Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick

Marshmallow Moon(or Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick) is an okay film, but after a few days it is not much more than that. There are a fair number of things to redeem it. The costumes, sets and photography are striking enough, and while not particularly memorable the music especially Marshmallow Moon is quite pleasant. The film is decently directed too, but the main attraction is the cast. Alan Young, Dinah Shore, Adele Jurgens and especially Robert Merrill(yes the very same Robert Merrill the baritone) give it their all and their efforts are commendable. However, the film is rather ponderously paced, complete with a hokey story, predictable set-ups and scenes comedy wise and a disjointed script. So overall, a decent watch but rather forgettable. 5/10 Bethany Cox

The hillbilly Aaron Slick has been unsuccessfully wooing the young widow Josie Berry for many years. Josie is eager to take a trip in the big city. Bill Merridew and his "kissing cousin" Gladys hide in the trunk of a $20,000 obtained from an improper transaction. Relatively speaking, they held a touring tent show on Josie's farm. Merridew actually went into hiding, thinking that there was oil on the farm. Aaron knew that was not the case and tricked him into buying the farm for a large sum of money. Josie ran to Chicago with the money, and Meridou realized that he had been cheated and pursued him. Aaron arrived in time to prevent Josie from letting Meridou "invest" her money.

Fun to watch Alan Young and Dinah Shore together. Silly musical didn't age well but still fun to watch.

It's not that ALAN YOUNG and DINAH SHORE don't try to bring some life to a lifeless, uninspired script co-authored by Claude Binyon, who directed this mess. Considering what they have to work with, they sometimes rise to the occasion and produce a few chuckles. And as the villains of the piece, ROBERT MERRILL and ADELE JERGENS contribute somewhat to what few laughs there are.

Shore is a country bumpkin lass who longs for the big city and is taken in by on-the-lam gangsters (Merrill and Jergens) who are really after the $20,000 worth of savings. Young is the equally country hick neighbor enamored by Shore and willing to go to the extreme to extricate her from the clutches of the villains.

It has a L'IL ABNER flavor to the sets and costumes but the score is rather commonplace and no help in bringing any entertainment value to the ponderous farce.

It's films like this that probably put a hex on DINAH SHORE's stab at a film career. Wisely, she was content to enjoy her TV stardom.

I have to admit I watched this oddity out of curiosity because of Dinah Shore's oft repeated put-downs of it. Whenever her film career was brought up over the years on her television show Dinah would mockingly mention this film with a wry smile and a chuckle, it's easy to see why that would be her reaction.

Maybe not the worst movie ever made but a dumb, flat footed concoction to be sure. If the horrible title wasn't enough of a warning, although the alternate title "Marshmallow Moon" isn't much better, the basic plot summary should warn off most people. Stereotypes abound and the musical numbers are mediocre but it has nice color photography and an amusing supporting performance by Minerva Urecal. As for the two leads, Dinah is almost idiotically naive and too chipper for words, Alan Young starts out as an annoying bumpkin but gets better as the film goes along. A forgettable enterprise best viewed, if at all, by those who enjoy campy foolishness.