A Pet Otter and Classics for the Family

Video

Anchor Bay Entertainment’s new “Family Movies Collection” puts the spotlight on family films of the past, including some true classics.

Ring of Bright Water. 106 minutes. $9.99. Starring Bill Travers, this tale about a man and an otter is well-acted, genuinely heartwarming and romantic besides. Based on Gavin Maxwell’s book, the lovely, non-sappy British film traces the life changes that happen to a man when, on a whim, he buys an otter for a pet in a London shop. His deep bond with his mischievous housemate (a scene-stealing otter named Mij) leads to a move to the countryside of Scotland where adventure, romance and a new life for both await.

Little Lord Fauntleroy. 105 minutes. $9.99. This well-made vintage tale, made in 1936 and based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s charming novel, stars the amazing child star Freddie Bartholomew as an endearing boy who lives with his widowed mother in New York, learns he’s an English lord and returns to his ancestral home. Once there, he shows the stuff he’s made of and wins over the seemingly heartless old Earl of Dorincourt, his grandfather. A teenage Mickey Rooney plays his pal Dick, a feisty Brooklyn shoeshine boy.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. 93 minutes. $9.99. Directed by Academy Award winner Norman Taurog, this is the playful (except for the intense cave scene) 1938 David O. Selznick version, a vividly nostalgic film treatment of Mark Twain’s enduring creation, with Tommy Kelly as Tom, Ann Gills as the best Becky Thatcher to date and a supporting cast of some of Hollywood’s finest character actors.

Huckleberry Finn. 74 minutes, $9.99. Before he was a respected Hollywood director--and even though he seemed much more Tom Sawyer-like--the very likable Ron Howard starred as Mark Twain’s anarchic boy hero Huckleberry Finn in this nicely made if surface-skimming 1975 made-for-TV movie.

Anchor Bay Entertainment: (800) 745-1145.