TO BE A BOY IN THIS WORLD
a collection of films (1921-2016) about a boy´s life in this world - a list which i have made from scratch (and not copying it from other imdb user lists). all these movies represent BOYHOOD in different cultural historical societal religious etc. context and from various viewpoints and ages (the protagonists age being approximately from 1 to 18).
most of these films offer an alternative to uninspiringly sweet and stuffy family movies or commercial spectacles (harry potters etc). i think that a constantly and consistently happy boy is a phony anomaly and he is also very boring and disgusting to watch.
if you are a responsible (and perhaps unconventional) adult in a boy´s life you can watch these films together but see and read up my comments and reviews if necessary! many items i have listed here are more or less inapproriate for the youngest viewers or are only relevant for adult audience.
UPDATING OF THE LIST FINISHED AFTER 2016 because of the copycats. I may still add comments and reviews for those films already on the list.
most of these films offer an alternative to uninspiringly sweet and stuffy family movies or commercial spectacles (harry potters etc). i think that a constantly and consistently happy boy is a phony anomaly and he is also very boring and disgusting to watch.
if you are a responsible (and perhaps unconventional) adult in a boy´s life you can watch these films together but see and read up my comments and reviews if necessary! many items i have listed here are more or less inapproriate for the youngest viewers or are only relevant for adult audience.
UPDATING OF THE LIST FINISHED AFTER 2016 because of the copycats. I may still add comments and reviews for those films already on the list.
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- DirectorCharles ChaplinStarsCharles ChaplinEdna PurvianceJackie CooganThe Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.a timeless classic; even a smart phone generation will like it. perhaps a little overrated now as all the chaplin films but mostly enjoyable and watchable.
- DirectorBéla BaloghStarsGéza BerczyErnö VerebesImre KisA couple of boy gangs in Budapest constantly fight over the neighborhood turf. One of the Paul Street gang members is a highly sensitive youth that is humiliated and taunted by members of his own gang as they consider him somewhat of a sissy. In order to prove that he is not yellow and as part of a battle preparation he has to get wet in an icy pond. He does so, his gang wins, and they are about to confer an honor on him the next day, but he has died from getting wet the previous day.one of the early filmings of the famous novel by ferenc molnar.
- DirectorGerhard LamprechtStarsRolf WenkhausKäthe HaackFritz RaspEmil goes to Berlin to see his grandmother with a large amount of money and is offered sweets by a strange man that make him sleep. He wakes up at his stop with no money. It is up to him and a group of children to save the day.a german classic. remade in 1954 and 2001.
- DirectorNikolai EkkStarsNikolay BatalovYvan KyrlyaMikhail DzhagofarovYoung hobos are brought to a new camp to become good Soviet citizens. This camp works without any guards. But crooks kill one of the young people when they try to damage the newly build railroad to that camp.this was the first soviet talkie and nikolas ekk´s only prominent work strongly influenced by other soviet masters of the era. the story is of course propagandistic and unintentionally comical for contemporary viewers but disregarding the funny aspects it still remains a fascinating film and also highly influential in world cinema. especially film freaks and history students will appreciate it. recommended.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTatsuo SaitôTomio AokiMitsuko YoshikawaTwo young brothers throw a tantrum when they discover that their father isn't the most important man in his workplace.one of the greatest silent classics in world cinema by the japanese master yasujiro ozu; absolutely charming and very highly recommended.
- DirectorJulien DuvivierStarsHarry BaurRobert LynenLouis GauthierA red-haired boy is his mother's punching bag ; only his father's presence is a great comfort to him,but this weak man is under the shrew's thumb. His pain is so great he feels suicidal.the suicide of any child is a tragic event, and although relatively rare, it is still a leading cause of death in children under 15 years old worldwide - did you know that? this very old film deals with this painful and terrible topic. of course it is over 80 years old and perhaps handles the theme a bit too lightheartedly but the climax is still horrifying! how rejected and unloved must a child feel that he decides to do the utmost act?
this is not the first cinematic dramatization of the famous autobiographical novel by jules renard (the first was in 1925 by the same director) but i think it is the best and most recommendable. see also comprehensive and illuminating user reviews. - DirectorJean VigoStarsJean DastéRobert le FlonLouis LefebvreIn a repressive boarding school with rigid rules of behavior, four boys decide to rebel against the direction on a celebration day.a surrealist french classic; its anarchism is appealing.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsFreddie BartholomewFrank LawtonEdna May OliverA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.old and perhaps outdated now but many consider this to be the best interpretation of the novel.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsTakeshi SakamotoYoshiko OkadaChôko IidaUnemployed Kihachi and his two sons struggle to make ends meet. But that doesn't keep Kihachi from wooing single mother Otaka.the last silent film is only a minor piece in ozu´s career but is worth a look if you are a really serious fan of the japanese master.
