Our Wednesday Fox asked, “What’s your favorite feel good movie?”
I’ve mentioned that I don’t really watch a lot of movies, so whenever the topic refers to them, I need to spend a lot of time thinking. For this post, I began by listing the movies I’ve seen. Or at least all the movies I remember watching. I know that sounds like a monumental task, but even going back to grade school I was able to only come up with a few dozen titles of movies that I remember watching from beginning to end.
During my grade school years, my family always watched “The Wonderful World of Disney” on Sunday evenings, and I remember seeing several movies that way, often in three or four parts. Davy Crockett, Old Yeller, Johnny Tremaine, and Pollyanna were my favorites. There wasn’t much money for movies in the theater, but I remember a few times Dad treated us to a night at the drive-in. We brought our own food, of course, and by the time the movie was done my younger brothers would often be asleep.
By the time I finished high school I’d watched a couple of movies in the theater with my friends but I was too busy with band and orchestra to go out with them often. I remember seeing Romeo and Juliet, but honestly, nothing else comes to mind. The small town where my undergraduate college was located had one tiny movie theater that didn’t get all the latest films. I think I saw maybe a half dozen there, and none of them were memorable.
My movie watching hasn’t increased during my adult years. I suppose that’s partly because my husband didn’t like to go to the movies (He’d always say, “Why pay money to see a movie when I can watch it at home on TV in a few months?”). But when a movie was on at home, I was usually busy doing something else — laundry, grading papers, shuttling kids around — all the stuff moms do, so I was never able to watch an entire movie from beginning to end. I still find it difficult to simply watch the TV screen. The only way for me to see an entire movie is to sit in a movie theater, and that only happens when someone makes a point of inviting me.
Anyway, once I finished my list of movies, I sorted out the “feel good” ones from the rest. To me, “feel good” means a happy ending, one where the good guys triumph over some sort of villain or bad situation. And the winner?
Star Wars.
The first movie was released the year I graduated from college, and my dad took us to a “dinner theater” which was basically an old movie theater in which every other row of seats was removed, and the remaining seats were fitted with a little desk top, sort of like a school desk. Before the movie started, a server took our dinner orders – basically we got a microwaved TV dinner that was delivered sometime during the first half of the movie. The meal was unremarkable, but the movie was fun.
If you haven’t yet seen the movie, beware of this spoiler: the girl finds her true love, the underdog wins, and humanity is safe.
Angela Schroeder
Patricia Kiyono
Elaine Cantrell
Jeff Salter
Joselyn
Tonette Joyce
Four Foxes, One Hound 
clever idea to turn a small theatre’s seating rows into those little tables… but it’s a shame the meal wasn’t more appetizing. Frankly, the idea of eating in the dark doesn’t grab me at all… since I’d still need to pick out the celery and other green things!
It still amazes me that people can be so different: for me to love movies and for you to (largely) ignore them. I’m not knocking you, of course. I totally understand how consuming music can be, teaching can be, sewing / crafting can be, etc. Plus working moms all deserve combat pay.
I well remember drive-in movies and I’m pretty sure I managed to stay awake for the entire film. Maybe my little sister fell asleep, though.
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The dinner/movie was a unique concept, but it didn’t last long. I imagine others didn’t like eating in the dark – and I imagine it would be a hazard for the servers!
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“Dinner Movie Theater!” My grandkids simply cannot understand how Star Wars changed the world as it was.
“Old Yeller”? I refuse to watch it. I got traumatized by “The Yearling” and have avoided all ‘family’ movies of that era, i.e. : some animal dies.
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I don’t remember liking “Old Yeller” but it was one of the few I remembered from that time.
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Drive-in theaters are, I think, better than a movie theater. I don’t like sitting next to strangers who talk through the movie or are constantly getting up and walking in front of me.
My daughter and I love Pollyanna. She likes to watch it at the beginning of summer.
Wyatt and I both love Star Wars. In fact, Wyatt is currently planning a Star Wars movie marathon with themed foods and drinks to go with it.
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The only drive-in theater left around here is a good hour’s drive, so it’s not something we think about doing any more. I did like them when I was younger. I remember the Disney version of Pollyanna with Hayley Mills. That was a good one. Hope Wyatt has fun with his movie marathon!
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The one with Hayley Mills is our favorite.
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I often went to movies when I was younger, it’s now rare for me to go to one, but whenever I do I always enjoy it.
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