The Youngest Profession

Virginia Weidler, who usually gives decent performances in her pictures, stars in this narcissistic MGM romp. She plays a teen who disrupts the lives of movie stars with her best friend (Jean Porter) for just one more autograph, please! Clark Gable does not appear in this confection, because he's off at war. But other MGM contract players have been drafted into the service of this movie, such as Lana Turner, Greer Garson, and Walter Pidgeon.

Miss Weidler can be forgiven for being at that awkward stage of life known as adolescence, though someone has tried to glamorize her a bit too much and as a result, we cannot take her seriously as an average American girl. But what is most distressing is she has received direction that allows her to run the gamut from silly to sillier. To say she is over-acting on occasion is putting it mildly. Costar Porter is not much better, and at times her Texas accent seems to rub off on Weidler, who hails from Eagle Rock, California.

Several noteworthy character actors are present, but their talents are largely wasted. Agnes Moorehead as an out-dated governess has probably her most thankless role ever, and is permitted to shriek like Fanny Amberson in one of her other pictures. Edward Arnold, as Pop, tries valiantly but seems almost grandfatherly.

There are several subplots, some more entertaining than others. But this writer was distracted by the fact that some of the stories were recycled from other MGM films, as were some of the sets. The kitchen and dining room seem to have been left over from THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA, an earlier production in which Weidler appeared.

Speaking of Weidler, how come her character doesn't recognize the fact that the actors playing her family are also under contract to MGM? And how come Weidler's character doesn't realize that Weidler herself is an MGM actress? I guess that would mean she'd have to ask herself for her own autograph, and then there wouldn't be much need to haunt hotels and cruise the streets until Mr. Gable returns to town.

MGM programmer for the younger set. Viewers interested in teens and trends of the time (1943) might take a look. Weidler makes a spunky teenager with a dyspeptic father, a dutiful mother, a mischievous little brother and a mob of friends as star-struck as she is. Their New York lives revolve around collecting autographs from celebrities who, surprise, also happen to be major MGM movie-stars. Complications arise when conniving housekeeper Agnes Moorehead (who else?) creates a marital mix-up.

Though dated, there are enough laughs and human interest to keep you entertained. The kids are delightfully amusing with an innocent charm seemingly a galaxy away from today's teen movies. John Caroll scores as the cranky Russian muscle man back when Hollywood Russians were an amusing hot commodity, along with Jean Porter as Weidler's wide-eyed best buddy. In passing, note the brief references to how the kids were helping to win the war, with their saving stamps, etc. A rather sad sidelight are the later lives of Weidler who died young after a failed adult career, and Beckett (the younger brother) whose biography reads regrettably like a police blotter before also dying young. Nonetheless, MGM turned out some major stars (Garson, Taylor, Pidgeon, et al.) for good humored cameos. All in all, an entertaining little artifact.

Watch this movie with no expectations and you'll end up howling with laughter! The Youngest Profession sets it's silly tone early on and never threatens to take itself too seriously. It was clearly made for the hoards of young early 1940's fans who are here given center stage. Though the film does have a sit-com feel and plot, the witty writing and game cast make it all seem fresh and new. Poor Virginia Weidler may be grating at times but she's surrounded by such game pros (especially Agnes Moorehead) that it's a pretty moot point. The star cameos are publicist's dreams. Thankfully, they also do not seem out of place in the wacky world this film so fondly creates.

During the first week of being able to watch TCM, I stumbled onto this delightful little gem called The Oldest Professinal this morning. Pure pleasure with a dynamite comedic pace. That little child actress, Joan Carroll, was just incredible.

I'm already over the moon that I get to see TCM everyday and this little harmless piece of fluff was a great tonic to start the day. It's an incredible treat to be able to view these classic moves unedited, not butchered by commercials, and shown with exquisite prints.

Anotherbonus for this movie was seeing a youngish Agnes Moorehead playing in good supporting role that is neither wacky or evil.

... that was better than I expected it to be. And that is mainly because the focus of the film is not two teen girls autograph hunting. That would have gotten diabetic in a hurry.

Joan Lyons (VIrginia Weidler) and Patricia Drew (Jean Porter) are star crazy autograph hounds who head a club of equally star crazy teen girls who are also autograph hounds. They live in New York City, so it is probably more likely that they would run into stars there than Indiana, but they do seem to have an uncanny amount of luck, including having Robert Taylor move into the apartment across the hall from the Lyons with William Powell ending up in an elevator with the Lyons when he goes to visit Taylor. Taylor was married to Barbara Stanwyck at the time, so why didn't they run into her? The short answer would be that Stanwyck was not under contract to MGM in 1943.

This movie is beefed up with a subplot about a series of misunderstandings coupled with a gossipy governess (Agnes Moorehead) that have Joan believing that her father (Edward Arnold) is planning to leave her mother for his secretary. Joan and Patricia come up with a goofy plot to try and get them back together when there is no problem in the first place. This part of the film is up to the quality of the Andy Hardy films of the time, and it helps to have an old pro like Edward Arnold onboard.

I begrudgingly started watching this in my quest to watch and review all of William Powells existing films, and if not for its minor place in his filmography I would have likely passed on it, but it was better than I expected. If you like the MGM family comedies of the late 30s and early 40s you'll probably like this one.