On Moonlight Bay

Plot

Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams, coupled with his Penrod stories, were incorporated in the script of the 1951 Warner Bros. musical On Moonlight Bay. The role of the incorrigible Penrod is played by future Father Knows Best regular Billy Gray, but his is a strictly secondary part herein. The emphasis is on Penrod's hoydenish older sister, played by Doris Day. She falls in love with Gordon MacRae, whose mildly anti-capitalist sentiments sit not at all well with Doris' banker dad (Leon Ames). Once a subplot involving Penrod's prevarications concerning his father's drinking habits is out of the way, we are treated to several romantic scenes involving Doris and Gordon, and a steady stream of early-20th-century standards like "Till We Meet Again," "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," "Cuddle Up a Little Closer," and the title song. On Moonlight Bay ends with MacRae marching off to World War I and Doris promising she'll wait for him; she did, as was proven in the 1953 sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Review

A pleasant little slice of turn-of-the-20th-century-themed Americana, On Moonlight Bay is less concerned with telling its slight story than with recreating a vanished American innocence that may very well never have existed exactly the way it is portrayed in films such as this. Moonlight is in the tradition of Meet Me in St. Louis, but it falls short of that film's classic status, largely because the latter film was more concerned with populating its Americana with specific characters and situations. The characters in Moonlight are rather on the thin side, and while they hold our interest, they don't allow for engagement except on a superficially entertaining level. Moonlight also has a score that draws almost exclusively from songs of the era, and while these are good songs, they aren't specific to the film or its characters and therefore their dramatic impact is somewhat muted. However, these songs are performed to a fare thee well by the silver-voiced Doris Day and Gordon MacRae. The performers are a treat, and they work their magic over Moonlight. Also invaluable is Billy Gray as the impish younger brother, and there's solid support from Mary Wickes, Rosemary de Camp and Leon Ames as well. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Doris Day - Marjorie Winfield
• Gordon MacRae - William Sherman
• "Smiling" Jack Smith - Hubert Wakeley
• Leon Ames - George Winfield
• Rosemary de Camp - Mrs. Winfield

Mary Wickes - Stella; Ellen Corby - Miss Stevens; Jeffrey Stevens - Jim Sherman; Eddie Marr - Barker; Sig Arno - Dancing Instructor; Louis Austin - Mother [Silent Movie Cast]; Esther Dale - Aunt Martha; James Dobson - Soldier; Billy Gray - Wesley Winfield; Creighton Hale - Father [Silent Movie Cast]; Anne Kimbell - Daughter [Silent Movie Cast]; Hank Mann - Salesman-in Silent Movie; Ralph Montgomery - Salesmen [Silent Movie Cast]; Rolland Morris - Sleeping Soldier; Jack Mower - Salesman-in Silent Movie; Ray Spiker - Bartender [Silent Movie Cast]; Susan Whitney - Cora

Credit

Douglas Bacon - Art Director, LeRoy J. Prinz - Choreography, Milo Anderson - Costume Designer, Marjorie Best - Costume Designer, Roy Del Ruth - Director, Thomas Reilly - Editor, Max Steiner - Composer (Music Score), Ray Heindorf - Musical Direction/Supervision, Gordon Bau - Makeup, Ernest Haller - Cinematographer, William Jacobs - Producer, William Wallace - Set Designer, Melville Shavelson - Screenwriter, Jack Rose - Screenwriter, Booth Tarkington - Short Story Author

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