Another Fine Mess

The common refrain I hear these days is, "They just don't make enough family movies!"

Looking at the line-up of new fall movies, there is no doubt that families will have a hard time finding something for kids under 10.

But who needs new movies when there's 80 years of cinema history to explore. We've been doing that lately, viewing classic film comedies by Danny Kaye, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Abbott & Costello, and Charlie Chaplin.

However, my son's favorites by far are Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. We rented a collection of their films on DVD which includes Laurel & Hardy shorts County Hospital, Busy Bodies, and The Music Box as well as the longer Sons of the Desert. Each of these is near-perfect, and my son just couldn't stop laughing at some of the lines, which he now repeats at all hours: "Hardboiled eggs and nuts!" and "Here's another nice mess you've gotten us into." I am now known as "The Exhausted Ruler."

There are so many classic old movies that you can watch with your kids and not have to worry about language and sex. Some of those old comedies do feature their fair share of punches to the nose and slaps to the face, but I explained to my kids that "People used to think that was funny, but now we really don't" and they understand not to start going all Three Stooges on each other.

Rather than look ahead to the disappointing slate of future family films, it's exciting to look back at the huge treasure trove of old films now easily available on DVD.