Program – Dads

Two guys – one who seems to have had fatherhood thrust upon him; the other wanted to be a dad so badly – are featured in these comedies.
In “Shadow of the Thin Man”, Nick Charles brings the same effortless style to fatherhood as he does to being a detective, husband, and raconteur. Watch the scene where Nick tries to get his son to drink his milk. (Nick is as witty and fun a functioning alcoholic as could only be portrayed in early post-prohibition movies.)
I never cared for Chevy Chase as a screen presence. His smarmy and smug superiority complex worked in one or two movies at most. In “National Lampoon’s Vacation” and any of its sequels, Chevy succeeds because he ridicules the aching desire to be a cool dad.