I can see why this movie gets mixed reviews, some okay and some above-average. It is indeed an interesting character study of an innocent girl who, by witnessing her party going mother (June Duprez) live a life void of responsibility begins to live that life as well. She literally comes home to find her mother in a rather indelicate position, and as the next few years go by, she is involved in a racket to help an acquaintance of her mother's (James Dunn) steel furniture. But that racket is short-lived for her as she marries a soldier (William Marshall) who is quickly killed in action, leaving her with a child to raise on her own. Her mother wants no part of it, and a nasty land lady (Rosalind Ivan), sensing that Marshall is neglecting the child, turns the baby over to the authorities causing Marshall to try desperately to win it back any way she can.
One thing I'll say about this soapy melodrama is that Marshall's character has a nice transformation from good to bad to back again, never the innocent young girl again but certainly wiser and more open to leaving a better life. The problem with the film is that it goes from streetwise and brash to sappy and cloying. The cast is consistently excellent, showing a judgmental society that often surprises Marshall with its infrequent kindness. Yet, I couldn't fully believe all of the situations that were happening here, and with its present-day opening (starting mother's Day 1946, and flashing back to mother's Day 1938), it becomes a time travel movie where time stops cold when it begins to change its personality.
One thing I'll say about this soapy melodrama is that Marshall's character has a nice transformation from good to bad to back again, never the innocent young girl again but certainly wiser and more open to leaving a better life. The problem with the film is that it goes from streetwise and brash to sappy and cloying. The cast is consistently excellent, showing a judgmental society that often surprises Marshall with its infrequent kindness. Yet, I couldn't fully believe all of the situations that were happening here, and with its present-day opening (starting mother's Day 1946, and flashing back to mother's Day 1938), it becomes a time travel movie where time stops cold when it begins to change its personality.