It's not a good movie, but THAT HAGEN GIRL captures the arrogance of 1940s small town mentality, obsessed with propriety. Shirley Temple, trying to make a crossover from cute singing moppet to teenager roles, plays the illegitimate child of ... well, someone in town. The local gossips think Ronald Reagan is the father. Temple remains a cipher in this, made just before Fort Apache, which was a better venue for her. Ronald Reagan is miscast and appears put off by the whole affair. His frowning, uninvolved performance hurts the movie, as well. Nicely produced with decent supporting performances, but the awfulness of Temple and Reagan is unfortunate. THAT HAGEN GIRL was somewhat popular with audiences, but critics ripped it apart in the day... justifiably so.
Review of That Hagen Girl
