User Reviews

Priscilla Lane and May Robson dominate proceedings in this agreeable comedy that borrows themes from the worlds of Frank Capra, Cinderella and Pygmalion, among others.

Jeffrey Lynn is quite appealing as Robson's lawyer, a handsome young fellow assigned to deliver a one million dollar check to department store salesgirl Lane. (It's "conscience money" – Robson has discovered her family fortune is based on a decades-ago swindle that ruined Lane's grandfather.) Naturally Lynn finds himself falling for the very charming Lane, who despite her newly acquired wealth remains stuck on…

Ronald Reagan, a piano player and would-be serious composer whose sour disposition may indicate a stubborn independent streak in the great American tradition—or, may mean he's just kind of a jerk. In any case, Reagan is less than thrilled when suddenly-rich girlfriend Lane urges him to quit his job to write music while she supports him.

Robson plays her trademarked feisty old lady and she is a pleasure to watch, as always. Lynn is fine although the character he plays is unfortunately a bit bland. Reagan has a somewhat challenging role—a potentially fine songwriter who scoffs at popular music and would rather starve than sell out, he doesn't quite succeed in making us see whatever it is that Lane apparently can't resist.

Priscilla Lane herself is certainly the best thing about the picture: She's a Cinderella who sticks to her values and her man regardless of sudden riches and despite Robson's well-intentioned attempts to make her a "lady." Madcap, affectionate, completely charming—when Lane is on the screen (and that's almost every scene), it's really fun to watch.

If the plot doesn't quite work, it is nevertheless a very nice try. The picture does deserve credit for good intentions—and is especially worth watching for any fan of Priscilla Lane.

Don't tune this one in if you're expecting the Clint Eastwood classic, someone may try and slip this one by you. Not that this Million Dollar Baby is entirely bad. It's the kind of silliness that an incredibly skilled group of familiar players make palatable so that you can accept the nonsense on some level.

May Robson does her Applie Annie role in reverse, she's the dowager spinster heiress of an old robber baron whom she discovers got his fortune by bilking a partner back in the day who committed suicide. Seeking to right some wrongs Robson discovers the granddaughter and heir of the deceased partner is Priscilla Lane, proud working person where you find Million Dollar Babies, in a five and ten cent store.

Her lawyer, young Jeffrey Lynn is the agent for Robson's largess, quite a dapper fellow himself. Priscilla's got a boyfriend though, struggling composer Ronald Reagan. Given what Reagan's politics were when he became President of the United States it's a bit much to her him railing against the rich, but who would have figured in 1941.

Some of the best character players around fill out the rest of the cast of Million Dollar Baby and they make the incredible story entertaining in its own way. Helen Westley as Lane's landlady, John Qualen as an eccentric scientist, George Barbier as Robson's former attorney, Lee Patrick as a burlesque queen. There isn't a name I've mentioned in that group that doesn't summon up an image and type that old film viewers know exactly what to expect.

That cast gives Million Dollar Baby the vitality it has. As for Priscilla and her new found millions, will she choose lawyer Lynn or composer Reagan. I won't say, but I will tell you that I think she chose wrong.

This isn't a great movie, though Priscilla Lane is (as usual) better than her material.

But, that said, I was struck with the vocal precision of Nan Wynn in "Who Is in Your Dreams Tonight". Her control was exquisite.

It is amazing to me how very, very good even minor singers were in the 1940's. No, she is not a truly great singer, and I am not a huge fan of 1940's singing. Many later singers and many of her contemporaries were more compelling with weaker vocal skills. (I lean toward Peggy Lee, Chris Connor and Susannah McCorkle on the jazz side.)

But, damn! Who among popular singers exhibits this level of technical skills today. It's a bit like the absence of workmanship in modern manufactured goods.

The best thing about this film is its cast of likable characters. Especially noteworthy is May Robson's performance as Cornelia Wheelwright, the strong-willed millionaire who sets out to right an inherited wrong. She is the perfect mix of gruffness and warmth. Jeffrey Lynn, who plays attorney James Armory, is the biggest surprise for me; I don't remember seeing him before, but he shines as one of the men who fall for the main character.

Priscilla Lane is the titular blonde, Pamela McAllister. Ms. Lane turns in a typical, wonderful performance. Her high energy and ready smile light up the screen.

I think the producers were aiming for a screwball comedy, but the script does not rise to that level. The relationship between Jessica and Peter (Ronald Reagan), the struggling pianist, is problematic. His constant negativity and sarcasm undercut any romantic tension.

