# Describe a movie you saw and liked as a kid but can't remember its title **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911 "2014-01-04T23:41:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![jigsaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jigsaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jigsaw)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/141 "2014-03-09T02:44:05Z")
> [@Dr. Zeus](#): > > I think I saw this movie on television around 2000. It probably came out some time before then. I only caught the beginning of it. What I definitely remember is there was a scene in which the housekeeper is dead on the kitchen floor, blood pooling around her. What I think I remember (I am not sure if this actually happened) is there was a new family who moved to the house. One of them came back to find the dead housekeeper. > > I tried searching for the movie, and the only one which had any semblance to what I remembered is What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969), which I have seen described as a dark comedy, and I remember the movie being described as one as well. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t sound quite right. Could it be “What’s the Matter with Alice?” Came out around 1970. Starred Debbie Reynolds and Shelly Winters. ---
**Author:** ![jigsaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jigsaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jigsaw)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/142 "2014-03-09T03:20:05Z")
This has been driving me crazy for decades. I saw the movie in the movies – the Matinee. It was a science fiction film, possibly British. The man in it looked like Walter Pidgeon, but probably wasn’t him. The first part of the film is B/W. It’s about a man who possibly is a Scientist. I think it was made in 1963 or 1964 because I remember the hairstyles. You see the mother and daughter (and son?) walking through the garden. There is a twin planet. Now the film is in color. Again you see the mother and daughter walking through the garden. The father has found a land where everyone is a twin of people on earth. He goes into a building and meets his own twin. But the twin is evil and is going to do something to them. Someone has suggested “Land of Two Suns.” But I read a synopsis of it. It isn’t the movie. I saw this twice when I was about 6 or 7. Never saw it again. Could someone give me a clue? Thank you. jigsaw ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/143 "2014-03-09T03:50:05Z")
I only saw a few minutes of this movie so I can’t describe it very well. My family was staying in a hotel when I saw it, and I think the movie was on HBO or another cable channel rather than on a broadcast network. Every so often I remember it and wonder what movie it could have been. **When did it come out?** Not sure, but I saw it in the late '80s or early '90s and didn’t seem terribly old to me at the time. I’d guess it was from no earlier than the '70s, and probably the '80s. **What plot if any do you remember?** I don’t remember the plot but the setting was Ye Olden Times. As a kid I took it to be the Middle Ages, but I don’t know if that’s accurate. It is my recollection that it was a historic setting and not a fantasy setting. There were some men in armor on some kind of quest or mission. **What was special to you about it?** The scene that’s stuck in my mind all these years is that the characters were in a boat or raft and singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. For years I thought this may have been _Ladyhawke_, which I’d also seen as a kid, but I watched _Ladyhawke_ again when I was older and that’s not it. There may have been a character in the mystery movie that reminded me of the Matthew Broderick character in _Ladyhawke_, though. I feel like the mystery movie was not primarily a comedy but a drama or adventure movie with some comedic elements, ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/144 "2014-03-09T03:54:58Z")
> [@Enola\_Straight](#): > > How 'bout Ensign Pulver? > [Ensign Pulver (1964) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058060/) I saw this with my dad when it first came out. Wasn’t anything like the description of the mystery film. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/145 "2014-03-09T03:59:14Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I only saw a few minutes of this movie so I can’t describe it very well. My family was staying in a hotel when I saw it, and I think the movie was on HBO or another cable channel rather than on a broadcast network. Every so often I remember it and wonder what movie it could have been. > > **When did it come out?** Not sure, but I saw it in the late '80s or early '90s and didn’t seem terribly old to me at the time. I’d guess it was from no earlier than the '70s, and probably the '80s. > > **What plot if any do you remember?** I don’t remember the plot but the setting was Ye Olden Times. As a kid I took it to be the Middle Ages, but I don’t know if that’s accurate. It is my recollection that it was a historic setting and not a fantasy setting. There were some men in armor on some kind of quest or mission. > > **What was special to you about it?** The scene that’s stuck in my mind all these years is that the characters were in a boat or raft and singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. > > For years I thought this may have been _Ladyhawke_, which I’d also seen as a kid, but I watched _Ladyhawke_ again when I was older and that’s not it. There may have been a character in the mystery movie that reminded me of the Matthew Broderick character in _Ladyhawke_, though. I feel like the mystery movie was not primarily a comedy but a drama or adventure movie with some comedic elements, I haven’t seen this movie since it first came out, but could it be your mystery film? > **[Jabberwocky (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabberwocky_(film))** > > Jabberwocky is a 1977 British fantasy comedy film co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam. Jabberwocky stars Michael Palin as Dennis, a cooper's apprentice, who is forced through clumsy, often slapstick misfortunes to hunt a terrible dragon after the death of his father. The film's title is taken from the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1871). > The film is Gilliam's solo directorial debut, after he co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Te... ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/146 "2014-03-09T08:18:45Z")
