Figure 1.--This still from "Heaven Can Wait" shows the main character in a stylish sailor hat. He is already charming the ladies. |
You can also slect the movies available on HBC by using this alphabetical movie listing. At this time only a few movies have reviews and been analized by HBC for clothing information, but more pages are being added all the time. And we invite readers to submit reviews of their favorite films.
A career criminal meets a woman with an illegitimate child. The boy is about 6 years old. He becomes attached to both and even spends time with orphanage children.
Two couples discover that their babies were accidentally switched at birth.
Mickey Rooney
Ben Alexander
A HBC reader has provided some information on Hearts in Atlantis. The clothing is very realistic for the early 70's. The main character, Anton Yelchin, wears blue short pants with white crew socks and blue jeans. His shirts were the typical pull-over type of the period and the shoes he and his friends wore were the converse style sneakers--both high and low tops. He also wears a clip on bow tie to go out to dinner in one scene. There is a bully kid who goes to a parochial school and he wore a school uniform consisting of a blue sweater and grey slacks. A boy and his divored mother take in a mysterious stranger, played by Anthony Hopkins who becomes a father figure to the boy and passes on his special gift to him. The film is warm, sentimental, suspensful and very well acted. Anthony Hopkins and Anton Yelchin were in a the film by South Aussie'Scott Hicks and part funded by South Australia, the United States,and Canada. A Reader writes, "This was truely a lovely film to watch. The boy had a big red bike and a kind heart. He liked a honey haired girl named Felicity. The bully wore a grey slacks uniform with a white shirt, tie, and blazer. He had a deep secret as he was bullying Anton's charactor and the beautiful girl he befriends."
Ben Alexander
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Lovely little movie about a rake's progress. This diverting movie was about a charming, but rogish man who loves women--a bit too much. The movie follows him from boyhood to old age. As a boy he wears a stylish sailor suit, complete with flat-style sailor hat and streamer. And already he was charming the ladies. Henry is pictured at about 10 in a blue sailor suit with knicker length pants at the beginning of the film. He has a nice hat and big bow and charms a little girl in a brief scene. A longer part of the film has him at 15 in a below the knee short pants suit. He is played by Scotty Beckett. He complains that his parents and grand parents are involved in a conspiracy to keep him in shorts pants. In a latter scene another boy is pictured in a corduroy knicker suit, again with a big bow. Like the first scene it is disappointingly brief to get a good view of his outfit.
This movie has some mid-teen age boys set in a 1960s Catholic school. Teen pranksters find it difficult to toe the line in the strictly disciplined school. Though discipline is harsh, the boys continue to disrupt classes and the mass. Rather harsh corporal punishment is depicted. There is a swimming pool scene where about 30 boys are lined up and lectured by a brother. In another scene a priest gives the students a lecture about the evils of the flesh right and scaring them half to death before a dance which he ends by telling them to have a good time. Friends who went to parochial schools in the 1960s tells me that the depictions are realistic.
A man can't enter heaven until he returns to earth and helps a teenager gain confidence. Basically a teen angel from the 1950s takes an 80s nerd under his wing. Louis Smith and Jason Gedrick.
John Brown
Fraternity and sorority pledges spend a night in a haunted house. Linda Blair.
After a boy's mother is killed in a hit and run accident, he hooks with a criminal and gets sent to a reformatory where the story is set. The discipline is very strict. Junior Durkin.
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Hell's Kitchen was another of the Dead End Kids films. Like "Crime School", it is also set in a reform school that has fallen under the corrupt leadership of a superintendant named Krispan (played by Grant Mitchell). Buck Caesar (played by Stanley Fields) is a paroled convict who tries to improve conditions at the reform school on the advice of his lawyer nephew, Jim Donahue (played by Ronald Reagan). One of the leading boys of the school is Tony (played by Billy Halop). The plot involves the school's hockey team and its contest with a professional team to which the school is expected to lose. Krispan, the corrupt superintendant, is trying to discredit the reformer, Buck Caesar, and get him sent back to prison. At one point one of the boys is locked in a freezer and dies. The boys eventually capture Krispan, make him go through a kind of trial. Krispan is properly punished through legal means, and Buck returns to prison. The boys become the agents of justice.
