Cinderella Jones

Ultimately pretty silly, but Joan Leslie is in it, and so I loved it. She is one of the most under-rated talents Hollywood ever had. She could do anything and everything, besides being incredibly lovely.

She started near the top at a very early age, and starred with some of the biggest names in movies, always holding her own.

Hollywood has never been known for justice, for treating its talent as they deserved, and perhaps Joan Leslie is the prize example.

She should have been that proverbial household name, with her looks, her talent, and the good movies she did perform in.

Obviously, with "Cinderella Jones" as the illustration, she wasn't always in the best pictures, but any she was in became much better for her presence.

Any flick directed by B. Berkeley, and has Edward E. Horton (small part) can't be ALL bad. Sure, that silly plot is pretty flimsy, but you also have some respectable song and dance numbers, Robert Alda and Joan Leslie, and of course "Cuddles" Sakall as the stubborn Professor. Judy ( Leslie ) and Tommy ( Alda ) work on a radio show that gives away money and prizes, and helps locate long lost relatives. But there are conditions to be met when they DO find the rightful heir, and the conditions are almost more trouble than they are worth... but in this case, its ten million dollars at stake. Also keep an eye out for Elisha Cook as the "roommate" at college... he was the weakling villain in "Maltese Falcon". The running gag in "Cinderella Jones is the list of malaprops said almost non-stop for the second half of the film. Half the cast ends up in jail, and then we're in court trying to straighten it all out, like any good, respectable, farce. Funny to note that in the credits, Sakall's role is listed as Gabriel Popik, but about halfway through the film, everyone starts calling him "Cuddles", his real nickname. Sit back and enjoy the 90 minute story, as long as you're willing to buy into the silliness.

A law firm is looking for Judy Jones to inherit $10 million. They decide to advertise and every Judy Jones thinks that she has a chance. Judy Jones (Joan Leslie) is a singer with bandleader Tommy Coles (Robert Alda). They have disagreements about marriage and she keeps pushing him off. It turns out that she is the true heiress. The lawyers are convinced by her shrunken head. Only she has to marry someone with high I. Q. to get the money. She also has to go to college, but she applies to an all-men school. Gabriel Popik (S. Z. Sakall) hopes to get a new building out of the admission despite her lack of smarts. Oliver S. Patch (Elisha Cook Jr.) is a nerd at school. Bart Williams (William Prince) is a professor. Camille (Julie Bishop) is a cabbie.

The premise is non-sense but it's fun. I get the marrying part, but I don't understand that she has to go to this school. I know it's the 40's, but there has to be technical schools that accept ladies. Wait! Did she go to that school to find a smart guy to marry? Or maybe the will stipulates that she has to go to a specific school. The writing needs to be better to explain this story. It's a split decision. This is fun, but it makes no sense. Judy is dumb, but even dumb people needs to make sense.

Band singer and gunshell loader Joan Leslie is surprised to learn that she has inherited ten million dollars. She must be wed by a certain date to inherit. She was going to marry bandleader Robert Alda, but that money implies an obligation. She wants to marry a genius. So she enrols in an all-male college, where she and chemistry professor William Prince irritate each other.

It was shot and finished by the beginning of 1944, which explains the ending, with an army battalion singing "You Never Know Where You're Going" without the help of Mel Blanc. It's one of those kitchen sink musical comedies, with a large supporting cast including S. Z. Sakall, Edward Everett Horton, Julie Bishop, Hobart Cavanaugh.... well, anyone who could play comedy, three songs by Jules Styne and Sammy Kay, and plenty of comic skits disguised as advancing the plot until the next setback. With a script that looks like it just grew like Topsy, it's quite funny at any given moment, even if the ending is.... well, where did the army get that wedding cake?

Maybe it's just me, but is no one else troubled by the apparent ability of just about everyone in this movie to change who they love and whom they want to marry almost at will. No concept of everlasting love troubles the writer and certainly will not trouble any ensuing marriage that would come from this movie. I just found it disappointing. Joan Leslie is good enough, but haven't we come too far (even by 1946) than to think it's funny that women are stupid. And just too idiotically stupid to continue living. Unlike other commentators I did not think the bubbles from the mouth bit funny at all, I just thought it dumb. Which pretty well sums up the movie for me.