> [@jigsaw](#): > > This has been driving me crazy for decades. I saw the movie in the movies – the Matinee. It was a science fiction film, possibly British. The man in it looked like Walter Pidgeon, but probably wasn’t him. The first part of the film is B/W. It’s about a man who possibly is a Scientist. I think it was made in 1963 or 1964 because I remember the hairstyles. You see the mother and daughter (and son?) walking through the garden. There is a twin planet. Now the film is in color. Again you see the mother and daughter walking through the garden. The father has found a land where everyone is a twin of people on earth. He goes into a building and meets his own twin. But the twin is evil and is going to do something to them. Someone has suggested “Land of Two Suns.” But I read a synopsis of it. It isn’t the movie. I saw this twice when I was about 6 or 7. Never saw it again. Could someone give me a clue? Thank you. > > jigsaw Could it be Solaris? > **[Solaris (1972) ⭐ 7.9 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069293/)** > > 2h 47m | PG > **[Solaris (1972 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%281972_film%29)** > > Solaris (Russian: Солярис, tr. Solyaris) is a 1972 Soviet psychological science fiction film based on Stanisław Lem's 1961 novel of the same title. The film was co-written and directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, and stars Donatas Banionis and Natalya Bondarchuk. The electronic music score was performed by Eduard Artemyev and features a composition by J.S. Bach as its main theme. The plot centers on a space station orbiting the fictional planet Solaris, where a scientific mission has stalled because t... Scientist - check looks like Walter Pidgeon - sorta Alien twins of people - check mixture of colour and monochrome - check ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/147 "2014-03-09T14:42:19Z")
[Away All Boats.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048971/) From 1956. That may have been screwing up my previous searches; not looking far enough back. :rolleyes: Doesn’t help none that I couldn’t remember anyone who’d starred in it. ---
**Author:** ![Fishybreath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ec9cab/32.png) [@Fishybreath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishybreath)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/148 "2014-03-09T20:09:00Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That was probably a “Comic Strip” movie, and the only black and white one I have found that fits the time and has Rik in it is [The Beat Generation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbajlGGt7YY). Holy shit! That’s it! Thank you so much. I’ve been wondering about that off and on for twenty years. I am forever indebted to you. ---
**Author:** ![jigsaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jigsaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jigsaw)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/149 "2014-03-10T04:26:41Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Could it be Solaris? > [Solaris (1972) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069293/) > [Solaris (1972 film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%281972_film%29) > > Scientist - check > looks like Walter Pidgeon - sorta > Alien twins of people - check > mixture of colour and monochrome - check I checked Solaris, which came out in 1970. That’s not it. This film came out in the early '60’s. Thanks for trying. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/150 "2014-03-10T18:12:11Z")
I saw a movie in the mid-1970’s. It was shown in my school, but I’ve never seen it anywhere else. It was in color, and the plot was about Loch Ness (or possibly some lake that was just like it but in the U.S.) which was supposed to have a legendary monster in it. A businessman was buying up land around the loch (lake) and to save their homes or preserve the environment or something, a boy and a girl pretended that they’d seen the monster, which got a lot of publicity. (I don’t think they built a fake monster, I’m a big fan of the book **The Mad Scientists’ Clu** b and would have recognized that plot.) Anyway, the businessman was suspicious, and followed the kids (who were in a rowboat) in a rowboat of his own, and somehow found proof that they were lying. (Maybe they did make a fake monster?) He loudly rejoiced that, “There’s no monster in this lake!” (Or something.) Needless to say, the next shot was of a sea monster angrily lifting up its head from the lake floor, surfacing, and scaring the living daylights out of the businessman. He gave up his plan (don’t think he died) and the day was saved. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/151 "2014-03-11T00:32:56Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I saw a movie in the mid-1970’s. It was shown in my school, but I’ve never seen it anywhere else. It was in color, and the plot was about Loch Ness (or possibly some lake that was just like it but in the U.S.) which was supposed to have a legendary monster in it. A businessman was buying up land around the loch (lake) and to save their homes or preserve the environment or something, a boy and a girl pretended that they’d seen the monster, which got a lot of publicity. (I don’t think they built a fake monster, I’m a big fan of the book **The Mad Scientists’ Clu** b and would have recognized that plot.) Anyway, the businessman was suspicious, and followed the kids (who were in a rowboat) in a rowboat of his own, and somehow found proof that they were lying. (Maybe they did make a fake monster?) He loudly rejoiced that, “There’s no monster in this lake!” (Or something.) Needless to say, the next shot was of a sea monster angrily lifting up its head from the lake floor, surfacing, and scaring the living daylights out of the businessman. He gave up his plan (don’t think he died) and the day was saved. > > Any ideas? Just a thought: the Disney adaptation of “The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake” was nothing like the chapter in _ **TMSC** _. I didn’t watch it all the way through, since I found it a huge disappointment, but I do remember that Burgess Meredith seemed to be the main character. You might want to check that out… ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/152 "2014-03-11T00:59:40Z")
