scrooge and the poor cripple boy, Tiny Tim (Terry Kilburn). Several other nice boys have small parts. I especially liked the boy who played the young Ebinezer as an apprentice (Ronald Sinclair). The boys all play their parts in a rather smalzy fashion, typical of the 1830s. Tinny Tim is outfitted with a ruffled collar and frilly cuffs.
The misadventures of an 13-year old teen who must relive the same Christmas over and over again until he gets it just right. Robert Hayes and Erik von Detten. Nicely mannered boy who he dresses up a bit.
Time and money stand in the way of the convent's new school for orphans, until a talented handyman passes through and decides to try the impossible.
"A Christmas Memory" from 1997 is another film based on a Truman Capote story. Two characters, "Buddy" and "Sook" also appeared in "One Christmas." In this film Buddy and Sook are living with Sook's brother and two sisters in the family home as Christmas 1934 draws
near. Buddy and Sook are gathering ingredients to make their fruit cakes, including a pint of whiskey. When all the cakes are made, there is still a bit of whiskey left. First, they give their dog a taste, then Buddy and Sook sample the whiskey.
A fugitive's plans to use two children as pawns to retrieve money hidden in a department store's Christmas ornaments takes an unexpected turn. The cast includes a boy, but I don't know anything about his costuming. Disney.
An embittered elderly couple invite their city-bred grandson (Bryan England) to spend the holidays with them when his parents are having a hard time. The boy is about 13. The grandfather doesn't care for the boy as his mother had run away. Set during the depression and the boy wears knickers.
A boy dreams about a BB gun for Christmas, but his mother fears he will shoot his eye out if he gets it--the dreaded "You'll put out your eye." A lovely, evocative movie on childhood. I found this to be an enchanting, whimsical look at family life in the 1940s. Very nicely done movie from the boy's point of view. Ralphy is brilliantly played by Peter Billingsley. He is plagued by a bully and his Aunt Clara's horrid gifts. For Christmas she sends him a pink bunny suit which his mother makes him, with considerable resistance, try on. She exclaims, "Doesn't he look just precious." Ralphy prays that the school bully doesn't hear of his bunny suit. There is also a lovely scene where Ralphy gets his mouth washed out with soap and tells on his (innocent) friend who gets a spanking because of it. The department store scene was shot at Higbee's, one of the best known Cleveland deartment stores.
An embittered elderly couple agree to accept responsibility for the care of their adolescent, city-bred grandson during the Depression.
This appears to hve been some kind of international production -- "L'Arbre de Noël". The American release name was "The Christmas Tree" and "When Wolves Cry", the video release title. The film was directed by Terence Young. It was based on a book by Michel Bataille. It starred William Holden, but is career was clearly on the decline. The film is rather sappy, but then again it is a Christmas film so a little sentimentality can perhaps be excused. The story line is about Pascal Segur, a 10-year old boy. His mother has died. His father is a rich lawyer--Laurent Segur. Pascal spends his vactions with his busy father. An airplane crashes into the sea while Pascal is diving. Laurent, Catherine (his girl friend), and Pascal enjoy their vacation, but blue marks appear on Pascal. He
has been contaminated by nuclear weapons from the crashed air plane. The doctors tell Laurent that Pascal has only 6 months to live. Laurent decided to give him the most wonderful 6 months
imaginable. And his efforts center on Christmas. Pascal was played by Brook Fuller.
In the drought-ridden Australian outback of the 1890s, a boy finds hope in the arrival of a grizzled ex-miner who he believes is Santa Clause. Dee Wallace Stone, John Waters.
The beginning of the movie has Columbus with his son, a nice curly headed boy who is about 11 or so. The boy is outfitted in tights.
|
This is the first major production of the classic C.S. Lewis novel, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and was released in
2005. The story concerns four siblings (children of Penvensie family) who are sent away to the country to live with an eccentric professor during the World War II Blitz of London. The children are
Lucy, age 9 (played by Georgie Henley), Edmund, age 11 (played by Skandar Keynes), Susan, age 12 (played by Anne Popplewell), and Peter, age 14 (played by William Moseley). All the children are beautifully
played. This wa a very popular children's book in Britain, but lwss familiar to American children. There have been TV productions of the book, but with rather ameturish special effects. This film has the sophisticated special affects needed to bring the Lewis story to life.
A youth resolves some inner conflicts when he joins a fishing fleet.
Navigate the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main movie "C" page]
[Return to the Main alphabetical movie page]
[Introduction]
[Activities]
[Biographies]
[Chronology]
[Clothing styles]
[Countries]
[Theatricals]
[Topics]
[Bibliographies]
[Contributions]
[FAQs]
[Glossaries]
[Images]
[Links]
[Registration]
[Tools]
[Boys' Clothing Home]