A big budget costume extravaganza. If you enjoy musicals, its worth watching for music and adult costuming. A few costumed boys can be scene in various street scenes, albeit flirtingly. There is one scene about half way thorough, set in a park. Two boys wear broad brimmed hats. One wears a middy blouse the other a nondescript shirt with bow. Both wear knicker-length white pants and white knee socks. Pity they didn't have a little bigger part so that we could examine their costumes in more detail.
To prove his underwater house is feasible, an inventor agrees to move his family in for 30 days. I'm not sure if any boys are involved.
Help Wanted : Kids is a Disney Premier production made in 1986. It features Cindy Williams, Bill Hudson--the 'parents' with Chad Allen (playing Coop) and Hilary Wolf being his younger sister. The story is about a top end New York couple who both work in the same company as high powered advertising executives. They have no children, but both are happy and are moving up fast the corporate ladder. Unexpectantly they both loose their jobs on the same day. They suddenly find that they need children.
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Henry V was one of the great English warrior kings. He began his military campaigns when he was only 14 years old by engaging the Welsh comanded by Owen ap Glendower. He comanded his father's (Henry IV) forces in the battle of Shrewsbury when he was only 16 years old. After succeeding his father, he supressed the Lollard uprising and an attempt to assasinate him by a group of nobles loyal to Richard II. Henry is best known for his adventures in France. He attempted to marry the Frnch Princess Catherine in 1415 and insisted on the former Plantagenet provinces of Normandy and Anjou as a dowry. Frenck king Charles VI rejected the war. Henry declared war, in fact a continuation of the Hundred Years' War. The war for Henry offered two prospects. Henry could gain land tha had ben lost to the French. It also helped to deflect his cousins' royal ambitions. Henry achieved one of the great English victories over the French at Agincourt (October 1415). Henry's small English army defeated and killed a vastly superior French force. The cream of the French airistocracy was killed at Agincourt, many after the battle. Much as moden movies create images (often eronious) about battles, Shakespeare's "Henry V " has created the image of Henry in the popular in mind. Many are familiar with the "band of brothers" speech. Olivier's first of his great Shakespearian films was Henry V (1944). As part of thde film, Olivier wanted to show the Tudor practice of having boys play the female roles in the popular plays of the 16th and early 17th centuries in England. He cast modern actresses in the female roles of Princess Katherine and Mistress Quickly, but he also showed scenes backstage at the Globe theatre in which boy actors were getting dressed as women before coming out before the audience. One scene shows a boy actor (about 12 or 13 apparently) dressed in ruff, doublet (or jacket), trunk hose (short cut bloomer-like trunks), and long red stockings or tights. He comes out before the play commences to show a placard announcing the play or the setting of a particular scene since virtually no scenery was used on Elizabethan public stages. There was no actual boys' clothing. In this case the boy actor functioning as the "presenter" is dressed in doublet and hose exactly as an adult male would be dressed.
Elizabethan boys, once they were breached, dressed just like adult men.
The title role was played by Jimmy Lydon who was 18 in 1941, but looked younger. There were nine films in all. I doubt if there is any interesting costuming, but the Boy Scout one might be worth seeing.
A reader writes, "I recently obtained this 1944 movie, which is now available on DVD. The Scouts in this film all wear the official Boy Scout uniform with short pants, including 20-year old Jimmy Lydon playing the part of Henry Aldrich as a 16-year old Senior Patrol Leader. This movie was made with the official cooperation of the Boy Scouts of America, who provided a technical adviser listed in the movie credits. Many of the extras were actual Boy Scouts and the movie shows that close attention was given to accurate uniforming, down to the merit badges Henry wears on his uniform. Darryl Hickman was also in the film.
