Movies for Elderly Mom -- Age 86

[disney1990]

My Mom lives alone in a senior apartment complex. There really isn't anything that she needs or wants for Christmas. So we have decided to get her a DVD player for Christmas.

I am looking for movies that you think might be appropriate for an 86 year old woman -- it has to have very, very little or no profanity.

The only ones that immediately come to mind are some old Elvis movies -- I know she use to love to watch those.

 

[Glynis]

How about some movies from the 40's and 50's. Things that she would remember.

 

[pearlieq]

How about old classics and the 60's musicals? Some good ones:

The Philadelphia Story
Woman of the Year
Singin' in the Rain
The Sound of Music
My Fair Lady
South Pacific
Gone With the Wind
It Happened One Night
On the Town

 

[OceanAnnie]

I just looked up some that are rated. I took a guess:

http://movies.toptenreviews.com/list_d1940.htm

http://www.imdb.com/chart/1940s

1. 8.8 Casablanca (1942) 153,592
2. 8.6 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 91,994
3. 8.6 Citizen Kane (1941) 128,006
4. 8.6 Double Indemnity (1944) 33,260
5. 8.5 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) 29,854
6. 8.5 The Third Man (1949) 46,432
7. 8.4 Ladri di biciclette (1948) 23,941
8. 8.4 Rebecca (1940) 32,003
9. 8.4 The Maltese Falcon (1941) 47,077
10. 8.4 The Great Dictator (1940) 32,670
11. 8.3 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) 11,622
12. 8.3 Notorious (1946) 28,397
13. 8.3 The Big Sleep (1946) 26,315
14. 8.3 Brief Encounter (1945) 11,791
15. 8.2 The Grapes of Wrath (1940) 21,072
16. 8.2 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) 15,683
17. 8.2 The Heiress (1949) 3,948
18. 8.2 Roma, città aperta (1945) 5,589
19. 8.2 The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) 8,219
20. 8.2 The Lost Weekend (1945) 10,928
21. 8.2 The Red Shoes (1948) 7,214
22. 8.2 Great Expectations (1946) 9,072
23. 8.2 Shadow of a Doubt (1943) 19,100
24. 8.1 Sullivan's Travels (1941) 8,214
25. 8.1 I Remember Mama (1948) 2,084
26. 8.1 The Lady Eve (1941) 6,506
27. 8.1 La belle et la bête (1946) 8,757
28. 8.1 Laura (1944) 12,972
29. 8.1 His Girl Friday (1940) 18,803
30. 8.1 Black Narcissus (1947) 6,092
31. 8.1 To Have and Have Not (1944) 11,687
32. 8.1 Rope (1948) 27,744
33. 8.1 The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) 4,075
34. 8.1 The Philadelphia Story (1940) 25,369
35. 8.1 The Little Foxes (1941) 3,653
36. 8.1 Out of the Past (1947) 9,823
37. 8.0 Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) 27,118
38. 8.0 White Heat (1949) 9,306
39. 8.0 The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) 8,043
40. 8.0 Key Largo (1948) 13,983
41. 8.0 The More the Merrier (1943) 1,486
42. 8.0 The Palm Beach Story (1942) 3,750
43. 8.0 Hamlet (1948) 4,943
44. 8.0 Miracle on 34th Street (1947) 11,865
45. 8.0 Sergeant York (1941) 5,840
46. 8.0 Lifeboat (1944) 8,784
47. 8.0 To Be or Not to Be (1942) 8,397
48. 8.0 A Matter of Life and Death (1946) 5,863
49. 7.9 Les enfants du paradis (1945) 7,355
50. 7.9 The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) 3,20

 

[NMAmy]

Get her some old movies. Some of my favorites:

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (I just saw this yesterday and had forgotten how great it is!)
Bringing Up Baby
The Philadelphia Story
Arsenic and Old Lace
Twelve Angry Men
Inherit the Wind
To Kill a Mockingbird

or some old musicals:
Gigi
The Sound of Music
An American in Paris
Brigadoon
Guys & Dolls
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

 

[pearlieq]

Bringing Up Baby

Ooh, I forgot about that one. Good call!

 

[babylisa4]

Mr. Holland's Opus

(she was a teacher so maybe that is why)

 

[Cindy B]

My FIL loved that A night to Remember-- (I think?)- this was an old Titanic movie with Barbara Stanwyck.

Modern movies could be The Notebook.. my FIL liked that one as well and is set in the 40's.

 

[SpecialK]

I went down this same path with my dad before he died. He enjoyed movies like "You've got Mail" and other, newer light romantic comedy. I got him a mix of new and old.

I joined Netflix and set up a queue for him. You can choose movies there based upon rating. I took care of the queue and the billing; all he had to do was mail the movies.

 

[NMAmy]

Ooh, I forgot about that one. Good call!

We have very similar tastes in old movies!

 

[McKelly]

What about Hallmark movies? I have seen them at Hallmark stores, they are usually pretty good and wholesome.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

What about looking here http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx for lists of top movies?

 

[NC State]

How about old classics and the 60's musicals? Some good ones:

The Philadelphia Story
Woman of the Year
Singin' in the Rain
The Sound of Music
My Fair Lady
South Pacific
Gone With the Wind
It Happened One Night
On the Town

That's a good list.

I'm 45 and don't care for the new movies because they are not family friendly. If she has cable or dish you may want to check to see if she can pick up the TCM channel that's all I watch.

 

[BelleWDW]

FRED ASTAIRE AND Doris Day movies

 

[happygirl]

Fried Green Tomatoes
Miracle on 42nd Street

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What about Hallmark movies? I have seen them at Hallmark stores, they are usually pretty good and wholesome.

My mom watches the Hallmark channel. It is her favorite.

Since it is a Christmas present, the old classics like It's A Wonderful Life come to mind.

 

[nancys]

Very good suggestions so far. I agree with SpecialK about joing Netflix for her; a better deal than buying, I think.

 

[ms1031]

Driving Miss Daisy
Mildred Pierce
Pride and Prejudice (the Colin Firth mini-series version is my favorite)
To Catch a Thief
It's a Wonderful Life
Casablanca
African Queen
National Velvet
The Wizard of Oz
Now, Voyager
The Women
Sunset Boulevard
Auntie Mame
Roman Holiday
Sabrina

 

[NancyK]

Our Costco and Best Buy (here in Canada) both have boxed sets of old movies.

 

[minniecarousel]

Old TV shows are on DVD too: Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, Dick Van ****, etc.