the bachelor and the bobby-soxer

the year: 1947

the genre: comedy


the cast: Cary Grant (Dick Nugent); Myrna Loy (Judge Margaret Turner); Shirley Temple (Susan Turner); Rudy Vallee (Tommy Chamberlain); Ray Collins (Scott Beemish); Harry Davenport (Judge Thaddeus Tuner)


the plot: Teenaged Susan Turner, with a severe crush on playboy artist Richard Nugent, sneaks into his apartment to model for him and is found there by her sister Judge Margaret Turner. Threatened with jail, Nugent agrees to date Susan to cure her infatuation. He counters Susan's comic sophistication with even funnier teenage mannerisms, and ends up falling in love with her older sister.


count: the visions of Cary Grant in shining armor.


don't miss: the picnic races. (See below.)


check out: Margaret & Dick's restaurant "date".



listen for: “How'd you get in here? “ “Well, the door was closed, so I opened it and came right in.”


also listen for: “Can I get you anything else, sir?” “For instance?”



extra bonus points: if you can name the character that Harry Davenport (Judge Thaddeus Turner - seated on the bench in the photo above) plays in Meet Me in St. Louis.

i'll be seeing you

the year: 1944

the genre: drama



the cast: Ginger Rogers (Mary Marshall); Joseph Cotton (Zachary Morgan); Shirley Temple (Barbara Marshall); Spring Byington (Clara Marshall); Tom Tully (Henry Marshall)




the plot: Mary Marshall, serving a six year term for accidental manslaughter, is given a Christmas furlough from prison to visit her closest relatives, her uncle and his family in a small Midwestern town. On the train she meets Zach Morgan, a troubled army sergeant on leave for the holidays from a military hospital. Although his physical wounds have healed, he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and is subject to panic attacks. The pair are attracted to one another and in the warm atmosphere of the Christmas season friendship blossoms into romance, but Mary is reluctant to tell him of her past and that she must shortly return to prison to serve the remainder of her sentence.



count: the dimples on Joseph Cotton's face. (sigh.)


listen for: “What does the soldier think? I tell you, last time some of us voted for Roosevelt, and some of us didn't. Some of us weren't old enough to vote. Some soldiers think labor's got a right to strike, and some soldiers think labor's got no rights at all. A lot of soldiers got one idea about what should happen after war, a lot of soldiers have other ideas. Me? I haven't the slightest notion what a lot of soldiers think, Senator. Thanks for the cigar.”


don’t miss: the fabulous forties fashions.



check out: Uncle Henry's smooth dance moves.