Boys and young men these days are hard-pressed to find good role models in current entertainment. While “girl power” and “female empowerment” are the words of the day, males have been woefully disenfranchised in the media. The only movies in which one can consistently find manly male role models were made during the Golden Era of Hollywood.
Classic movies glorified traditional marriage and the family. This was no accident. It’s important to note that the Golden Age of Hollywood was only golden because the Production Code Administration (PCA) ensured that every movie followed the standards of decency set forth in the Motion Picture Production Code. Traditional moral values and decent standards of living were upheld during the 20 years when the PCA was going strong, 1934 to 1954.
Genetic Relationships
When thinking of noteworthy sons in classic movies, roles played by Mickey Rooney come to my mind right away. During the years of his biggest fame at MGM, from around 1935 until he joined the Army in 1943, Rooney won America’s hearts by playing often mischievous but always lovable adolescent and young adults, most notably as Andy Hardy in 16 films. Outside the Hardy Family film series, one of my favorite son roles for Mickey Rooney is Jimmy Connors in “Strike Up the Band” (1940), one of his “Let’s put on a show” musicals with Judy Garland.Jimmy is a senior in high school in a small town and the only child of a widowed mother (Ann Shoemaker). He has big dreams of becoming a jazz drummer and big band leader after he graduates, but his mother has other aspirations for him. Even before his birth, Jimmy’s parents hoped that he would become a doctor, like his late father. Jimmy tries to explain his love for music to his mother, but when he sees how desperately she wants him to be a doctor, he bravely agrees. He doesn’t fight with her, yell at her, or become rebellious. His mature, selfless response to his mother’s wishes follows the Biblical commandment to “Honor thy mother and father.” Mrs. Connor is so moved by his loving behavior that she tells him to follow his musical dreams after all.
In large families, older siblings often act as a second set of parents for their younger brothers and sisters. This couldn’t be illustrated more clearly than in “Belles on Their Toes” (1952), the sequel to “Cheaper by the Dozen” (1950). The large family’s beloved father has died by the second film, so the oldest son, Frank (Robert Arthur), becomes the man of the house. He takes the responsibility of looking after his sisters as their primary male relative, although he’s younger than some of them. For instance, he realizes that Martha (Debra Paget) is smitten by cocky college man Al Lynch (Martin Milner), and she won’t listen to any of her family’s warnings about his insincerity. Frank has to take matters into his own hands to protect his sister. Throughout the film, Frank is a loving, caring, helpful brother to all ten of his siblings.
One of the most beloved male role models any young person can have in his life is a grandfather. Grandpas are like fathers, but they have the wisdom and charm of added life experience. One of my favorite movie grandpas is Martin Vanderhof in “You Can’t Take It with You” (1938), played by Lionel Barrymore. This lovable old dear is so grandfatherly that everyone who knows him calls him Grandpa. He has two grandchildren, his only daughter’s two daughters, Alice Sycamore (Jean Arthur) and Essie Carmichael (Ann Miller). Alice, the film’s leading lady, is closer to her grandpa than her own father or any other member of her rambunctious family. Grandpa is especially close to Alice because she reminds him of his beloved late wife. Grandpa Vanderhof loves to have a good time, playing the harmonica while his loved ones sing, dance, and laugh. He takes care of his large family, as well as friends they’ve adopted and neighbors who count on him. He instilled his whole family with the motto of enjoying life, but he isn’t an idle fool. He’s a very wise man who philosophizes on the world’s problems, advises his granddaughter on important decisions, encourages strangers to follow their dreams, and leads his family in prayer.
A wonderful example of fatherhood in a classic film is George Rose (Cary Grant), whose family members affectionately call him Poppy, in the film “Room for One More” (1952). He and his wife, Anna (Betsy Drake), have three children (two boys and a girl) when the film begins. However, it isn’t long before Anna decides to foster a troubled orphan girl (Iris Mann), much to George’s dismay. George is a typical father. He loves his wife and children, so he works long hours to provide for them. However, he is not enthusiastic about bringing another child into the household. He doubts that they have the money and time to provide for another child, but he agrees to let her stay for a two-week trial. When she tearfully pleads to stay, it’s George who wordlessly accepts her into their family by bringing her bags upstairs. Then, they foster a sickly, rebellious boy, who refuses to let anyone help him. Against his inclination, George becomes a father figure for him, wisely answering his questions and teaching him about life. Even as George misses spending more time with his wife, he is a wonderful father to all his children, both their own and the foster children. By providing the stability, love, and guidance of the father figure they’ve lacked so badly, he helps the two orphans become normal, well-adjusted children.
Legal Relationships
Relationships with one’s parents-in-law are often depicted as their worst possibilities in entertainment, but not so with “Confidentially Connie” (1951). One of the main characters in this story is Louis Calhern as Opie Bedloe, who plays a strong-willed Texas father who goes to visit his grown son, Joe (Van Johnson), and his expectant wife, Connie (Janet Leigh). Joe and his father have been estranged since Joe left the family ranch to become a college professor, so Opie and Connie have never met. As soon as the rancher meets his son’s wife, they become fast friends. Connie doesn’t have a family of her own, so she happily accepts Opie as a father figure. Opie and Connie have a great relationship as father-in-law and daughter-in-law, because he cares about her just as if she were his own daughter, and she becomes closer to him than his own son.
A similar case of a son-in-law who has more understanding for his in-laws than their own child is Robert Wagner as Jerry Denham in “Let’s Make It Legal” (1951). Jerry and his young wife, Barbara (Barbara Bates), live with her mother, Miriam Halsworth (Claudette Colbert). Barbara insists that they can’t abandon her mother during her divorce from her father, Hugh (Macdonald Carey). Jerry suspects that his wife also doesn’t want to give up her mother’s pampering and help with their baby, and her laziness frustrates him. However, Jerry has a close bond with Miriam, who is both a mother figure and a close friend to him. Jerry Denham is a great son-in-law because he loves and respects both his wife’s parents as his own.
One of the most important roles a man can play is husband, and a great example of an admirable husband is Fred MacMurray as Grant Jordan in “Family Honeymoon” (1948). In this movie, a bachelor professor marries a widow (Claudette Colbert) with three young children, and a series of accidents make it necessary for the newlyweds to take the children with them on their honeymoon. Throughout the chaotic trip, Grant proves that he wants to be a true father to the children instead of just their mother’s new husband. This might seem like an example of an outstanding stepfather rather than a husband, but he is so good to his new wife’s children because he loves their mother. When Grant takes those marriage vows about being true to his wife “for better or for worse” and “in sickness and in health,” he meant it, and he knew it meant her children, too. He proves that he is a good husband by kindly but firmly establishing himself as the head of the household.
A Caring Man
A running theme in recent entertainment is that fathers and other figures of male authority are sinister, oppressive tyrants. The word “patriarchy,” which simply means a government or society of which the father or eldest male is the head, is grossly overused and misused in discussions about traditional masculinity, which is now perceived as evil. In contrast, more positive fathers or male authority figures are usually characterized as very goofy, foolish, or effeminate.All seven of these manly familial roles have one thing in common: they are father figures. Even the son and brother, who are teenaged boys, act as the man of their respective households, since their mothers are widowed. Does this mean they are tyrannical or harsh? No, it just means that they are strong, caring, loving protectors of their families, including their mothers, sisters, wives, children, grandchildren, and adoptive children. The current generation needs to revisit these movies and discover some positive, manly male role models.
