I love classic movies. I can’t exactly remember the first one that I saw; it might’ve been Casablanca. Or Roman Holiday. But whatever it was, I quickly learned to love stars like Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Maureen O’Hara…but my favorites were Jimmy Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, and Grace Kelly.
Come to think of it, thanks to Christmas and my parents, I’m pretty sure my first exposure to classic movies was White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and It’s a Wonderful Life.
Anyway, Casablanca and/or Roman Holiday were followed by Bringing Up Baby. The Philadelphia Story. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Father Goose. Houseboat. Gunga Din. Funny Face. My Fair Lady. I love Alfred Hitchcock, but while many love Psycho and Birds (I’ve seen the first and liked it, haven’t seen the second and don’t much care to), my favorites are by far To Catch a Thief, Rear Window, and North by Northwest. I’ve got a Wishlist set up for Hitchcock on my TiVo and a couple that I’m not familiar with are coming up next week. One or both star Grace Kelly, so I’m looking forward to seeing them.
I’m watching Shenandoah right now. I remember watching this with my parents as a relatively young kid — middle school, I think. Or maybe 9th grade. Not much older than that. Such a great movie. I so prefer it to the similar tale (in a different period) told in Mel Gibson’s The Patriot. It’s a Wonderful Life aside, this is the movie that made me fall in love with Jimmy Stewart.
I just resonate with the fact that these stories could be told — and told well — and these characters could be developed — and developed well — without graphic language, sex, or violence. I prefer the “less is more” philosophy and regret that it seems to have fallen by the wayside as our society continues to erode into one that values the shock factor.
There’s been a resurgence in my love for classic television, too. Hallmark and TV Land rerun The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie, which I grew up on and still love, and I still love watching Leave It to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show as well. I recently learned that some of my favorite shows — The Donna Reed Show, Gidget (the Sally Field TV series, not the Sandra Dee movies) The Patty Duke Show, My Three Sons, and Father Knows Best — are all at least partially released on DVD. I am going to start collecting them, and I’m also going to start introducing the kids to quality programming.
For instance, Hallmark reran a classic Disney movie from 1962 this morning that I’d never seen before — Big Red. It is the story of a young orphan boy who falls in love with the Irish Setter owned by his employer, and how the dog draws the characters together and later saves the boy and his employer’s lives.
All four of the older kids would love it, even now, amidst today’s CGI-packed offerings, like the Harry Potter movies. When I was between Kailin’s age (7) and Kevin and Mia’s ages (12), my brother and cousins and I loved the Disney classics like Parent Trap, Swiss Family Robinson, Pollyanna, and Old Yeller.
As our culture seeks to undermine traditional moral values at every turn, I appreciate more and more the family values and cultural ideals represented in these movies and television shows. I will do my best to teach them to my nieces and nephews and, later, my own children.
In fact, I can already tell you that when I have children, we probably won’t have cable TV at all.

Disney Channel’s much-promoted Princess Protection Program, featuring its two latest stars, Wizards of Waverly Place’s Selena Gomez and Sonny With a Chance’s Demi Lovato, premiered Friday evening.

On Friday, radio talk show host and political commentator Laura Ingraham guest-hosted for Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor. One of Bill’s regular features is his Back of the Book segment. In this particular installment, Laura talked to Anne Rice about the recent popularity of vampires, and whether that was a good or a bad thing.
Everyone’s putting out their “best of” awards — Kristin Dos Santos is accepting votes for her annual Tater Tops event, Michael Ausiello has released his Dream Emmy ballot, etc.
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