Return to Love to Learn Place
Return to General Homeschooling Message Board
Return to Special Days / Holidays

Mother's Day NAVIGATION Mother's Day Activities Bible Funnies Movies Poems Quotes Songs Stories

Movies Table of Contents Life with Father (1947) I Remember Mama (1948) Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 ) Bells On Their Toes (1952 ) Cheaper by the Dozen (2003 ) Yours Mine & Ours (1968) Ma & Pa Kettle (1949-53) Sarah Plain and Tall movies (1991 - 1999) Not Without My Daughter (1990) Little Women (1949)

Life with Father (1947) — William Powell as Father, Irene Dunne as Vinnie (the mother), Elizabeth Taylor as Mary, Edmund Gwenn as Rev. Dr. Lloyd, color, 118 min

The move was taken from the memoirs of Clarence Day (born 18 November 1874, New York, died 28 December 1935, New York) entitled Life with Father.  Step back in time and live with the Day family in the 1890s.  Clarence's father was on the New York Stock Exchange and was the master of his home, or was he?  Irene Dunne is brilliant as the matriarch of the family.

I Remember Mama (1948) — Irene Dunne as Mama, Barbara Bel Geddes as Katrin, Oskar Homolka as Uncle Chris, Philip Dorn as Papa, Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Mr. Hyde, Edgar Bergen as Mr. Thorkelson, Rudy Vallee as Dr. Johnson, Barbara O'Neil as Jessie Brown, black and white, 134 minutes

Experience family life with this Norwegian immigrant family in San Francisco around 1910.  Wise Mama knows how important it is to be prudent with the family finances while at the same time providing a strong sense of security and well being for her little ones.  Loosely Kathryn Forbes' book Mama's Bank Account.  Have fun with how traditional Norwegian values are combined with "modern" American ways.

Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 ) — Clifton Webb as Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jeanne Crain as Ann Gilbreth, Myrna Loy as Lillian Gilbreth, color, 85 minutes

Follow the family from Providence, Rhode Island, to Montclair, New Jersey.  Father is an efficiency expert and mama is a child psychologist.  Rarther than fitting the mold, Mr. and Mrs. Gilbreth have their own ideas of education and family life.  Based on the book written by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey entitled Cheaper By The Dozen, enjoy the hilarious experience of living in a family with twelve children at the turn of the century.

Bells On Their Toes (1952 ) — Jeanne Crain as Ann Gilbreth, Myrna Loy as Mrs. Lillian Gilbreth, Debra Paget as Martha Gilbreth, Jeffrey Hunter as Dr. Bob Grayson, Edward Arnold as Sam Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Thomas George Bracken, color, 89 minutes

Frank Bunker Gilbreth has unexpectedly died.  Now Mrs. Lillian Gilbreth needs to make important decisions that will impact the family for generations to come.  Should she split the family up amongst well-being and loving family members or carry on her husband's work and keep her children together as a family?  How does Lillian Gilbreth manage to get all twelve of her children through college?  Experience life with the Gilbreth family.  Based on Ernestine Gilbreth Carey entitled Bells On Their Toes.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) — Steve Martin as Tom Baker, Bonnie Hunt as Kate Baker, Piper Perabo as Nora Baker, Tom Welling as Charlie Baker, Hilary Duff as Lorraine Baker

What would Grandma Lillian Gilbreth have to say about her grandchildren?  The modern Cheaper By The Dozen picks up on the exploits of Grandma Lillian Gilbreth's grandchildren.  The movie is hysterical; however, it would have made more sense to have the family be homeschooled as this would have fit more with Frank & Lillian Gilbreth's concepts of education. Moreover, homeschool families tend to support one another in their personal as well as family goals.  In any event, the movie is funny.

Yours Mine and Ours (1968) — Lucille Ball as Helen North Beardsley, Henry Fonda as Frank Beardsley, Van Johnson as Warrant Officer Darrel Harrison, Louise Troy as Madeleine Love, Sidney Miller as Dr. Ashford, Tom Bosley as Family Doctor, color, 111 minutes

What happens when a widower with 10 children marries a widow with 8?  Can this family of 20 individuals come together?  Based on the book Who Gets the Drumsticks? by Helen Eileen Beardsley (born 5 April 1930, Washington State, died 26 April 2000, Healdsburg, California, of Parkinson's Disease).

Ma & Pa Kettle Movies (1949-53) — Marjorie Main as Ma Kettle, Percy Kilbride as Pa Kettle

Ma is boisterous.  Pa is lazy.  Enjoy the antics of this precursor to The Beverly Hillbillies.  Oh, did I mention they have 15 (or is it 16?) children?

Sarah Plain and Tall (1991) — Glenn Close as Sarah Wheaton, Christopher Walken as Jacob Witting, color, 98 minutes

A Midwestern widower places an advertisement for a wife and mother for his two children in the newspaper.  What will happen when a New England spinster responds?

Sarah Plain and Tall:  Skylark (1993) — Glenn Close as Sarah Wheaton, Christopher Walken as Jacob Witting, color, 95 minutes

Drought has hit Jacob's farm.  How will the family respond?

Sarah Plain and Tall:  Winter's End (1999) — Glenn Close as Sarah Wheaton, Christopher Walken as Jacob Witting, color, 95 minutes

Not Without My Daughter (1990) — Sally Field as Betty Mahmoody, Alfred Molina as Moody, color, 115 minutes

Based on the true story of Betty Mahmoody, an American woman.  Betty and her husband, Moody, take their daughter to Iran on "vacation."  Moody finds himself increasingly under pressure from his family to remain in Islamic Iran.  Betty finds herself alone to protect her daughter, in a strange land, and a hostile environment.  Suspense, terror and escape with her daughter.  The strength of this woman to regain Freedom and Liberty in the USA is certainly inspiring.

Little Women (1939) — June Allyson as Josephine 'Jo' March, Peter Lawford as Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence, Margaret O'Brien as Elizabeth 'Beth' March, Elizabeth Taylor as Amy March, Janet Leigh as Margaret 'Meg' March, color, 121 minutes

Mrs. March and her daughters keep the home fires burning while their father is off fighting in a war.  

Most people know PrestonSpeed Publications brought the classic writings of G.A. Henty back into print.  Entire families are once again enjoying Mr. Henty's work in books, audiobooks, and in The Captain.  Demand the best by demanding PrestonSpeed Publications.  Accept no substitutes!!