The one-day vacation

And because I’m not getting the big vacation, I feel entitled to luxuriate in a very small one. Namely, the one-day, stay-at-home, double-feature vacation. This little holiday feels deliciously bad, as it involves ignoring the Puritanical voice in my head which insists that if I am going to take a day off I should be outdoors weeding or taking a walk or (and here the voice definitely starts to sound like my mother) enjoying the beautiful sunny weather! But the fact is, I am enjoying the beautiful sunny weather. I’m enjoying sitting inside during it, watching movies.

The point of this vacation is to keep it small, but within that smallness to embrace excess. One movie isn’t enough. In order for this day to leave you feeling pleasantly wiped out, as any good vacation should, you need to plan a double feature. Some suggestions:

“12 Angry Men’’ (1957) and “The Wrong Man’’ (1956), both starring Henry Fonda as the upright, sensitive man wrestling with the American justice system. In “The Wrong Man,’’ he’s an innocent guy accused of a crime, and in “12 Angry Men’’ he’s a juror who believes that the accused guy is innocent. Nobody radiated integrity like Fonda; he brought quiet dignity and honor to every part he played. In “12 Angry Men,’’ he shows the impact that dignity could have on an unfair situation — and in “The Wrong Man,’’ he memorably and painfully shows the impact of an unfair situation on a man’s dignity.

“All This and Heaven Too’’ (1940) and “All About Eve’’ (1950). Two Bette Davis movies, especially interesting when paired. In the first she’s the threatening younger woman (the governess in the household of a French nobleman who prefers her to his hysterical, jealous wife), and in the second she’s the threatened older woman (an actress whose jealousy of her young protégée is thought to be hysterical). The first movie has Charles Boyer; and the second has some of the driest and wittiest dialogue ever written for the screen. Like nearly all Bette Davis movies, each of these is about a woman who is humiliated in some way. But whether she plays a demure character or a character enraged by another’s demureness, the takeaway message is that nobody gets to humiliate Bette Davis. “The Miracle Worker’’ (1962) and “The Wild Child’’ (1970). Both movies, based on true stories, explore the relationship between a teacher and a child so isolated that he or she doesn’t understand that there is such a thing as communication. “The Miracle Worker’’ follows the battle of wills between Annie Sullivan and her pupil Helen Keller, who can neither see nor hear. Each advance feels like an advance; you’re waiting for Helen to be pulled out of the darkness, first unwillingly and then with comprehension, excitement, and joy. Even the title tells you something good is happening. With “The Wild Child,’’ you’re not so sure. Director Francois Truffaut plays the patient teacher of the “wild boy’’ captured in the woods in 18th-century France. Watching the wild child become civilized is an ambivalent experience, both for the teacher and for the audience. Something unmanageable is tamed; something extraordinary becomes commonplace. Every gain is also a loss.And a final suggestion: “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’’ (1969) and “An Education’’ (2009). What can a bright young girl in a school uniform learn from a charismatic narcissist whose boundaries may or may not be in place? These two films are sharp and enjoyable — precisely because of their nonjudgmental portrayal of things that, in real life, would feel morally queasy. If you need relief, you might throw in “To Sir with Love’’ (1967) where Sidney Poitier manages to change students’ lives without exploitation. But that would be a triple feature. You might need another vacation day.

Joan Wickersham’s website is www.joanwickersham.com. Her column appears regularly in the Globe.