- DirectorMartin FricStarsHugo HaasHana VítováZdenek StepánekSimultaneously filmed Czech language version of a German film, in which an unhappy dogcatcher in the poor part of town has a transformative experience befriending an abandoned boy and a stray animal.a czech classic. i have taken all the available measures to watch this film, to no avail (yet). so i cannot give any personal comment or recommendation but read up on the other reviews.
- DirectorHiroshi ShimizuStarsReikichi KawamuraMitsuko YoshikawaMasao HayamaTwo young boys are usurped from being the head of their gang of children. Their father is fired and arrested for this, and they are sent to live with their uncle, only to spend their time thinking of ways to escape back home.an excellent film by japanese director hiroshi shimizu. highly recommended but the film is unfortunately hard to find.
- DirectorHiroshi ShimizuStarsTeruo FuruyaMasao HayamaShin'ichi HimoriThe brothers of Children In The Wind deal with declining family fortunes: they must work when the father becomes sick, and eventually live with their grandfather, which means making new friends and struggling with a different environment.another marvellous movie about boys life in the 1930s japan, right before WW2; highly recommended. it´s a pity hiroshi shimizu is not so widely known in the west, his films for children are extraordinary!
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyFreddie BartholomewLionel BarrymoreA spoiled brat who falls overboard from a steamship in the 1920s gets picked up by a New England fishing boat, where he's made to earn his keep by joining the crew in their work.a little outdated adventure now, still modestly entertaining.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsTommy KellyJackie MoranAnn GillisTom Sawyer and his pal Huckleberry Finn have great adventures on the Mississippi River, pretending to be pirates, attending their own funeral and witnessing a murder.old-fashioned charm - and in early technicolor!
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsSpencer TracyMickey RooneyHenry HullWhen a death row prisoner tells him he wouldn't have led a life of crime if only he had had one friend as a child, Father Edward Flanagan decides to start a home for young boys.the film is here mainly because of mickey rooney, a big star at the time doing his most memorable role in andy hardy films...
- DirectorMark DonskoyStarsAleksei LyarskyVarvara MassalitinovaMikhail TroyanovskiyA drama reveals the great writer's inauspicious early years as an orphan raised by conniving relatives.childhood of a writer; a soviet masterpiece and therefore recommended.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsWalter PidgeonMaureen O'HaraAnna LeeAt the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.john ford john ford john ford... an american classic.
- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsSabuJoseph CalleiaJohn QualenA boy raised by wild animals tries to adapt to human village life.kipling and korda: an exciting jungle adventure for boys of all ages. note also "the thief of bagdad" (not on the list).
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsNascimento FernandesVital dos SantosAntónio PalmaThe story takes place in the old streets of Porto and by the banks of the Douro River. A gang of very young kids has just accepted a new member, Carlitos, a shy boy who has "played it tough" by stealing a doll in a shop. Carlitos soon has a crush on Terezinha, the only girl in the group. The trouble is that Eduardo, the gang boss, is also in love with the pretty girl. And he will not allow any rival to challenge him.a distant mirror into portuguese life in the middle of the global turmoil in 1942 though the thunder of the ww2 seems to be far away. the childrens acting is little akward but it is perhaps forgivable for the first feature of manoel de oliveira who was to become the most famous and prolific director in the country. a curiosity and a national treasure in portuguese cinema.
- DirectorAlf SjöbergStarsStig JärrelAlf KjellinMai ZetterlingAn idealistic adolescent suffering under the thumb of a sadistic schoolmaster falls in love with a loose girl who is bullied and tormented by another lover.a swedish curiosity from 1944 is a very dark story; for adults only...
- DirectorHumphrey JenningsStarsMichael RedgraveMyra HessJohn GielgudThis brief documentary-style film presents the status of Great Britain near the end of the Second World War by means of a visual diary for a baby boy born in September, 1944. Narration explains to "Timothy" what his family, his neighbors, and his fellow citizens are going through as the war nears its end, and what problems may remain for new Englishmen like Timothy to solve.an extraordinary documentary about britain in 1944-45 and about atmosphere of the country during the last year of the war. poetic and poignant and repeating the intimate mood of "listen to britain" (1942) jennings asks baby timothy jenkins a serious question or rather makes a sincere wish that the post-war generation would be wiser to create a better world. but have we succeeded? perhaps a little borderline film in the list but utterly charming and disarming.
- DirectorVittorio De SicaStarsRinaldo SmordoniFranco InterlenghiAnnielo MeleTwo shoeshine boys in postwar Rome, Italy save up to buy a horse, but their involvement as dupes in a burglary lands them in juvenile prison; the experience take a devastating toll on their friendship.an italian neorealist classic; the tragic end needs little parental guidance but it is a beautiful film, a world cinema gem.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGregory PeckJane WymanClaude Jarman Jr.A boy persuades his parents to allow him to adopt a young deer, but what will happen if the deer misbehaves?a charming old-fashioned hollywood film.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.a great interpretation of the dickens novel. highly recommended. note also lean´s oliver twist.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonAlec GuinnessKay WalshIn Charles Dickens' classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.david lean´s interpretation of the dickens story is quite haunting.