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
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"Her Majesty" is faithfully depicts New Zealand school fashions. The film is set in 1953. It is a sympatheticlly told coming of age story about a girl who realizes a dream when Queen Elizabeth visits New Zealand after her coronation and comes to her small hometown. Here we see the depiction of New Zealand's ties with Britain and the monarchy. It has been said that New Zealand is more British than the British, but that has begin to change in recent years. It had not in the era depicted in the film. The film is set in New Zealand, but indeed addresses a range of universal themes. The main character and her school mates wrestle with tolerance and real truth, youthful love and friendship, and bravery. The main character is Elizabeth Wakefield, a 13-year old schoo girl. They live in Middleton, a small New Zealnd town with its own destinctive character. Elizabeth idolized the youthful young queen, Elizabeth II. Elizabeth was not the only one excited about the schedulked visit. Even her tather wanted to be part of the royal visit. Elizabeth comes to make friends with an elderly Maori woman--Hira Mata. The established women of Middleton looked down on Mata, but the plot comes to a boil because her house is prominently on the parade route.
A boy's boarding school hires a female master played by Greer Garson. This is a typical American film about a nording school where the kids are all assumed to have uncarring parents. Neither the boys or the head teacher like the idea of a lady teacher. The boys at first make life difficult for her but soon of course come to like her. The boys wear black peaked caps and blazers with long grey pants. The school is called "The Oaks" and the younger boys are the "Acorns" who are a class 10 year olds. The boys after clss can wear asual clothes. All wear jeans and othr long pants. Strangely when they get in trouble they all have to scrub the gum floor wearing casual short pants. Interestingly, Tim Considine plays the snooty boy who has trouble fitting in with the others. Interestingly in his more mafous role as Spin in "Spin and Marty" he rejected the Marty role and insisted on playing Spin the "cool" boy. Some reviewers call this a "flat commedy". It certainly is not an especially good film, but it's not all that bad. Some of the boy's give good performances. There is a lonely boy whose parents never write. There is also a brainy boy with a British accent. It was Garson's last film on her MGM contract.
One of the "Lovebug" series. The independent-minded Volkswagen and its latest owners run into trouble when they head south to Brazil for a road race. Rather an inane film. A little Latin American boy (Joaquin GarayIII) has a major part. He wears casual short pants.
Taking advantage of their popular radio program, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Hariet", Ozzie Nelso also did a movie on the families exploits. The TV show and movie are interesting because the clothes the David an Ricky wear are a very accurate depiction of how many american boys dressed in the 1950s. Ricky of course went on to become a popular rock and role singer and later transformed into a country singer. The film was directed by Frederick De Cordova who became the producer of the "Johnny Carson" show. After the film. Ozzie moved theirprogram to television in 1952 beginnings its major run. Unlike the TV series, the movie had a plot. Two house guests (Rock Hudson and Barbra Lawrence) causes problems between Ozzie and Harriet. And then robbers kidnap Ricky. Of course Ozzie comes to the rescue.
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"Here Come the Munsters" is one of the films based on the The Munsters. It is a very weak made for YV film based on the TV series. The film ws broadcast on Halloween 1995. The cast includes: Edward Herrmann (Herman) , Veronica Hamel (Lily), Robert Morse (Grandpa), Christine Taylor (Marilyn), and Mathew Botuchis (Eddie). It explains how the Munsters come to America. Herman does not want to leave Transylvaania until a rocket sails through their home. They are then chased out by the villagers in Transylvania. There family already occupies 1313 Mockingbird Lane. The new immigrants ted Munsters have to deal with California life, find Marilyn's missing father, and cure her zombie-like mother. Grandpa in particular is very poorly done in this film, his makeup is comically amaturish. There are several feeble attemps at humor such as Eddie eating from a dog bowl. Eddie has a good size part and like the TV series wears a velvet short pants suit, this one in burgandy. One boy at school wears long baggy shirts. One interesting aspect of this film is that the Munster cast (Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, and Pat Priest) excet for Herman make a cameo appearance.
George "Spanky" McFarland
A war reporter tries to adopt two French orphans, 10-year old Bobby (Jackie Jensel) and his younger sister. The boy wears a short pants suit with knee socks and a beret. Unfortunately he zips in and out of scene after scene. While his appearances are short and with little dialogue, he does appear quite a bit. He reportedly was a French boy who was quite advanced for his age.
