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ACTOR
Doris DayGordon MacRaeJack SmithLeon Ames
DIRECTOR
Roy Del Ruth
SYNOPSICS
On Moonlight Bay (1951) is a English movie. Roy Del Ruth has directed this movie. Doris Day,Gordon MacRae,Jack Smith,Leon Ames are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1951. On Moonlight Bay (1951) is considered one of the best Comedy,Family,Musical,Romance movie in India and around the world.
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On Moonlight Bay (1951) Reviews
If you're in a Norman Rockwell mood...
Here's a nice little piece of cheerful entertainment from Warner Bros. with their number one sweetheart, DORIS DAY, doing her best to be a believable tomboy who turns to dresses when she spots the boy next door, GORDON MacRAE. With some perky period songs (it's from a Booth Tarkington story of small-town life in rural America), an ingratiating cast (Rosemary DeCamp and Leon Ames are perfect as the put upon parents), and Billy Gray as a bratty little brother, it's a nice bit of Americana spruced up by picture postcard technicolor. Doris Day and Gordon MacRae are clearly too old for the roles they play but here it doesn't seem to matter--their courtship scenes are charming and both display their unique vocal abilities in a number of songs. Especially good is Jack C. Smith as Hubert, Doris' persistent suitor who won't take no for an answer. And Ellen Corby is a delight as a schoolteacher intent on straightening out the misbehaving Billy Gray, who all but walks off with the film as the kid brother from hell. Very pleasant family film, very much in the tradition of others like MARGIE, LIFE WITH FATHER and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, with its own brand of charm. Good light entertainment, the kind of musical not made these days, unpretentious and sometimes wickedly funny. Mary Wickes, as a maid who is constantly dropping the silverware, gives zest to her role as a cook who can make her one-liners sound inspired.
"You Have Stolen My Heart, Now Don't Go 'Way"
I've always had a sneaking suspicion that Jack Warner saw how well MGM did with Two Weeks With Love, a nostalgic gaslight era musical that starred Jane Powell. I'm sure Warner then got the idea to do a musical for his reigning musical star of the moment Doris Day from the same era. And save a whole lot of money because nearly all the material is in the public domain. On Moonlight Bay is the title of the film and one of several songs sung by Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, and Gordon's rival for Doris, Jack Smith all from the era before America's entry in World War I. Hollywood has done a lot to glamorize that era of Norman Rockwell and Grant Wood as America likes to see itself. Certainly none of the social problems the USA had in that era seem to intrude on Milbern, Indiana the fictional location Booth Tarkington had for the Winfield and Sherman families whose son and daughter find each other. Of course if you paid a ticket to see social problems in a Doris Day film as that other Warner Brother icon would say, what a maroon. Doris as the tomboy first baseman hasn't quite discovered men yet, that is until she almost shoots Gordon MacRae. After that you know how this film will go. One original song was done for On Moonlight Bay, the Christmas Story which Doris and Gordon sing with accompanying carolers. It blends nicely in with all the nostalgic material. On Moonlight Bay and its sequel film, By The Light Of The Silvery Moon is based on the Booth Tarkington Penrod stories. Billy Gray who later was Bud Anderson in Father Knows Best plays Doris's younger brother Wesley (Penrod). He's one mischievous kid and whatever trouble he doesn't get into here is saved for the next film. Doris, Gordon, and Billy all appear in the next film along with her parents Leon Ames and Rosemary DeCamp and maid Mary Wickes who always has a sharp word for the goings on. I confess I have a fondness for the songs of this romantic era myself, so I'm prejudiced about On Moonlight Bay. But try it you young folk, you might like it.
Unalloyed delight
Though it doesn't match the captivating staging of Vincente Minnelli's Meet Me in St Louis as a nostalgic period musical, both this charmer and its sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon, based on Booth Tarkington's delightful Penrod stories, are very much in the same mold as the Minnelli classic; both films provide ideal vehicles for the multi-talented Doris Day, seen here at her most fetchingly tomboyish with her frequent on-screen partner at the time, Gordon MacRae. Their combined vocal talents bring genuine class to the turn of the (last) century tunes, providing a veritable cornucopia of some of the era's most recognizable standards. The pair create an easy chemistry mercifully free of the self-conscious projection so prevalent in many contemporary "feel-good" movies. Billy Gray, as Day's younger brother in his pre-Father Knows Best days was a likable and unspoiled child performer, who brought terrific comic timing in the delivery of his misplaced energies. Mary Wickes as the no-nonsense maid who acts as a kind of chorus to the action, is another notable scene-stealer, in a film which like so many of the early Doris Day musicals leaves this viewer with a warm glow.
a tuneful lighthearted American romp
Its not often I give a film 10 of out of 10 but Doris Day movies consistently rate that high for me. If you are in a depressed or foul mood, her smiles, her singing, and the cast members around her always can lift you to another place. This is much like a Technicolor Judy Garland film in a lot of ways, with homespun family values and courting. At first, I had a problem with the leads, who seemed too old, playing teenagers. The actors grow on you, especially Doris. The actor playing her annoying kid brother is terrific. The parents are well portrayed and protective. The housekeeper is a wiley classic. Even the family dog gets in the act in several scenes. I recommend the film heartily especially if you want to smile and sing along. Doris Day is and has always been a national treasure. I am very glad I got a chance to spend the afternoon with her in this film.
Utterly charming slice of life
This is the first of two movies about the same characters. Doris Day and Gordon MacRae play young sweethearts in this turn of the century inspired by the stories of Booth Tarkington. The story is told from her point of view and her home life with her mother, father and bratty brother are central to the film. Of the family members, the most memorable is Billy Gray ("Bud" from FATHER KNOWS BEST), as he is a terrible little brat that is a lot like Dennis the Menace and the Problem Child all rolled up into one. In particular, the portion of the film where he tells a HUGE lie to his school teacher is a riot! The romance between the two is sweet, but in trouble because Gordon plays such a stubborn and overly opinionated "modern" man who doesn't believe in old fashioned conventions like marriage! Well, being a Hollywood film, and a very sweet one at that, you KNOW how the film will end. However, the journey there is so pleasant and so well constructed that you really don't mind at all! It's a delight for all.