1930's pre-teen star Jane Withers had a lengthy career that lasted longer than mending do in that uncomfortable age of "in-between". Like fellow teen star Judy Garland sang, she was too old for toys but too young for boys, and tries to emulate Betty Davis in "Jezebel" by wearing a red dress at a teen party. While pals with the boy next door (Jackie Cooper), she falls in love with the older William Tracy who really likes Cooper's sister, Martha O'Driscoll, a glamorous socialite type. Toss in fellow child star Edith Fellows as the pretty 15 year old who makes Withers feel unglamorous, and you've got enough teenage angst to fill a dozen Andy Hardy movies.
Jane Withers had been a 20th Century Fox for seven years when she was cast on loan to Columbia in this film that really doesn't know what kind of mood it wants to strike. It starts off comical and becomes rather dramatic after Withers' mother, Josephine Hutchinson, allows her to make a fool out of herself while wearing her red dress so she'll be forced to grow up. Then Withers overhears Tracy and O'Driscoll discussing a poem that she wrote and she is completely humiliated. In other words, poor Janey is not having a good night.
It's nice to see these rare films of Jane Withers, some not easily available and some probably not seen in years. She's an awkward looking star, but that makes her human and vulnerable. I'm sure many teenage girls could relate to her issues in the early 1940s. I don't know if casting Cooper opposite her was a good idea because he was 20 at the time and perhaps more Henry Aldrich in tone than the 15 year old boy he is supposed to be playing here. Such pros as Una Connor, Jonathan Hale and Edgar Buchanan have smaller adult roles but this is one for the teen set. There's a bit of music here to with Tracy and fellows individually singing to a song on the radio, and later Withers gets to sing a bit as well. Not bad, but to be honest, pretty easy to forget about.
Jane Withers had been a 20th Century Fox for seven years when she was cast on loan to Columbia in this film that really doesn't know what kind of mood it wants to strike. It starts off comical and becomes rather dramatic after Withers' mother, Josephine Hutchinson, allows her to make a fool out of herself while wearing her red dress so she'll be forced to grow up. Then Withers overhears Tracy and O'Driscoll discussing a poem that she wrote and she is completely humiliated. In other words, poor Janey is not having a good night.
It's nice to see these rare films of Jane Withers, some not easily available and some probably not seen in years. She's an awkward looking star, but that makes her human and vulnerable. I'm sure many teenage girls could relate to her issues in the early 1940s. I don't know if casting Cooper opposite her was a good idea because he was 20 at the time and perhaps more Henry Aldrich in tone than the 15 year old boy he is supposed to be playing here. Such pros as Una Connor, Jonathan Hale and Edgar Buchanan have smaller adult roles but this is one for the teen set. There's a bit of music here to with Tracy and fellows individually singing to a song on the radio, and later Withers gets to sing a bit as well. Not bad, but to be honest, pretty easy to forget about.