This is a rough age. To move a kid from the safety of Disney / Pixar (no offense) or Nickelodeon (again no offense) type pictures to something that we all can enjoy (again again no offense) can be tough. I personally witnessed far too many cinematic tug -of- wars over a movie. I would step in where I could. Many times on many Mondays long ago, I would be approached be a newly converted 10 year old who wanted to say they enjoyed the picture. If you have a child who can handle black and white, consider yourself incredibly lucky. Here it goes, again in no particular order.

1) On The Town It’s New York, literally. There was some location shooting done here for this MGM extravaganza. It moves along nicely and the New York thing gives the kids (in New York) something to relate to. Also has the added benefit of being a nice introduction to Frank Sinatra.

2) Singing In The Rain Oh come on, you gotta make ‘em watch this one.

3) National Velvet Liz Taylor, pre - husband(s) and incredibly talented. A girl disguises herslf as a boy to enter a horse race. Mickey Rooney is great as her trainer.

4) Red Pony Robert Mitchum, horses, a kid with a slightly absent father and a John Steinbeck story, what more do you need.

5) Shane A mysterious stranger, a homesteader in trouble and a bad guy in black.

6) Guys And Dolls A nice introduction to Marlon Brando. Shocking as it may seem, Mr. Brando was not known for his musical abilities but the tweens are not ready for A Streetcar Named Desire.

7) Fancy Pants Bob Hope & Lucille Ball, how could it not be safe and funny

8) Night At The Opera Actually any Marx Brother’s picture from here back to Cocoanuts.

9) The Errand Boy 60 million Frenchmen can’t be all wrong and Jerry is a genius after all. Thick in premise, thin in story line. Jerry is an errand boy who wreaks havoc on the back lot of Paramutual Pictures.

10) Freaky Friday The Jodie Foster version. Skip the Lindsay Lohan version. See why Ms. Foster grew up to be a two time Oscar worthy actress as opposed to that Lindsay Lohan who never will.

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