The best Gwen Verdon’s family movies

Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.

A small town band makes it big, but loses track of their roots, as they get caught up into the big-time machinations of the music biz. Now, they must thwart a plot to destroy their home town. Built around the music of the beatles, this musical uses some big name groups like Peter Frampton and Aerosmith.

The film follows the life of Mattie Rigsbee (Ellen Burstyn), an elderly woman who believes in strong religious convictions. The film explores the lonely qualities of life for senior citizens after their children leave as adults. Judge Reinhold and Gail O'Grady play Mattie's children who live in a deep southern town. Mattie soon finds a likable friend in the local dogcatcher, Lamar Benfield (Mark Hamill). It is through this relationship in which she meets the dogcatcher's nephew, a troubled, foul-mouthed, orphaned juvenile delinquent, Wesley (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), currently serving time in juvenile detention for a recent car theft. Mattie finds that this young man is just missing direction and believes that with a little insight on Christianity he can straighten up and fly right.