I lean towards Classic movies when looking for stuff that doesn't have cuss words or risqué situations, like the stuff you'd have found on TCM before they lost a chunk of their movie catalogue to HBO/HBO Max!
With the 4th coming up, I like 1776 (can rent on Prime Video for ~$3) - caveats:
(1) "Sit Down, John!" contains the repeated line "for G-d's sake, John, sit down!"
(2) In dialogue, the word "bastard" is used to describe Ben Franklin's (acknowledged bastard) son, William, who was the Royal/Loyalist Governor of NJ at the time
(3)And there's a lot of implied sexual intercourse w/r/t Tom & Martha Jefferson (first implied during "But Mr Adams" and more than hinted at just ahead of "He Plays the Violin")
(4) Franklin mentions "drinking a whoring" when referring to a trip to New Brunswick (NJ) ... which I thought was hilarious, having attended Rutgers' New Brunswick campus
(5) Like Hamilton, the guys responsible for 1776 played a little fast-and-loose with the historical timeline (especially having Martha Jefferson travel to Philadelphia in the summer of 1776 - she was recovering from a miscarriage in VA at the time) but it's otherwise fine
DD and I love The Wizard of Oz (HBO Max) ... and we also have had LONG discussions about what had to change from the book to the screen, because we love both.
I like Victor/Victoria, but it's a bit risqué - nothing is particularly in-your-face like, say, Rent, but it's another YMMV for OP; it's a Blake Edwards farce starring Julie Andrews as an out-of-work musician who teams up with a broke nightclub owner, portrayed by Robert Preston (you'd recognize him as Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man), to create an act as a female impersonator. Complications, and comedy, ensue.
Show Boat is another one I enjoy; HBO Max has the 1936 version, in which legendary Bass-Baritone (and Rutgers alumnus) Paul Robeson reprises his role from the stage production and that, in my opinion, is worth the price of admission because it's one of the earliest recordings of what would become his signature song, "Old Man River." Caveat: alcoholism & gambling addiction are plot points, but due to the Hays Code, they're not as graphic as they might be today.
And, of course, Meet Me in St Louis is a favorite - my sister and I used to watch it together at Christmas time, so I text her ever time it's on TV. (This is also on HBO Max.)
In the TCM section of HBO Max, they also have a bunch of Charlie Chaplin pictures. I recommend Modern Times, The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator. I also have a soft spot for The Immigrant, because every time it showed on TV, my father would say it reminded him of stories my great-grandmother told about making the Atlantic crossing. If Chaplin's not your thing, they've also got a bunch of Harold Lloyd films!
I Married a Witch is another one of my favorites; YMMV, but Veronica Lake is a vision in it. (She and her co-star, Fredrick March, HAAAATED each other & would antagonize each other on set. It's astonishing that their screen chemistry is so good!) For a variation on the "witch in disguise" theme, I recommend Bell, Book and Candle, starring Kim Novak & James Stewart (even if he's too old for the part.)
Speaking of James Stewart, he's an absolute delight as Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey.
A Hard Day's Night is hilarious, too - it's The Beatles' first film, directed by Richard Lester, and it's pretty much an extended music video with a loose plot. It's got a wonderful sequence that cemented my love for Ringo forever and ever, but some of the one-liners are things I try very hard not to reference unless someone else has seen the film. (Find it on HBO Max)
Last edited by lizzywednesday; 06-28-2022 at 04:36 PM.
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Liz
DD (3/2010)
"Make mistakes! Get messy!" - Miss Frizzle