Jessica has big decisions to make, and you might be guessing until the end which way she will go. Personally, I found her final choices somewhat disappointing. But this is an entertaining film that guarantees smiles, if not belly laughs.

I love Priscilla Lane, who was great at light comedy but could also play characters with real depth when given the chance. (Check her out in "Blues in the Night"). Her role here is not very demanding, and I could see it being played by many of the other talented movie comediennes of the era. Anne Sheridan was apparently considered, and I could also see Ginger Rogers in the part, but I can't imagine anyone would've played it with more charm and gusto than Priscilla.

May Robson is also great, as always, but the one sour note for me in the movie (no pun intended) is the performance of Ronald Reagan as Priscilla's aspiring composer boyfriend. Ronnie could be a good light comedy leading man, but somehow I just can't buy him as a struggling, tormented artiste. Even worse, he's an entitled, arrogant jerk. I get that he's frustrated playing piano in a "spaghetti restaurant" and not Carnegie Hall, but why does he take it out on Priscilla, who does nothing but give him love and encouragement? His behavior towards her is bullying and borderline abusive, and she must have some serious self-worth issues to put up with him. Sorry if it sounds like I'm looking at a 1941 movie through a 2020 lens, but there were other movies of the period in which women didn't act like such door mats. Maybe it's the way he was directed, but Ronnie needed to bring a lighter touch to his scenes with Priscilla in order for us to understand what she sees in him. (I could see Jimmy Stewart being very good in this role.)

As a movie made during the tail end of the Depression it has that frequent Hollywood theme that money can't buy happiness, and so we see Priscilla having to give away her new found fortune in order to find true love. It's also a favorite Hollywood trope of the time that a real man would never let himself be supported by a wealthy wife. (I doubt that was ever true. Certainly a pianist who wants to spend his time composing symphonies would be happy to have a wealthy benefactress). The business of Priscilla giving her money away gets a bit silly, and the scenes are not directed with the skill of a Capra or Preston Sturges. By the time the movie comes to its anticipated "happy ending" I was sad to say goodbye to Priscilla but feeling a bit exhausted by the whole thing. ("Happy ending" is in quotation marks, because if this were reality, Priscilla would discover she's married a perpetual malcontent, who considers himself too good to play in a restaurant, too good to play in a swing band, and whose symphony got booed, showing that he really isn't anywhere near as talented as he imagines himself.)

As a side note, as a native New Yorker I can tell you that even in 1941 the provided Greenwich Village address of the boarding house was in a pretty nice neighborhood, and not a slum as depicted. Now, in 2020, it's smack in the middle of the richest zip code in America.

May Robson has lived in Switzerland for the last three decades. Then lawyer Jeffrey Lynn shows up with the annual report and a letter which demonstrates er considerable wealth, amassed by her grandfather, was started by cheating a man, leading to his suicide and the impoverishment of his descendants. She returns to America to make arrears to his sole surviving descending, Priscilla Lane. She orders Lynn to present her with a check for a million dollars, but not to say where the money comes from. To understand whom she is bestowing this fortune on, she moves into Miss Lane's boarding house under a fake name. There she finds Miss Lane in a romance with grouchy, would-be musical genius Ronald Reagan. As for Miss Lane, she is thrilled at first, but soon discovers that money doesn't buy happiness.

Miss Robson, as always, is a delight, and so is Miss Lane, playing a sweet young thing. Even Ronald Reagan is funny. However, at a hundred minutes, this goes on too long, as it whipsaws its characters -- and the audience -- through a serious of reverses that are resolved, finally. Director Curtis Bernhardt pulls out all the stops with plenty of slapstick pratfalls -- Lynn is good, Reagan passable, and Miss Lane is doubled by a stunt performer. With a cast that includes Lee Patrick, Helen Westley, George Barbier, Walter Catlett and Richard Carle.

I really wanted to love "Million Dollar Baby". After all, I liked the stars and the film INITIALLY kept my interest. However, as the film progressed I found myself becoming more and more restless and bored...and I couldn't wait until it ended.

Cornelia Wheelwright (May Robson) is a rich old lady. However, when she learns that her father was in fact a crook who cheated his old business partner long ago, she's determined to drop everything and return to America to make things right. The problem is that the only surviving member of the wronged man's family is Pamela (Priscilla Lane)...and eventually you realize that Pamela is an idiot. Why? Well, after she is given a million dollars, instead of doing anything intelligent with it, she reveals her stupidity again and again. First, she doesn't realize that she must pay taxes on it...and argues with the tax man about this! Second, her boyfriend (Ronald Reagan) is a sexist idiot who suddenly hates Pamela now that she's got money. Huh?? And, by the end of the film she comes to the realization that it's best to give away her fortune in order to please her boyfriend's fragile ego! Huh?!

