Here’s something fun for Father’s Day: who are your top choices for best book or movie dad?
I have a few…
Chevy Chase in the Vacation movies, because even though he’s a screwup, he’s really trying to give his kids great memories.
Also, Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Could be the best book/movie dad ever.
Don Corleone from The Godfather. Do you even have to ask?
Finally, the father from The Sound Of Music, captain Von Trapp. I mean, when you leave behind your fortune to take your children away from Nazi influence, you are pretty much number one across the board. I cry every time I watch that movie, because he, the stoic, strict, tough military man, playing the guitar and singing about his homeland while in his head he knows he is about to flee… and getting so choked up he can’t finish – great stuff.
What about you? Who would you say is a great book or movie dad?
And yes, you may include me, the dad from Savvy Stories, among the voting!
DAN ALATORRE 
31 replies on “Fun for Father’s Day: who are your top choices for best book or movie dad?”
William Powell in “Life with Father.” Always a nostalgic favorite on Father’s Day.
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Don’t think I know that one. I’ll have to check it out.
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The father in Life is Beautiful. Wow!
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Hmm. 🤔
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What do you mean…hmmm? LOL A gentle Jewish-Italian waiter, Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a pretty schoolteacher, and wins her over with his charm and humor. Eventually they marry and have a son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). Their happiness is abruptly halted, however, when Guido and Giosue are separated from Dora and taken to a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game.
Release date: October 23, 1998 (USA)
Director: Roberto Benigni
Featured song: La vita è bella
Awards: Academy Award for Best Actor, More
Languages: English, Italian, German
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I mean I wasn’t sure I’d seen it.
Now I’m sure.
I didn’t.
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One of my favorites! Sadder than Sound of Music!
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Well, sad isn’t the goal. Best dads.
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Geez. I was just trying to relate to your comment about SOM. My movie guy was a loving caring hero to his young child.
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Gotcha
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I saw this. It was absolutely wonderful!
Juliet
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This will sound strange but I liked the Dad in A Christmas Story. Sure he swore a lot and tended to rage, but in the end he knew exactly what his boys needed.
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Yep. I like that story more each time I see it. Why, thats a major prize!
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Fra-gil ee!! We watch the Christmas Story
marathon every Christmas!
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We do too! 😆
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I watch. Not marathon style, but at least one episode. Usually after everyone leave and the family is asleep. Then I can more fully identify.
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It’s hard not to. He’s a good one – real and flawed, but at the end we learn he has his kids’ interests in mind the whole time.
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I like Father of the Bride. Not the newer one but the original with Elizabeth Taylor and Spenser Tracy. Very easy to watch and I like how the father narrated the movie,
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Narration is cool when done properly. I’ll have to rewatch that one!
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Well, Dan, I’ve been sitting here wracking my brain for minutes and minutes but cannot get past Atticus Finch. You nailed it with that one!
BJ
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You’re allowed more than one – but since he’s so high on your list, maybe take a moment to explain to us what it is that makes him so ideal.
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Television Dad.. Andy Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show. Every time I heard little Ronnie Howard, say, “Paw.” I’d get choked up. Film? Other than those you have already mentioned, I am going to add Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland. Although, he was not the father of the Davies’ boys, he was their father-figure. As this is based on a true story, it made my respect for the way Depp handled the role nearly as intense as my respect for author J. M. Barrie, who DID end up being the :father” of those boys following the deaths of both their mother and father. ❤
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Cool. I will have to check it out!
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Hi. A day late cos I was with my own dad yesterday.
Have you seen The Pursuit of Happyness (yes, spelt like that) with Will Smith and his own real-life son Jaden? Will pays a struggling salesman who gets custody of his son. Best movie father ever. Cutest kid ever, ever. Best film in the universe, maybe even beyond.
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I did see it. I’m still gonna go with Atticus Finch.
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Based on To Kill a Mockingbird, I wholeheartedly agree with the choice of Atticus Finch. From the follow-up, Go Set a Watchman, I was disappointed in him as a person and a dad as was Scout in this mediocre book that, perhaps, should have not been released.
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Well, to be fair, she had a lot of help writing the first one, namely from Truman Capote. But when she sent it to the editors they made suggestions to add a lot of political tones. The big thing at the time was racial injustice and this dealt with that head on.
The later book did not enjoy such input and it would’ve been hard to top the first one anyway.
You’re right. Somethings are better left as a one time deal.
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Atticus Finch of course.
Darth Vader gets a close second, though.
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Darth Vader was definitely a misunderstood father.
But then he did chop off his son’s hand and tried to have his daughter assassinated, so…
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Yeah…but he did his fatherly duty in the end, so I guess the moral is, “Parenting: you sorta figure it out as you go.”
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Just maybe not maim your son and try to assassinate your daughter…
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