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THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T (1953). For those who feel Gilliam and Burton's weirdness is just too weird a might dark for the smaller tots, this oddity may be more to your liking. A live-action movie from the mind of Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel - an original screenplay, not adapted from one of his beloved books. A Musical fantasy about kids not wanting to do their piano lessons with some of the ingenious rhyming Seuss wordplay concoctions plus inventive, colorful sets make for memorable fun in the WIZARD OF OZ vein.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF! (1969). I'm a huge Western fan but I know you don't start 'em off with Peckinpah, Leone, Ford and Eastwood so this charmer is a good, fun introduction to the genre for kids. Starring James Garner at his easygoing charismatic best, it's a gentle parody of Westerns minus the raunchy older ingredients found in BLAZING SADDLES, but still with plenty of laughs and slapstick to keep an eight or nine-year-old giggling and interested. Marvelous supporting cast of Western veterans including the scene-stealing Bruce Dern, Jack Elam, Harry Morgan and the hilarious Walter Brennan. A few people have mentioned CAT BALLOU and that's a good start too, but for my money SUPPORT YOU LOCAL SHERIFF! is consistently funnier. But both are better than the likes of THE CASTAWAY COWBOY (1974) or THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG (1975) which young kids may enjoy but parents will likely be bored by.
If you want to turn a slightly older kid onto the genre SHANE (1953) with the story seen through the eyes of a boy is the best of the classics, but those craving a bit more action in the eleven and up crowd should delight to BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969) and THE PROFESSIONALS (1966). I know I did.
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1973). Of all the many, many versions of this story, Richard Lester's is by far the best and most enduring. Led by Michael York as D'Artagnan with Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain and Frank Finlay as the Musketeers and a perfect supporting cast including Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Geraldine Chaplin, Christopher Lee and Chuck Heston as Cardinal Richelieu, it is endlessly fun. I was introduced to this version at ten or eleven and it was my favorite movie not containing the words "Star Wars" or "Lost Ark" for years. Lester and the entire cast are also great in the filmed-at-the-same-time sequel THE FOUR MUSKETEERS (1974), though be warned it has the darker moments of the Alexandre Dumas story. There are some moments that border on the bawdy, but they mostly have to do with Spike Milligan and others fumbling for Raquel's ample cleavage...which much to my dismay, now and then, nobody ever gets a good hold of.
The 1948 MGM version of THREE MUSKETEERS with Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Vincent Price, Keenan Wynn, Gig Young and Angela Lansbury is good and definitely preferable to the atrocious 1993 Disneyized version with Charlie Sheen, Chris O'Donnell and Kiefer Sutherland (despite the best efforts of Oliver Platt and Tim Curry), but the Dick Lester flicks from the '70s are in a class by themselves and not to be missed by anyone, ages ten to a hundred and seven.
