Movies at the Family Theater lately

Friday night is Family Movie night in our household.

On the small screen here recently:

The Song of Bernadette. Beautiful film; very moving in its portrayal of faith, miracles, and the pure soul of a young French girl. A little long for the kids (2-1/2 hours), but it did manage to keep their attention till the end. From an Amazon reviewer:

There are very few "religious" films that actually achieve a sense of spirituality that makes them work for believers and non-believers alike. "The Song of Bernadette" is one of those rare films, and owes a lot of its power to the Oscar winning performance of Jennifer Jones as Bernadette Soubirous, the young French peasant girl who in 1858 saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in a grotto near the town of Lourdes. While gathering firewood with her sister and a friend, Bernadette was told by the "beautiful lady" to return to the grotto every day for fifteen days. The common folk of Lourdes come to belief in young Bernadette's visions, while the authorities try to put a stop to the nonsense, and the church keeps its distance for the moment.

My birthday is on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, so I have a particular fondness for St. Bernadette, but even if I didn't, I'd love this film.

The Courtship of Eddie's Father. Gosh, was Ron Howard a cute kid. As the mother of an eight-year-old boy, some of the scenes of the heartbroken, motherless Eddie really got to me. On the down side, parts of the movie seemed dated, or a little, well, odd. The kids liked it, though, and it has a happy ending. So, give it a thumbs up.