Thursday Movie Picks:Summer Vacation

I found this a tough week because, aside from one film that popped into my tiny brain, I had a hard time with the second 2. I don't watch the new, mindless teen flicks because they just look like they are typical T & A. I will be excited to see what the other film nuts will choose for this challenge. Head on over to the brainchild, Wandering Through The Shelves, to see what they did choose. Here are my 3.....

1. MR. HOBBS TAKES A VACATION-1962

I just re-watched this film and it really is a fun movie with James Stewart as the patriarch and the beautiful Maureen O'Hara as his wife. This was my obvious pick for this week. It begins with Stewart, who is back to work, dictating his summer vacation to his secretary about the hell he lived through. He takes his family to an old beach house that was beautiful...once, but now looks like something from the Adams family. His teenage daughter is not happy since she has to where braces and his young son is truly upset since he can't watch his western tv show. In comes his 2 other daughters with their husbands and bratty children and chaos ensues. You have a bosomy woman who loves to suntan and chat with husbands, a boat trip with his young son that goes really bad, a nutty future employer(for Stewart's one son in law) and his wife, who seems way too straight laced, and loves bird-watching and Fabian. It is a heartwarming comedy which is made much better with James Stewart and O'Hara. This was the start of a few comedies that Stewart made during this time that had a similar fatherly theme.

2. MUSCLE BEACH PARTY-1964

Yup, this is another Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello movie where they spend their summer vacation on the beach and surfing. You see many of the regulars that appeared in most films like Jody McCrea, and always some fun characters in this case Don Rickles who is the  agent for a bunch of  body builders. You even see a 13 year old Stevie Wonder who makes his film debut in this movie. The body builders find the surfer's secret beach and the surfers are not happy. A bosomy countess decides to make Frankie a teen idol and he is loving it and all but forgetting bosomy, but innocent, Annette. He gets a talking to by his fellow surfers and all ends well. It is a sweet summer flick that is typical of their films. Unfortunately, Eric Von Zipper and his dim wits don't appear in this movie like they do in the rest.

3. ON GOLDEN POND-1981

Talk about doing a 180:) This is a serious film starring 2 greats, Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn, who both won Oscars for their roles in this film. Every summer, for decades, the family would venture to their lakefront home. Kate's character is the strong wife who notices that her husband is dealing with memory issues along with other health problems, namely his heart. Their daughter, portrayed by Jane Fonda, Henry Fonda's real-life daughter, comes to visit with her fiancé and his son. Henry and Jane have many hurdles to overcome and much resentment on both parts. Jane and her fiancé leave his son with her parents and a special bond forms between Henry and the son. It really shows the acting prowess of some greats and the writing is excellent. Jane Fonda credits Katherine Hepburn for helping heal the actual wounds she felt with her dad and found this film hitting close to home. It helped heal their wounds which is even more important since this was Henry Fonda's last film as he was sick when making this. In fact, the director and many on the set were very concerned when Henry did not want to have a stand-in when he was in the water scene so this scene is with Henry Fonda.

What films would you choose?