Some of the better things that struck me about this movie are in the detailed attention paid to the characters' everyday life, which range from the specific to the universal, with varying degrees of success.
Some of the substantive details that bring this story to life are: the real West Coast of Florida setting, (Tarpon Springs, Florida--an unusual choice in a '40s movie), the worries about money, and the implication that being poor but happy may not be a perfect life choice--at least when it is a choice, the desire for any young woman for something pretty to wear, the palpable tenuousness of life--especially when one builds a nest at so precarious a spot on the coast, and the utter, seemingly random pattern of any life, as exemplified by the appearance of a likable actor whose star never really rose in Hollywood, John Hodiak--who just happens to be walking on a beach at the right moment, (like a good deus ex machina should be.)
I also like the appearances of Jane Darwell and Ann Revere in smaller but significant roles, but then, I almost always welcome these gals in just about any movie. Chill Wills, as the compassionate realist who drives the bus route that runs near the family's ramshackle home, almost steals every scene he appears in during this movie, even when such heartbreakers as child actors Bobby Driscoll and Billy Cummings give him some creditable competition in their scenes together. Come to think of it, Mr. Wills also did very nicely that same year in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) as a philosophical iceman, opposite another natural master scene stealer disguised as a child, Margaret O'Brien.
Despite these sometimes moving and occasionally slick moments tugging at one's heart strings, there is one outstanding true moment in this movie. It is that beautifully played scene when, after one more chaotic day in their grandfather's household in the decaying houseboat that they call home, the two weary sisters in this family snuggle together getting ready to sleep and wind up discussing the absence, (or is it the presence?), of their dead parents. The way that the younger sister (Connie Marshall, whose sad eyes have seen far too much in her brief life), and the eldest child, (Ann Baxter, who gives one of her less affected performances here as the mainstay of a family adrift), try to discuss this without giving in to despair or sentimentality, enabling them both to live with a kind of practical optimism, is very touching. The worried, doubtful look on Miss Marshall's face and her inability to tailor her emotions to the task at hand--as her capable older sister seems to be able to do--makes this movie worth your time.
Connie Marshall, who went on to play even sadder children in Sentimental Journey and Daisy Kenyon, and an amusingly precocious and worldly kid in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, was clearly an accomplished spellbinder at age 11, when this movie was made. From what I gather, she was one more kid actor who was dropped like a hot potato once her usefulness as a guileless youngster faded.
My biggest quibble with this movie is the way that the often good character actor, Charles Winninger, is apparently encouraged to overplay the feeble comic scenes he is given, which get a bit wearing after the 27th exclamation of "Grandfeathers" from one of the kids. I like Winninger, particularly his blend of the buffoonish with the sentimental in Destry Rides Again (1939), but that and other roles would indicate that he was capable of giving a slightly more subtle turn on a walking cliché, no?
Still, this would seem to be a near perfect movie for holiday viewing. It will be shown next on FMC on Wed., Nov. 7th at 7:30 AM ET.
