Movie Night - Pollyanna

For our movie night last Friday we watched the 1960 version of Pollyanna, starring Hayley Mills. The book Pollyanna was a suggested read aloud recently in our Tapestry of Grace year 4 studies, but we have other books being read aloud right now and just didn't have time to read it. So we watched the movie instead. It had been years since I'd seen this and I forgot how good it is! Absolutely nothing objectionable, and Hayley Mills nails Pollyanna's attitude of always looking on the bright side of any circumstance. Jane Wyman does a great job portraying someone who manipulates and controls nicely. Afterward I used Pollyanna's character to demonstrate another example of an archetype. Our daughter G learned that word last spring while reading Hound of the Baskervilles ~ how Sherlock Holmes became the archetype for all future detectives. So we had a good little literary discussion thrown in there too.

Our 7 and 4 year olds were slightly scared during a scene when Pollyanna and an orphan boy she befriends creep onto the property of a crochity old man who has a reputation for making children disappear into his cellar, never to be seen again. This was largely due to the music creating a suspenseful mood. It lasted only briefly, as Hayley disarms the man with her dazzling smile and sincere fascination with items in his house. And later, this man............well, I don't want to give it away. He does a great thing. :-)

This movie was a winner with everyone, even the boys who at first thought they wouldn't enjoy an entire movie with a girl as the main character.