I was glad TCM decided to make Shirleys' day, a day of her preteen, teenage, and young adult movies. I thoroughly enjoyed each of them, some more than others of course, but still happy movies. One thing that always surprised me about Shirley was that although most people resemble their childhood photos, Shirleys' face never changed, or aged. She always had that cute dimple, and round face, and bright eyes.
Fort Apache:
I loved her in this one. Such a little thing standing up to her father like nobody else on the fort property could. Throughout the whole movie she was a typical teen, knowing all and pitying anyone who was dumber, but in the last five minutes, when JW was giving his speech about the men of the troop, just after, when he introduced her, suddenly she had grown up and become a real married lady.
The Adventure in Baltimore:
The standout in this one was Robert Young. Most of my knowledge of him is as Jim Anderson (Father Knows Best), and although this was a different time period, this seems to be where he honed the way he played Father. He was quiet, cool, and had eyes in the back of his head. Shirley played a rather young, but typical, from what I've seen and read, suffragette. Father understands her need to explore new things and experiences so she has a protector in him, but even though he gets her, not everyone else does.
Cute little movie. No lessons, or warnings, but fun for a couple of hours.
Honeymoon:
This is just a simple little movie, just for fun, and a way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy afternoon. Shirley and Bill want to get married just before he is shipped off to the Army during WWII, but they run into all sorts of problems until Franchot Tone get involved and helps them, but almost loses his girl in the process.
The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer:
This has been on a few times and probably almost everyone has seen it by now. Actually the idea of it is pretty shocking even considering the purity of the post WWII era. Due to Shirleys' shenanigans, Cary Grant is sentenced to DATE Myrna Loys' (the judge), niece because he supposedly made overtures to Shirley. Shirley is a 16 or 17 year old in the movie, and I wonder that the premise was approved by the powers that be. It is also a fun movie and Cary does a good job of making a total idiot of himself in the spirit of the game.
That Hagen Girl:
The first time I saw this one, I got angry and every time since (about 5 more times), I've gotten angry all over again. I know from personal fact that small towns can be very narrow and suspicious with little reason, but this movie takes all of that to a new level. A baby is brought home by her adoptive parents on the same night that the rich girl in town is secretly also brought home, and the town gossip decides the baby is the rich girls' baby, given up to her lowly neighbors, the Hagens. The entire movie results in the town treating the girl (Shirley) like some kind of wanton woman, when she is really a well mannered, lovely young woman, and the worst is when the school board treats her like your average teen age troublemaker. Luckily a temporary teacher comes on scene for one year, and gives the girl some relief, by not treating her like an ex-convict. Ronald Reagan is running around through the scenery trying to find out why his old ex-girlfriend, was forbidden to him as teens, and now as adults. He had added to the mystery by leaving town about the time baby and rich girl returned. I want to pull those people off the screen and strangle them at times because they are so irritating. You probably don't want to watch when you're in a bad mood, especially if you have a teen aged girl in your home at present. But it is actually a good movie and worth watching, so if it comes on again in the near future, I suggest tossing in a tape or DVD. You might like it
.
.
