Margie (1946) Movie Review
Margie is a 20th Century Fox production from 1946 that falls in the comedy genre. The film was directed by Henry King and produced by Walter Morosco. The story was written by three writers, namely: F. Hugh Herbert, Ruth McKenney and Richard Bransten. It was originally written by Ruth and Richard. Hugh adapted the screenplay.
This movie stars Jeanne Crain as the leading lady. Jeanne is Margie, a housewife in 1946. The movie starts off while she was cleaning the attic with her daughter. Suddenly her daughter finds some old photographs and asks her about who was in them. The she begins to reminisce about her time in High School in 1928, the same one that her daughter goes to.
Margie McDuff was a lively young girl in her teens and living with her maternal grandmother in 1928. Her mother had passed away when she was young and her father, a mortician, was usually away on business. She rarely had any friend and was one of the girls that stayed in the background. Her only friend was the popular girl next-door, Marybelle, and her football jock boyfriend, Johny Greene.
As the story unfolds we see that Margie has a small crush on Johny. But then a new French Teacher comes to school and all the girls are smitten by him, including Margie. Meanwhile, a class-fellow Roy Hornsdale develops a crush on Margie.
We see that Margie is interested in debates and sends her father a message to come and see her debate. Unexpectedly, he does come to the debate competition and is highly impressed by his little Margie. The debate is on whether the U.S. Marines should stay in Nicaragua or not. Mr. MacDuff is so convinced by her speech that he professes to write to the senator on the issue.
Soon, the prom comes and little Margie has no date as Roy falls sick. So, her grandmother decides to call on her father as an escort. He gladly obliges, but before he can reach Mr. Fontayne, the French teacher, drops by. Margie assumes he is the escort and embarrasses the both of them. However, she soon finds out and goes to the prom with her father.
We soon learn that even Mr. Fontayne is extremely interested in little Margie and is not as old as he had let everyone else assume. Reminiscing time is over and we are taken back to present day, 1946. Where Mr. Fontayne is the principal of the same school and Mr. MacDuff has become the Minister for Nicaragua.
The way the story ends is surprising for everyone. It’s a twist that no one can guess while watching the movie. Jeanne as usual, gives one of her best performances. And Barbara Lawrence as Marybelle plays the perfect popular girls of High School in 1928. Esther Dale plays Grandma to perfection. Glenn Langan stars as the handsome French teacher, Mr. Fontayne.
The joke about her bloomer’s elastic breaking again and again is hilarious to watch. And, the way Margie reconnects with her estranged father is very touching. Her relationship with her grandmother is a beautiful one. Here is a quote from the movie:
Grandma McSweeney: Twenty years from now you'll wonder what you ever saw in Johnny Green.
Margie: Twenty years from now I'll be an old woman and it won't matter what I think.
All in all, the movie is extremely an excellent example of Technicolor movies from the 1940s. It includes lots of music, singing and dancing of the late 1920s style. The movie has light-hearted comedy and is one of the movies that you would love to watch with family on weekend at home, over and over again.