Let's talk movies for a moment.
By Dino Thompson
CHILD PERFORMANCES
THESE SQUIRTS MESMERIZE… NO METHOD MADNESS, NO JULIARD JUICE, NO BROADWAY BACKGROUNDS, I WATCH THESE MOVIES OVER AND OVER JUST TO SEE THESE KIDS STRUT THEIR STUFF.
HERE'S MY 15 GOTTA-SEE LIST WITH 15 WORTHY RUNNER-UPS.
THREE DID COP SUPPORTING-ACTRESS OSCARS, MARY BADHAM WAS BEAT OUT IN `62 BY PATTY DUKE. CLAUDE JARMAN JR. RECEIVED A SPECIAL OSCAR.
ALL THE REST WUZ ROBBED.
THE PROFESSIONAL- '94, NATALIE PORTMAN as Matilda, orphan'd wannabe cleaner.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD- '62, MARY BADHAM as tomboy Scout Finch.
CINEMA PARADISO- '88, SALVATORE CASCIO as blind projectionist's young friend Toto.
THE SIXTH SENSE- '99, HAYLEY J. OSMANT as the tortured boy who sees dead people.
SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER- '93, MAX POMERANC as reluctant chess prodigy.
MIRACLE WORKER- '62, PATTY DUKE * as the young untamable blind/deaf Helen Keller.
THE CHAMP- '31, JACKIE COOPER as the dying fighter's son.
PAPER MOON- '73, TATUM O'NEAL * as con man's sassy daughter.
OLD YELLER- '57, KEVIN CORCORAN as frontier boy with the ugly yeller dog.
THE BLACK STALLION- '79, KELLY RENO as shipwreck victim saved by a horse.
NATIONAL VELVET- '44, LIZ TAYLOR as prissy but steely horse racer.
THE YEARLING- '46, CLAUDE JARMAN JR * as dirt poor kid who rescues a fawn.
THE KID- `21, JACKIE COOGAN as Chaplin's adopted kid.
WIZARD OF OZ- '39, JUDY GARLAND as Kansas girl Dorothy.
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS- '37, FREDDIE BATHOLOMEW as rescued rich boy
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE- 08, AYUSH KHEDECKAR as the young slumdog.
BOYS TOWN- '38, MICKEY ROONEY as one of Father Flannagan's orphans.
ET- '82, HENRY THOMAS as ET's only earthly buddy.
DAVID COPPERFIELD- '35, FREDDIE BARTHOLOMEW as child trapped with thieves.
ELEPHANT BOY- '37, Former stable boy SABU, is elephant boy.
EMPIRE OF THE SUN- '87, CHRISTIAN BALE as Japanese concentration camp prisoner.
THE PIANO- '93, ANNA PAQUIN * as daughter of a mute.
LASSIE COMES HOME- '43, RODDY McDOWELL is Lassie's owner.
MY GIRL- '91, ANNA CHLUMSKY as 11-yr-old funeral director's tomboy daughter.
OLIVER- '68, MARK LESTER as street urchin Oliver Twist
SHANE- '53, BRANDON DE WILDE as sodbuster's son.
SLING BLADE- '96, LUCAS BLACK as the only friend of the slow-witted asylum inmate.
TAXI DRIVER- '76, JODIE FOSTER as street-tough prostitute.
A PERFECT WORLD- '93, T.J. LOWTHER as Costner's fatherless 8-year old hostage.
A BRONX TALE- '93, as Deniro's 9-yr-old son wiseguy-infatuated son.