Het Verdriet van Belgie ("The Sorrow of Belgium") is set during World War II (1939-45) at a Catholic boarding school. It is a school for younger boys and nuns are very much present and they wear the traditional habit. The boys look to be about 8 to 12 years of age. I'm not sure what kind of school is depicted. While English boys commonly went to boarding school beginning about age 8 years, I do not think it was nearly as common for younger boys to attend boarding school in Belgium and other continental countries. Perhaps this is an orphanage for displaced children, but the boys look too well dressed for that. I do not have any details on the plot line at this time. The film is set in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. The boys wear short pants and smocks. Both front and back opening
smock styles can be seen, although the front buttoning ones appear most prevalent. This would date the film after World War II which suggests an error in the costuming. The back buttoning smocks would have been more common durin the War. The smocks are all the same blue color even though they are styled differently.
A group of teen age pranksters find it difficult to toe the line in a strictly disciplined Catholic school.
Roddy McDowall has a central part in the film. Roddy wore a long trousered suit. He played along side a British Commedian in this Gainsborough comedy film. Roddy plays a rich American kid and Will Hey was employed to be his history teacher. The U.S. gangsters plan to kidnap him and so do. Will Hey rescues him. Roddy plays a smartallic kid (Many child stars have had this role when sparing with adults). He had some great scenes with Will Hey. His tutor is suposed to be teaching him British History and says that the British have won all their conflicts. Roddy replies that we lost the War of Independence. To which Will Hey relies something along
these lines. 'Yes, well I give you that but it we only sent the 'B' team there.' Not quite the quote but this is about the funnist moment. Roddy had a similar scene again when he was in the film "The Pied Piper". The film was an attempt to launch Will Hey on America. The film was not all that funny and
certainly did not include Will Hey's best comedy sketches. These could have been reworked and have been in later comedy films but the gags have been done by different artists. Our British reader writes, "I think that it might have been a mistake for Gauemont British to have had Roddy McDowall in long
trousers. I expect Roddy thought otherwise, but I think the film would have worked better if he had a more boyish appearance in short trousers. Will Hey rescues the lad and the sympathy factor would have worked better to a much younger looking Roddy MacDowall. Will Hey, the bumbling teacher would have
appeared more couragous. Will Hey foils the kidnappers and more by luck than
design rescues the boy. He leads him to safety by walking across a ledge high up on an apartment block. This scene is acted out against a background of the
New York skyline - Empire State building etc.
Short film with a big boy in a suit with short pants, cutaway jacket, frilled blouse, ankle socks, and strap shoes. I have only seen a still and don't know anything about the story line.
Delightful tale about two children, a boy and girl, who run away from home and hide out in the New York City Museum of Modern Art.
About a 12-year old boy growing up in the last year of the British protectorate. He suspects his tutor of being a spy and their friendship becomes strained under the demands of the volatile society. Filmed in Jerusalem
A divorced man searches for his children which are relocated by the Justice Department after their stepfather testifies against the mob.
Mickey Rooney
A Kansas sheriff's son in the 1930s is held hostage after he learns that his new friends are vicious bank robbers.
Rather wearing Japanese film about a company and a kidnapping. The kidnapped boy wears shorts. Two boys seen in a family scene also wear shorts, those short shorts commonly worn by Japanese children. The children only appear briefly, at least in the scenes I saw.
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"High Barbaree" was directed by Jack Conway. It is a well done film about U. S. Navy flier Alec Brooke who is shot down during World War II. The flyer is played by Van Johnson. The film is not really a war film, it s more about the flyer's boyhood. After being shot down he tells another flyer all about his boyhood and youthful escapades. Alec as a boy of about 14 years is played by Claude Jarman Jr. who was about 13 years old at the time. June Allyson has the role of the "girl next door". She moves away but finds Alec again during World War II. The recall their childhood. Some HBC readers rate the film quite highly.
A racing car driver is killed in a crash. His friend looks after his son. The boy (Jack Searl) wears knickers and is sent to a military school.