Part of the problem is that times have changed and this plot doesn't work at all today. But a bigger problem is that the film goes on too long and has many scenes that simply don't work. Dull...and not among the best from Warner!

May Robson excelled in parts of eccentric characters. We saw this in "Lady for A Day," which earned her a best actress nomination and years later was the Glenn Ford-Bette Davis vehicle of "Pocketful of Miracles."

In this 1941 wonderful film, Miss Robson plays a very wealthy dowager who learns that her father swindled a man causing the latter to commit suicide. To be repentant, Robson leaves Europe to come to N.Y. and give the granddaughter, a wonderful Priscilla Lane, $1,000,000.

Lane is living in a small housing tenement with an assortment of characters. Her boyfriend, a pianist, lives there. Ronald Reagan is just great here in a comical turn as well as being moody and philosophical about life. This is his second best performance to "King's Row."

This Cinderella-like tale conveys the idea that money can't bring happiness. Jeffrey Lynn is in fine form as Miss White's attorney who gives Lane the money and falls for her romantically.

A wonderful film with the venerable May Robson stealing the show.

Ronald Reagan is actually marvelous as ne'er-do-well boyfriend. Jeffrey Lynn is quite handsome as his rival for Priscilla Lane's attentions. Priscilla, an underrated actress in serious dramas and light comedies alike, does a very professional turn on an airy, yet pleasing, script. Worth a watch. 6/10

For years I have wanted to found a city just to be able to name one of the nicest streets "Priscilla Lane." Of course, I'd want two more to name Rosemary and Lola, too.

But Priscilla is the star of "Million Dollar Baby," giving one of her most sparkling performances. She is so lovable, so adorable that even if she had ever given a bad performance, this role would wipe it out.

Ronald Reagan also gives one of his best performances, with him as a pianist/composer hitting just -- pardon the pun -- the right note. It's worth saying twice: He gives one of his best performances.

Jeffrey Lynn is also great. He was a good-looking guy and extremely likable in this role.

May Robson probably couldn't give a bad performance, and she certainly didn't in "Million Dollar Baby."

Very interesting is John Qualen, in a sympathetic role and not speaking with a Scandinavian accent.

There are some wonderful lines in this intelligent script, even if some of us watching are puzzled by some of the characters' attitude toward money, and toward getting wads of it.

Oh, look for the handsome Charles Drake in an uncredited role.

He was just one of a large and excellent cast, far too many of whom didn't get credit, including the great Herb Vigran (whom I had met when he was in a play with Richard Thomas, and than whom he was a better actor), and he was on screen so briefly I didn't even see him, but he's listed here at IMDb.

One other standout among the un-credited is Irving Bacon as the repulsive federal PIG (Person In Government). Though the scene was no doubt intended as comedy, today's headlines make it too true to be funny.

Seriously, this is a very good movie. I'll watch it again.

Whilst May Robson is on the screen this film is entertaining.As soon as she disappears the film goes down the drain.Priscilla Lane seems to think that the quicker you deliver lines the funnier they will be.Reagans character is so poorly written that you don't know if he is meant to be funny or serious.This must be the umpteenth film of this era where a popular musician had written a symphony.Lynn is plain anonymous.In my view there is only one reason why a film like this seems to have permanently disappeared from sight.The reason is that it simply is not funny or entertaining any more.So don't bother to waste your time watching this film.Watching paint dry is much more interesting!

To right a past wrong, wealthy May Robson (as Cornelia Wheelwright) arrives in New York from Switzerland to find the granddaughter of an old family rival and move into her boarding house, intending to give the young woman a million dollars. Young lawyer Jeffrey Lynn (as James "Jim" Amory) finds pretty Priscilla Lane (as Pamela "Pam" McAllister) working as a lowly department store clerk. He also sees Ms. Lane as a potential romantic partner, but she is dating struggling musician Ronald Reagan (as Peter "Pete" Rowan). Shortly before the 30 minute mark, Ms. Lane has a leggy lingerie scene. Otherwise, this bland romance is highlighted by newcomer Curtis Bernhardt's sprightly direction and a strong supporting cast.

***** Million Dollar Baby (5/31/41) Curtis Bernhardt ~ Priscilla Lane, May Robson, Jeffrey Lynn, Ronald Reagan