Curly Top

John Boles actually did record his song himself. He was a trained singer. Sometimes singing voices and speaking voices can be different. A case in point is Jim Nabors. His speaking voice is thin and high. His singing voice is a rich baritone.

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To answer your question, Edward is already an established lawyer so I'd say he's in his late twenties or early thirties. Mary is young but I'd say she's at least eighteen. The old benefactor scolds her for taking charity 'at her age'. That seems to indicate she's old enough to have aged out of the system and should be on her own working instead of still living there for free. That's why she lets him know she actually works there. She can't support her sister on her own so they must remain there.

Her age is also the reason Mary passes on an adoption for Elizabeth (Curly top). As promised to their parents, they need to stay together. Mary is, at that point, a little too old to be adopted herself so that would pose a problem. It would be improper for a single young lady to live with a bachelor. Aunt Genevieve is the solution. With her there it works. Another hint at Mary's age is her engagement to Jimmie. She could accept without anyone else's consent because she is 'of age'. Jimmie is a young adult so she must be somewhere near his age.

The actors' real ages are nineteen and forty. Clearly he's playing younger, which is not at all unusual but even if they played their actual ages, that too would not be unusual. Throughout history, young women married men who are a lot older.


Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

I always liked him and the songs he sings as well. "It's All too New to Me" (the one he sings while the pictures change into Shirley) is quite a lovely song. I heard it many times when I watched this as a kid and I think it holds up well.

His voice, though, is too imitative of singers of the time. He warbles too much and sounds like an old hand-cranked phonograph. When I compare the way Boles sounds to the fresh modern sound of Alice Faye in "Poor Little Rich Girl" I can't believe these pictures were made within a year of each other.

Still, I think he makes a nice romantic lead. It is a good actor who can seem fatherly to Shirley whilst romancing her sister convincingly.

Did you at least consider that the same person dubbed him every time he sang, for continuity ?



Possessions are fleeting - Homer J. Simpson