A Mid-western high school senior tries to oust a snob as the classes most popular preppie. TV child stars of the 1950s and 60s play the teachers and school officials.
One of the insufferable Bowery Boys movies, not to be confused with the Bing Crosby film with the same title. In this one a crooked uncle tries to swindle his nephew from a high society family. The boy is about 11 or 12 and dresses in suits and sports jackets. The boy is a competent little actor, but has terribly written lines. I only saw the last half of the film, but the boy does appear at least once in a black short pants suit with knee socks. Strangely Leo Gorcey dresses up in a short pants tuxedo, I'm not sure why. At this stage the boy is in a long pants suit.
This film was set around car racing. Mickey Rooney
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'A High Wind in Jamaica' is a film based pn a 1929 novel by Welsh writer, Richard Hughes. The novel was at first entitled 'The Innocent Voyage' and was published in America by by Harper & Brothers. Hughes decided to rename the British edition. There have been stge and radio productuons, some uysing the original title. The plot is about five British children are introduced to a strange world after pirates attack their ship. Set in the early-19th century. Two of the children are boys. One is blond, the other has dark hair and a Spanish accent. The children begin to reveal their basic nature aboard the ship. I didn't see the whole movie, but the film did not have any particularly note worthy costuming. The boys are rescued and taken back to England. There is ascene at the end of the film is a scene in the park, two boys in the background are dueling on tricycles. Both wear long pant suits.
Eory R. Rambal?
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I know nothing about this film, but a HBC reader has provided an image with Billy Kent Shaffer and Rin Tin Tin. A boy in the film appears to be wearing knickers and long stockings.
Tolerable, but overly long mystery about the Hindenburg disaster. There are a few teases in it. At the beginning a Hitler Youth band is shown very briefly. Among the passengers are a family with two boys, both of which show up at the air port in short pants suits and caps. They only appear briefly in various scenes. At the end they manage to jump to safety, still in their shorts.
Roddy McDowall has a bit part.
A young boy is pursued through the Texas panhandle by a murderous psychopath.
The film is puportedly about the Hitler Youth. Actually relatively little is shown about the Hitler Youth. The film is more about the love affair between two young adults. Two young people become caught up in the mass hysteria and emotion that propelled Hitler to power. One reviwer describes the film as "A realistic portral of young people caught in the horror of NAZI Germany." While we agree with the "horror of NAZI" Germany we do not agree that the film is a realistic depiction. The film begins in Berlin at the American colony school which is accrossed the street from the Host Wessle Schule and fights occur between the German boys and the American children. The movie is a powerful, but rather perposterous Hollywood melodrama in which some historically accurate depictions are mixed in with outright false scenes. Other aspects I am unsure about. The German boys wear Hitler Youth uniforms to school and the school is run like a military academy. This is simply a false depiction of German schools. The American and other foreign boys wear knickers and long pants. Their clothing seems plausible. The American school flew an American flag. This would have been unlikely unless it was on Embassy grounds which was not the case. The movie touched on the German concentration camps and euthenasia, Lebensborn, and eugenics program with varying degress of accuarcy. The mention of some of these programs in themselves is an improvement on many Hollywood films. The Holocaust is not touched on with the exception of a Jewish boy taken away from school, but the presentaion does not suggest how the Jews were singled out. Perhaps the most repidulous part of the film is the toleration shown by the NAZIs for the Church.
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The first major NAZI propaganda film portraying a brave Hitler Youth member who was killed by communist street fighters. Hitler Youth Quex was about the idealistic and sacrificial spirit of the German youth. A German youth faces a conflict of ideals between his Communist father and his growing allegiance to the Hitler Youth movement which
eventually leads to his own death. Directed by K.A. Schenzinger. The
Hitler Youth movement played an important role in generating the enthusiasm for Hitler and the NAZIs that allowed them to seize power. They also played a role in the street disorders of the late 1920s and early 1930s. This film idealized a Hitler Youth boy that was killed in those disorders. The film as such is a valuable historical document and provides a lot of interesting information about the Hitler Youth uniform in the early years of Third Reich and how it was worn.
See "Europa, Europa."
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