Celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee Year
Posted on June 5, 2012 at 11:01 am
This week, Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 60th anniversary on the throne.
Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her performance in The Queen
And Colin Firth won an Oscar for his performance as her father, King George V, in The King’s Speech
There are some glimpses of the real-life wedding processional of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in the Fred Astaire musical Royal Wedding
And for the real thing, there’s The Queen 60 Glorious Years Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Edition
One of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most joyous songs is this tribute to the sixth month.
The girls captured by the seven Pontipee brothers sing a sweet song about June brides.
Bubbly June Allyson has one of her best roles in this classic musical set on a college campus.
Based on the real-life story of uber-stage mother Rose Hovick and the two daughters she put into vaudeville, this musical includes some of the greatest Broadway show tunes ever written: “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Some People,” “Let Me Entertain You,” and more. When they were children, they were billed as “Baby June” and “Baby Louise,” and then when they got older, they were billed as “Dainty June” and “Dainty Louise.” The real-life June and Louise grew up to become movie stars and authors June Havoc and Gypsy Rose Lee.
Reese Witherspoon won an Oscar for her portrayal of real-life singer June Carter Cash.
In the world of voice talent, June Foray is Meryl Streep crossed with Angelina Jolie. Among the hundreds of cartoon characters she has helped bring to life are Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Judy Jetson, Granny in the Sylvester and Tweetie Pie cartoons, and Nell in “Dudley Do-Right.” 
Before she appeared on “Lassie” and “Lost in Space,” June Lockhart was perfectly charming in a small role in this beloved family classic starring Judy Garland. 
Amy Adams’ breakthrough role was as a young pregnant wife in this touching film. 
Gary Cooper won an Oscar for his portrayal of WWI hero Alvin York, the pacifist from the hills of Tennessee who carried out one of the most extraordinary missions in military history using lessons from his life on a farm. He captured 132 men by himself, still a record for a single soldier. In addition to the exciting story of his heroism in war, this is also the thoughtful story of his spiritual journey. He is a pacifist, opposed to fighting of any kind. By thinking of what he is doing as saving lives, he is able to find the inspiration and resolve for this historic achievement.
Director Steven Spielberg salutes his father and the greatest generation with this story set in the D-Day invasion of Normandy. It frankly portrays the brutality and carnage of war and its wrenching losses, but it also portrays the honor, sacrifice, heroism, and meaning.
There are battles — and heroes — of all kinds. Henry Fonda plays a Naval lieutenant assigned to a cargo ship during WWII who feels very far from the action. He learns that his defense of the crew against a petty and tyrannical captain (James Cagney), on behalf of “all the guys everywhere who sail from Tedium to Apathy…and back again, with an occasional side trip to Monotony,” is an important and meaningful contribution.
Set during the Korean War but released in and very much a commentary on the Vietnam War, this is the story of surgeons stationed at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. The emphasis is on war’s essential absurdity — these are doctors whose job is to heal soldiers to they can be sent back into battle — and on the ways that different people respond to those situations, responses that often escalate the absurdity. See also “Captain Newman, M.D.,” with Gregory Peck as a sympathetic Army psychiatrist during WWII as well as the long-running television series this film inspired.
The Civil War’s 
An all-star cast shines in this sincere re-telling of the events of the invasion of Normandy D-Day, one of the transformational moments of WWII. Many of the military consultants and advisors who helped with the film’s production were actual participants (from both sides) in the action on D-Day, and are portrayed in the film.
This 10-part miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg is based on the best-seller by Stephen Ambrose about the WWII experiences of E Company (“Easy Company”), the members of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, United States Army 101st Airborne Division and one of its officers, Richard Winters (played by Damian Lewis), from basic training through the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Bastogne and the end of the war.
George C. Scott won an Oscar for his portrayal of WWII General George S. Patton. The film also won six additional Oscars, including Best Picture. Its screenplay, co-written by Francis Ford Coppola, frankly portrays Patton’s mistakes and faults as well as his leadership in turning the tide of the war.
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These two movies, one set in WWII and one contemporary, both center on court martial trials with similar themes — what price do we pay for the luxury of feeling safe?
This underrated gem from Francis Ford Coppola about the “Old Guard,” the regiment responsible for the funerals at Arlington National Cemetery has beautiful performances from James Caan, James Earl Jones, and D.B. Sweeney and subtly but powerfully explores some of the deepest and most troubling questions about the price we pay — and the price we call on others to pay — for our freedoms.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and children! Here are 10 great movie mothers every family should enjoy. Many were based on real-life mothers, with stories and screenplays in some cases written by their grateful families. And don’t forget my all-time favorite, Mrs. Brown in 
) appears with Katharine Hepburn in the 1933 version, Mary Astor (also one of cinema’s best movie mothers in 
) appears with June Allyson in the 1949 version, and Susan Sarandon is Marmee to Winona Ryder’s Jo in the 1994 version. (Don’t forget to read the book, too!)
Cecily Tyson plays a mother who keeps her sharecropper family going after her husband is sent to jail in this beautifully filmed and tender story.
Another tribute to a real-life mother and an Oscar-winning role for Sally Field as a Depression-era widow whose indomitable and inspiring spirit instills resolve in her family and friends.
Some of the best mothers come to us after the women who gave us birth are gone. Glenn Close is perfectly cast in this made-for-television adaptation of the beloved book about a woman who answers an ad from an 18th century homesteader who needs a new wife to care for his children. Followed by two sequels.
One of America’s most remarkable real-life mothers is brought to life by Myrna Loy as Lillian Gilbreath, a pioneering engineer in the early 20th century who raised a dozen children. Be sure to see the sequel and read the books, too. (Not to be confused with the silly remakes that have nothing to do with the real story or the original movie versions.)
There is no more devoted mother than Mrs. Jumbo, whose love for her big-eared elephant baby demonstrates that parental love is not just for humans.
is the story of four different families at Thanksgiving in this film from “Bend it Like Beckham’s” Gurinder Chadha. There are several great mothers in the movie but the one on this list is the fabulous Mercedes Ruehl as Lizzy Avila who knows that part of caring for your family is respecting and caring for yourself.
The mother I want to point out in this film is not the impossible (but irresistible) Aurora, played by Shirley Maclaine, but her daughter Emma, played by Debra Winger. Emma makes mistakes. She has a tendency to be headstrong (inherited from Aurora) and careless. But she is utterly devoted to her children. She says goodbye to her sons, with hastily applied make-up so that they will not see how sick she really is, and she gets right to the essentials, understanding what they most need to hear and what they will most need to remember.
by H.E. Bates later adapted for British television starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.