These: 1. Saw it early to mid 60s; I don’t think it was too old at that time. I’d woken up with a bad dream so my aunt let me watch a movie with her and my older cousin. It was funny, but the only scene I can remember is a swimming pool filled with suds/bubbles. And maybe trucks with loads of bubbles that drifted up and away as they drove. 2. Mid to late 60s, b/w I think. Little girl walking the railroad tracks, singing a sad song. She meets, like, a city guy and tells him a story about a big house she used to live in and her mother, her sister, and her sister’s “suitor.” This may have been set in New Orleans because there was something made of the fact that you can’t bury people underground there. Anyone? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/153 "2014-03-11T01:26:44Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I saw a movie in the mid-1970’s. . . Any ideas? [Earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333831) about [The Johnstown Monster (1971)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067278/combined). Possibly this is it. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/154 "2014-03-11T01:57:02Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > 1. Mid to late 60s, b/w I think. Little girl walking the railroad tracks, singing a sad song. She meets, like, a city guy and tells him a story about a big house she used to live in and her mother, her sister, and her sister’s “suitor.” This may have been set in New Orleans because there was something made of the fact that you can’t bury people underground there. Did the girl’s older sister die of consumption? Did talk about how she did not just fade away gracefully, but … hacked her life out? I don’t remember the name … ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/155 "2014-03-11T02:31:16Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > 1. Mid to late 60s, b/w I think. Little girl walking the railroad tracks, singing a sad song. She meets, like, a city guy and tells him a story about a big house she used to live in and her mother, her sister, and her sister’s “suitor.” This may have been set in New Orleans because there was something made of the fact that you can’t bury people underground there. > > Anyone? Anyone? [This Property Is Condemned](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Property_Is_Condemned) - Wiki Link [IMDB Link](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061089/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm) ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/156 "2014-03-11T12:41:08Z")
THAT’S IT! Oh, wow, it has Natalie Wood in it. And a lot of other stars. Thank you so much–I’m going to watch it tonight. 🙂 From the Wikilink: \*\*This Property Is Condemned is a 1966 American drama film \*starring Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, Kate Reid, Charles Bronson and Mary Badham \*and _directed by Sydney Pollack_. The _screenplay was written by Francis Ford Coppola_, Fred Coe and Edith Sommer. The story was _adapted from the 1946 one-act play of the same name by Tennessee Williams_. The film was released by Paramount Pictures. \*\*No wonder it was so good! Funny that I never saw it or heard of it again until now… ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/157 "2014-03-11T13:30:17Z")
> [@j666](#): > > [This Property Is Condemned](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Property_Is_Condemned) - Wiki Link > [IMDB Link](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061089/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm) GD!!! I was so close to getting to answer one…damndamndamn ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/158 "2014-03-11T14:45:49Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I think I’ve very possibly mixed up a couple of the details by now, but mine is a western that I remember seeing at a drive in. I think it was 1962 or so. > > The memory that sticks out is the young boy in the movie. He was a pretty central character, but that’s all I recall. I developed a huge crush on him. He was dark haired and probably had olive toned skin. I was about six years old and thought he was beautiful. > > I keep thinking he played the part of Hadji in the jonny quest show, but can’t find anything that isn’t animated, so I have no idea what the movie actually was. Death Rides a Horse? It’s about a boy who witnesses his family get slaughtered then gets revenge on the murderers as he turns older. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/159 "2014-03-12T00:03:38Z")
> [@tapu](#): > > \*\*No wonder it was so good! Funny that I never saw it or heard of it again until now… Terribly depressing though, wasn’t it? I still remember that little girl, kicking at stones around the railroad tracks, talking about consumption isn’t … I can’t remember what term she used. She was Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. That’s probably why my mother let me watch it. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911/160 "2014-03-12T02:10:29Z")
Ya, it was a major downer. It captivated me though. After seeing the little girl’s face on IMDB, I went to Mockingbird because I thought she looked familiar. Thanks, **j666**. Thanks, **Dale Sams** , too. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-a-movie-you-saw-and-liked-as-a-kid-but-cant-remember-its-title/677911.md?page=9)