I saw the ending as a lot more scandalous and hilarious than Shirley's charachter's suspect lineage among the blue hairs from the right side of the tracks. By my estimates, Shirley is either 18 or 22 and Ronnie 38 or 42 when they ride off into the sunset together, depending on whether or not 4 years at university lapsed between the last 2 scenes. It looked to me like they were off to their honeymoon and Ronnie having the last laugh.
shareThe idea of a 40ish man with an 18-year-old girl -- you talk about it like it's a bad thing.
The Falcon flies
Not "bad" so much as silly and unbelievable, considering the prudish sensibilities of the writers. They way they danced around the situation was just silly. Temple had to say "shoulder strap" instead of "bra strap", the Delaney girl who got drunk at the roadhouse had "ptomaine poisoning". No one uttered the words "pregnant", "illegitimate", "out of wedlock", or (God forbid) "sex" or "bastard". So yeah, that ending was ludicrous. And Reagan and Temple are awful in this movie. TCM should remove it from rotation.
shareReagan does appear uncomfortable in the movie, but I actaully think Temple did a pretty good job.
I agree with your review of the vocabulary, except for the ptomaine poisoning. That was not the writer's prudishness, it was the girl's parents trying to pretend she hadn't gotten drunk. After all Ken states that he didn't know she was allergic to beer.
According to the writeup on imdb, Reagan was VERY uncomfortable with the age difference and objected to the director, who pointed out a similar age difference between him -- the director -- and his wife. Reagan apparently still wasn't comfortable, but didn't want to push the issue too hard and lose the role, which was better than most of the studio slop they gave him to work on.
Whether or not Reagan's strait-laced morality got in the way of his performance (and I think it did), one has to point out that the age difference was critical to the script -- it had to be a big enough gap that he COULD have been the girl's biological father; otherwise the plot falls apart.
Personally, I thought Reagan was a good actor. He put in at least two very good performances, and those were about the only ones he ever had to work with. This one was just an unfortunate casting selection because of his objections to the character itself.
Just watched the film for the first time. I was so surprised they decided to pair up Mary Hagen with the man we are made to believe is her surrogate father. I'm not a prude but it was too, 'Woody Hall and Soon Li' for me.
Your comments are spot on.
Toni
in Olympia
I never objected to 18-22-yr olds when I was in my late 30s ... or older. As long as the young ladies don't have a problem with it, everyone else can just ...
I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.
It wasn't the age difference that bothered me about the pairing; it was how their relationship was represented until the end that yanked my neck out of joint.
shareSo a 16- t0 20-year age difference is "scandalous?" I find that a rather bizarre reaction.
I've always suspected that most of this blue-nose pseudomorality is just jealousy on the part of those who can't score with a younger partner.
It wasn't the age difference that was troubling, but the possibility that he could be her biological father.
shareI thought Reagan and Shirley Temple both did well in their roles. The film was fairly engaging until the end, and ultimately underrated. However, the ending is forced and abrupt. Also, the fact that we spend the majority of the film picturing Reagan as Mary Hagen's father makes the ending a bit uncomfortable despite the fact we are given assurance just beforehand that they are no relation.
shareI wonder if it was the age difference that made people uncomfortable or the fact that the girl was America's Little Darling? Perhaps if she had been played by Ann Blyth or Mona Freeman or some other teen actress it would bother people so much.
shareHe knew he was not her biological father! There was no possibility of that. The movie makes that very clear.
shareYes, that's the irony. The town tried to destroy their lives and keep them walking the straight and narrow but in the end, it's the town's actions that bring them together. Still they would have never gotten together and pursued a love relationship if they didn't rise above the absurdity and take ownership of their own lives.
I feel that’s the reason the writer made their relationship what it was. There had to be some ‘scandalous’ aspect to their relationship; like the big age difference or the fact they had been believed to be father and daughter. I don't feel they got together to give the town something to talk about. Instead, by overcoming that hurdle it shows while the town would have plenty to say, they didn’t care; either way. They didn’t let it stop them. I was very happy for them and with the movie's ending. Mary and Tom deserved to be happy.
Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]