Easy. The very first film that popped into my head is one that I've loved for years - Whistle Down the Wind.
It's a charming tale of the innocence of childhood and how sometimes the adult world just doesn't make sense. I know it was made into a West End Musical, but please don't hold that against it.
The story is set in t' North of England and stars Hayley Mills as the eldest of three siblings. Whilst trying to save some kittens from being drowned the children discover a man hiding in their barn. 'The Man' (Alan Bates) is on the run from police and when he sees the kids lets out a 'Jesus Christ'. They then believe he is indeed Jesus and try to help him hide from the adults of the village.
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| Courtest of Filmfanatic.org |
It's a beautiful story but what I like best about it is the youngest boy Charles (Alan Barnes) who gets all the best lines such as 'He aint Jesus. He's just a fella', or when hiding a kitten under his coat is asked 'What have you got under your coat', and replies 'Me pully'. I also absolutely love that in some of the barn scenes he can be seen mouthing the lines of the other characters before he says his own. Classic.
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| Courtest of Filmfanatic.org |
That actually reminds me of when I was in a local Christmas play and one of the other girls, lets call her Samantha (cause that was her name), forgot to say her line so an enterprising elf said it for her. Cue raging Samantha storming across the stage shouting 'THAT WAS MY LINE!!'.
Anyway, I digress.
My last bit of trivia about little Alan Barnes is that when he came on to the set the first day of filming he saw three directors chairs with the names of the director and the two lead actors on them. On seeing Alan Bate's chair he declared loudly 'You've spelt me name wrong'. Cue a personalised miniature directors chair being brought in next day.
Watch it with the kids sometime. It's fab.
