rsda0723
I just caught this film on TCM. It must has escaped because I was the unfortunate one to catch it. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when Gloria Warren comes on the screen as a 3rd rate Deanna Durbin. And she is on a boat (like THREE SMART GIRLS) then gets off the boat and gets on a bike to sing (every other Durbin film). The rest of the musical numbers done by groups of harmonica playing buffoons are torture to watch and more tortuous to listen to. The plot which is about Walter Huston an ex-con and Kay Francis his ex-wife gives them probably no more than an half hour of screen time. This was not remade as YOUNG AT HEART as it states in Trivia. YOUNG AT HEART was a remake of FOUR DAUGHTERS. If this was ever remade, someone forgot to take their pills that day. Slap-dash, moronic, ruined by over acting children and house keeper Una O'Conner. And Anthony Caruso dancing like a follies chorus boy with 2 left feet. And to think we have lost the negatives to such great films but this one survived. What a pity.
calvinnme
I hadn't seen this film for years, and then I only remembered parts of it. The parts I did remember were the dialogue scenes between Kay Francis and estranged hubby Walter Huston, and between Huston and the children who do not know him. This part of the film is very good and made me want to see it again.When I saw it again the other night for the first time in years on TCM I was horrified. Worse, I was somewhat bored. Either I never saw or my memory blocked out the musical portions. Obviously, Warner Bros. was trying to turn Gloria Warren into their own Deanna Durbin, but she just lacked the "star quality" Durbin had and was a completely uninteresting actress, at least in this film.The film could have been a great one if the music had been eliminated and the focus kept on the melodrama - a man (Walter Huston) getting out of prison and giving up a woman who loves him and his children so they can all have some security with a rather bland fellow who wants to marry the woman (Kay Francis). Instead, Huston paces from the "good" side of town where we are tormented by Warren's operatic screeching, to the bad side of town where a novelty harmonica band act torments us some more. Just goes to proves bad music has a home in both the low-brow and high-brow varieties.What gets five stars from me is the warm family story and the title song, "Always In My Heart" which is really quite beautiful and a bit of a theme song for the entire situation portrayed in the film. If you want to see what Kay Francis and Walter Huston can do for a film without all of this distraction thrown in, try to track down a copy of "Gentlemen of the Press". There they really sizzle.
mamacoltharp
I watched this on cable TV, and was delighted with the characters and their bonds of love. The love and understanding of "Munch" for "Mac" made it an uplifting story of how love transcends the years and rough times. I thoroughly enjoyed the contrast of Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals with the otherwise serious elements of the movie. It reminded me of the contrast between John Denver and Placido Domingo singing "Perhaps Love", two beautifully competent musicians of different genres and cultures coming together to make beautiful music! It made the movie interesting, and I enjoyed the humor and music of Borrah and those harmonicas! If I could find it, I'd purchase the DVD for myself and one for my mother, who also loved it!
sdiner82
Even 1942 audiences must have wondered what Walter Huston and Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals were doing in the same movie!A dated, misguided mishmash of soapsuds (a paroled convict goes home incognito to meet his estranged wife and children who think he died), ghastly musical numbers (the theme song is indeed haunting, but after 15 renditions you'll wince), star-vehicle (Warners' ill-advised attempt to turn Gloria Warren into the next Deanna Durbin? Not!), and cornball melodramatics (the waterlogged ending is a corker).All of the above notwithstanding, the luminous performances by Walter Huston and Kay Francis provide fleeting moments of genuine emotion, and the supporting cast -- Sidney Blackmer, Una O'Connor, and the always likable Frankie Thomas -- is first-rate. A pity they weren't rewarded with a first-rate script.
AD
