Torbellino

CHATTERBOX is a combination of drama and comedy.. The film was less predictable than I thought. Jenny (Anne Shirley), a young girl from Vermont, wants to be an actress. Her mother was an actress and her most famous role was in the 1890's stage play "Virtue's Reward". Jenny is a bit otherwordly, living in a world of her own, the bygone world of the 1890's. She meets a young artist/painter Phil (Phillips Holmes). She is secretly in love with him. He appears to be not interested in her. Reluctantly he takes her to a theatrical company in New York where she can get a part in her favorite play "Virtue's Reward": This melodramatic play has now become a comedy, but she doesn't know that and she takes the part very seriously. Phil worries about what will happen when she finds out the truth about the whole thing.

This is a wonderful film from start to satisfying finish. Perfect acting by the entire cast. Young Anne Shirley gives a terrific performance. She's very intense and she makes even the comedy parts dramatic and honest. Her trustfulness and enthusiasm are poignant. The very talented Phillips Holmes (now undeservedly degraded to B-films) is also surprisingly good and totally convincing. A remarkable film. I am hoping for a DVD release for a better print quality!

This is a nice little Anne Shirley gem, but also a fine showcase for Phillips Holmes, as well as a fine supporting cast.

Anne plays an orphaned country girl, whose late mother had been a stage actress, who bequeathed a volume of readings, long inseparable from Jenny (Anne).

Jenny stays on the farm with her widowed grandfather (Edward Ellis), stern but just to Jenny and his hired hand, Michael Arbuckle (George Offerman Jr.), who does something naughty, which Jenny discovers, and so they vow to keep their secrets from the grandfather. Her secret, of course, is that she wanders through the woods rehearsing monologue from the volume, at the expense of her chores.

But then in the woods, Jenny encounters the handsome Philip 'Phil' Greene Jr. (Phillips Holmes), an artist creating his canvas, whom she mistakes for an actor in Archie Fisher's (Erik Rhodes) theater troupe, which includes the spirited Lillian Temple (Lucille Ball). Jenny and Philip instantly like each other even though she rattles on while he's trying to concentrate, hence "Chatterbox."

When the grandfather suspects that Jenny is sneaking off to the theater, he threatens to lock her out if she doesn't return by curfew. Michael overhears the ultimatum and considers Jenny a threat, so when the grandfather decides against locking the door, Michael secretly pulls a fast one and prevents her return.

Jenny, realizing that Philip is heading back to the city, considers this her big chance after having no where else to turn. She stows away in his rumble seat, a fact he discovers after his automobile experiences a flat tire along the way.

When Philip transports Jenny to his boarding house so that he might figure what to do about her, his landlady (Margaret Hamilton) is taken by surprise. This is a refreshingly kindhearted role for Margaret, who has a chance to help to resolve several predicaments here.

One other problem facing Philip has his father's (Granville Bates) insisting that he carry on the family business while Philip prefers to create art.

Another problem is trying to find a spot for Jenny in Archie Fisher's (Erik Rhodes) stage company, which is under attack by temperamental actress Lillian Temple (Lucille Ball). Lucy plays the egotist, while Margaret Hamilton plays the kind soul.

The theater decides to give Jenny her break by casting her in a most unflattering role, which would make her appear quite foolish before the audience. When it does, she now has nowhere to turn.

So, it's up to Edward Ellis, Granville Bates, Margaret Hamilton and Phillips Holmes to try to think up some sort of solutions which may optimally benefit one and all.

Charming film about a country girl named Jenny (Anne Shirley) with big dreams and her head in the clouds. She dreams of following in her late mother's footsteps and becoming a stage actress. Through a series of events she finds her dream actually coming true. At least that's what she thinks, as she's really being used by an unscrupulous producer who knows she's terrible and has cast her in a comedy while poor Jenny thinks she's playing a straight drama.

Anne Shirley is the whole show here. She has some good support from the likes of Edward Ellis, Erik Rhodes, Phillips Holmes, and Margaret Hamilton (in one of her more approachable roles). Oh and Lucille Ball (with platinum blonde hair!) has a small but amusing part. But Anne Shirley is the star in every sense of the word. She's such a treat to watch. Her sensitive, lovable performance carries the movie. Her portrayal of Jenny Yates is one of the more endearing characterizations I've ever seen on film. It's impossible not to like this girl and still have a heart. It's a very pleasant, enjoyable film with some nice comedic touches and a little bit of romance too. Strays off course slightly at the climax but it ends well. Give it a shot and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

This is an endearing movie of times gone by. Nice performances by Anne Shirley and Margaret Hamilton. Jenny wants to live out her dreams by acting in a part in a play her mother had played in previously. Her dreams are innocent and naive, and she is taken advantage of by shallow theater types who mislead her. She takes a hard lesson on real life in the theater and who to trust. Anne Shirley shows her talent in a challenging role. This movie is also interesting for the actors in it that one would not expect or show their talents as character actors -- Margaret Hamilton and Lucille Ball. This movie is not for everyone, but is likely to be well appreciated by those who cherish days when movies highlighted innocence and virtue.

Chatterbox is a really innocent film that could actually use an update today in the sense that some things that were done in the Thirties might seem as camp to us now as Anne Shirley's mother's favorite role from the Victorian Age.

Anne Shirley a devoted daughter to her late mother who was a prominent stage actress during the Victorian Era dreams of success on the stage much to the dismay of her down to earth father Edward Ellis. He wishes she'd just settle down and marry a responsible young man which doesn't include their farm hand George Offerman or Phillips Holmes, a rich kid who'd rather paint than make money. Holmes is as much a trial to his father Granville Bates as Shirley is to Ellis.

Anyway when a small theater company wants to revive the play, Anne eagerly wants the part and gets it of course on the strength of her name. But with changing public taste what was great Victorian melodrama back in the day is now high camp and played absolutely straight might bring down the house.

We hear about many of the stage legends of the past and the names come down to us, but you never see the works revived because public tastes have changed. With film you can measure the changing tastes of the public and when reviewing items for this forum you always have to try and watch it through the eyes of the public of the time as well as through your own. Sometimes films are hopelessly dated and you must say so.

However Chatterbox is an interesting film because it deals with the phenomenon of changing public tastes in a gentle manner. I daresay it could be remade today and some of the work that was done on the stage then would be camp today.

Not everything lasts forever.