I saw this movie once about 15 years ago, and never quite forgot it. There was just something about the story that caught my attention. In brief, Ginger Rogers comes from a dysfunctional family up on Primrose Hill. Grandma has a wasp tongue, little sister Honey Mae is practicing to be a floozy, Ma sells her charms to the high flyers for money and presents, and Pa is an educated drunk. Why is it that writers always try to build some value into these pathetic losers. He couldn't just be a drunken weakling, he has to have a degree in Greek Philosophy and drink to forget his unfulfilled dreams. Anyway, Ginger plays the only member of the family with any morals. Joel Mc Crae plays an easy going schlub with an honesty streak. When they accidentally meet and fall in love, she lies to him about her family because she's afraid of losing him. The two of them happily flip burgers for old Henry Travers down at the beach, but You just know this dream can't last. Sure enough he finally meets the family and it all comes apart. He dumps her for lying to him, takes up with the "Portagee girls" from the cannery and she goes back to what's left of her family. Needless to say, love conquers all. So much for the story.
One of the things that first attracted me to this movie was the snappy repartee between Joel Mc Crae and Ginger Rogers and the two of them with the customers at the hamburger stand. On seeing it a second time, I realized just how forced the humor really was. "Try some of our clam chowder, we use only the best inner tubes." "Maybe the Blue Bell has better stew, but we have better bicarbonate." I could go on and on.
The characters were way over the top. If Grandma was really as nasty as she was portrayed, somebody would have strangled her long before she became a Grandma. Anybody living in this kind of poverty would have had to develop some kind of survival skills, yet Joel Mc Crae still ends up dumb as dirt. The "Portagee Gals" seem to live for nothing but dancing, drinking, and whoopie. Henry Travers, as usual, is too good to be true. Not a venal bone in his body. The same is true with Ma and Honey Mae. I've already covered Pa, the drunk, but I should mention the performance of Miles Mander in that part. What a marvelous actor he was - even given the routine material he had to work with.
I have to admit that I never thought that much of Joel Mc Crae (with the exception of Sullivan's Travels) or Ginger Rogers. I may be the only person I know that doesn't fawn over her and Fred Astaire. Still, their performances were adequate, and there was something about their heroic struggle to survive despite the overwhelming odds that makes one feel good deep down inside.
I still recommend this movie. Just try not to wince too much when you hear the "snappy dialogue".
One of the things that first attracted me to this movie was the snappy repartee between Joel Mc Crae and Ginger Rogers and the two of them with the customers at the hamburger stand. On seeing it a second time, I realized just how forced the humor really was. "Try some of our clam chowder, we use only the best inner tubes." "Maybe the Blue Bell has better stew, but we have better bicarbonate." I could go on and on.
The characters were way over the top. If Grandma was really as nasty as she was portrayed, somebody would have strangled her long before she became a Grandma. Anybody living in this kind of poverty would have had to develop some kind of survival skills, yet Joel Mc Crae still ends up dumb as dirt. The "Portagee Gals" seem to live for nothing but dancing, drinking, and whoopie. Henry Travers, as usual, is too good to be true. Not a venal bone in his body. The same is true with Ma and Honey Mae. I've already covered Pa, the drunk, but I should mention the performance of Miles Mander in that part. What a marvelous actor he was - even given the routine material he had to work with.
I have to admit that I never thought that much of Joel Mc Crae (with the exception of Sullivan's Travels) or Ginger Rogers. I may be the only person I know that doesn't fawn over her and Fred Astaire. Still, their performances were adequate, and there was something about their heroic struggle to survive despite the overwhelming odds that makes one feel good deep down inside.
I still recommend this movie. Just try not to wince too much when you hear the "snappy dialogue".