List: Daddies and Daughters in Movies
Posted on June 6, 2009 at 3:58 pm
In honor of Eddie Murphy’s new release, “Imagine That,” Father’s Day, and the two best dads I know, my own dear father and my darling husband, here’s a list of great movie dads and daughters.
1. A Little Princess I love all the film versions of the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett about the girl who is mistreated by her school headmistress after the death of her adored father but holds on to her dignity, her integrity, and her imagination. The BBC miniseries is the most authentic, but the 1995 film directed by Alfonso Cuarón is beautifully done.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
3. “Our Vines Have Tender Grapes” Edward G. Robinson took a break from his usual tough guy roles to play the loving father of a little girl (Margaret O’Brien) in this gentle story of a Norwegian immigrant farm family living in Wisconsin. The movie is based on a book inspired by the childhood of the author’s wife.
4. Father of the Bride
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
6. Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls
7. Paper Moon
8. Love in the Afternoon
9. Monsoon Wedding
10. The Game Plan Duane “The Rock” Johnson plays a pro quarterback who finds out that he is the father of a little girl and that he has a lot to learn about little girls, about parenting, and about what really matters.
, a guide not just to what toys are safe and appropriate but to what toys best engage the imagination and curiosity of children and how best to help them get the most fun — and the most learning — of the toys they get. Her website allows you to 
) 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.
, with three animated stories about the beloved little badger. Author Russell Hoban’s Frances stories are filled with gentle humor and perceptive insights about the way children see the world. The title story has Frances feeling a bit anxious and fearful as it gets closer to bedtime and trying to delay with requests for more hugs and kisses and then asking questions about some of the things that scare her. The DVD comes with a custom-made hard-bound book featuring that story, Bedtime for Frances, which received the “Notable Children’s Book” award from The American Library Association when it originally debuted in 1960. 
