This would be a most enjoyable period musical if it weren't for the fact that Penrod has the lion's share of the action. True, some of this material is quite amusing. We like the cleverly directed sequence in the schoolroom with suspense supplied by an iris mask around a roving camera and an amazing bit of special effects work.
But unfortunately Penrod out-stays his welcome. There's just too much of him. The script also lets interest suffer by being less taut than its sequel "By the Light of the Silvery Moon". In fact it's so episodic in construction, we can only conclude that the original Tarkington novel is more like a series of inter-related short stories.
Now the movie's good points. Doris Day as usual is an absolute delight. She looks great in Technicolor and period costumes too. And she has a full repertoire of nostalgic songs and dances. MacRae also is in pleasant voice. We especially love the sequence in which he kids the title tune — "Must have been written by a guy with a glass of beer in one hand and a rhyming dictionary in the other!" Another scene to anticipate is his confrontation with the carnival sharpie (deftly played by Eddie Marr).
Day's first meeting with MacRae is a gem. A pity the fun doesn't continue on this high level right to the fade-out but is sidetracked firstly by Penrod's more involved escapades and secondly by the script's descent into jingoism and bathos.
Leading an especially strong support cast, Jack Smith makes a notable contribution to the fun. His work alone as Doris' relentlessly stuffy suitor makes the picture worth seeing. I like his singing too. Oddly, this is the only film I have for him. (Perhaps he was a TV identity).
OTHER VIEWS: For pity's sake, here's a re-make of Penrod with Doris Day, glossy Technicolor and A-1 production values. Although she receives top billing, Doris actually takes second place to Penrod (now called Wesley and here band-box packaged without his little friend) and his occasionally bright but often boring family (Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp, and Mary Wickes of the running joke swinging doors).
Penrod's scrapes rather than Marjorie's occupy center stage. They start off as humorous, but end up tedious. The script is not so much one or two taut plots, but a series of short stories strung very loosely together. Just when you think the proceedings have come to a merciful end, yet another story starts off.
Undeterred, the players all act most enthusiastically through this slapstick charade. They play in fact as if their lines and characters were the funniest in the world. (In the early 1950s, funny families reached their zenith of popularity, both in the movies and on television. Compare Paramount's Dear Ruth series in which the Penrod changeling is a teenage Mona Freeman).
True, the movie starts off most promisingly. MacRae sings the cornball title song with appropriate irony, but unfortunately this witty excursion is but a side trip from the more routine and often lackluster domestic mishaps to come.
It's a shame that Doris has such a comparatively small part, too often playing second fiddle to Billy Gray. She does have some agreeable songs, however, though perhaps not as many as Mr. MacRae. What we do see and hear of her is most attractive.
Although the direction is mostly smoothly routine, it does have its stylish moments. Photography, sets and costumes are suitably bright. Production values are breathtakingly glossy.
In all, "On Moonlight Bay" would be a charming musical comedy if its makers had tried a recipe with a lot more music and a lot less "comedy". — JHR writing as George Addison.
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