It's too bad that aging judge Harry Davenport didn't live long enough to tell off the sanctimonious, gossipy folks who pass themselves off as "the nice people". Starting with wealthy Nella Walker, down to school chaperone Kathryn Card, and many in between (including men), the elders of their community are absolutely wretched in every way, digging up the past of returned citizen Ronald Reagan in regards to teenager Shirley Temple in her soapiest role and returning Ronnie to what he had already been involved with in the much better "Kings Row".
Thanks to pal Jean Porter, Temple learns that she might have been adopted, and with no mention of who her real mother is, Reagan's daughter. Thanks to gossip, Temple is replaced as Juliet in the school play by snotty mean girl Penny Edwards who is also hoping to marry Walker's son, Rory Calhoun, who is interested in Temple, not Edwards. More soapy gossip occurs as Reagan plans to send Temple to college and becomes suddenly popular due to a medal he receives in Washington from the president.
Too deliciously messy to avoid and too darn awful to praise, this just goes too deep in the dirt to find anything artistic and memorable. It's like a Ross Hunter potboiler without the Technicolor and so unintentionally funny that I could hardly call it even a drama. Definitely comes off as a parody, and not even one Carol Burnett could have spoofed in just 20 minutes. The twists just get really bizarre when Reagan breaks off with teacher Lois Maxwell and declares his love elsewhere. If this had been a play, I would have greeted it at curtain call with laughs and eye rolls. Just plain bizarre, and very low on the achievements of its two stars.
Thanks to pal Jean Porter, Temple learns that she might have been adopted, and with no mention of who her real mother is, Reagan's daughter. Thanks to gossip, Temple is replaced as Juliet in the school play by snotty mean girl Penny Edwards who is also hoping to marry Walker's son, Rory Calhoun, who is interested in Temple, not Edwards. More soapy gossip occurs as Reagan plans to send Temple to college and becomes suddenly popular due to a medal he receives in Washington from the president.
Too deliciously messy to avoid and too darn awful to praise, this just goes too deep in the dirt to find anything artistic and memorable. It's like a Ross Hunter potboiler without the Technicolor and so unintentionally funny that I could hardly call it even a drama. Definitely comes off as a parody, and not even one Carol Burnett could have spoofed in just 20 minutes. The twists just get really bizarre when Reagan breaks off with teacher Lois Maxwell and declares his love elsewhere. If this had been a play, I would have greeted it at curtain call with laughs and eye rolls. Just plain bizarre, and very low on the achievements of its two stars.