In this blog entry for the Herald, I mark Father’s Day by citing five of the great Father/Son movies ever. And I also celebrate five great Father/Daughter movies.

Captains Courageous (1937)

This Golden Age adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s book holds up remarkably well, and would be worth attempting to foister upon some more adventurous younger viewers, the kind who don’t run screaming at the prospect of a black and white film. Freddie Bartholomew plays a spoiled little rich kid who falls off his industrialist father’s ocean liner and is picked up by a fishing boat. There he learns about hard work and being a good person under the paternal tutelage of a Portuguese fisherman played by Spencer Tracy, the most Dad-like actor who ever lived. If this film’s heart-wrenching finalé doesn’t stir your father/son emotions, then you are truly made of stone.