Bad Little Angel

Okay, I'll admit I was in tears watching this film. Virginia Wiedler was a wonderful alternative to the Shirley Temple/Margaret O'Brien acting style, and I really like her sincerity without the "sugar coating" that Shirley and Margaret always added.

Wonderful supporting characters, (although more important), since she played an orphan, and was constantly looking for guidance and acceptance. The Father figure, the boyfriend, his alcoholic father, and the other character actors made this a balanced film. Christian overtones wouldn't get it through to the big screen these days, but this was 1939. Late in the Depression, Christian thinking was very strong. Worth watching!

BAD LITTLE ANGEL (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1939), directed by William Thierle, based on the book by Margaret Turnbull, is a harmless, inoffensive cute little movie centering upon a trials and tribulations of a pre-teenage girl whose faith in the Bible points her to the right direction, and how her presence in a town she just happens to choose changes the lives of those around her. This little known and rarely seen "B" movie not only has all the elements of good family viewing, but a message that reveals that everything happens for a reason, even when things seem hopeless, bitterness eventually turns to happiness. While the story might appear like a script for a Shirley Temple movie, by which she might have made a go with such a story, but as fate has it, Temple worked for 20th Century-Fox, not for MGM, thus leaving the studio to entrust itself in offering the part to young Virginia Weidler, a veteran child actress in films since 1934, first at Paramount, later RKO Radio, and finally a resident MGM performer where she would turn out memorable performances supporting Norma Shearer in THE WOMEN (1939) and Katharine Hepburn in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940). BAD LITTLE ANGEL gives Weidler an opportunity to be the major character. Though this wasn't her first in which she undertook the responsibility in a leading role, she would rarely have such an opportunity on screen again, in spite of her natural charm and wisdom. Sadly her movie career concluded during her adolescent years with a non-lead performance in the musical, BEST FOOT FORWARD (MGM) starring Lucille Ball. But for now, let's concentrate on Weidler, the little star of BAD LITTLE ANGEL. After watching her performance, it seems a pity that she didn't much of an opportunity as a leading child actress. By the time she became a teenager, it's a small wonder that she grew up too fast.

Set in the early 1900s, Weidler undertakes the role as Patricia Victoria Sanderson, better known as "Patsy," an dark-haired orphan sporting pigtails and wearing a little Cross hanging from around her neck, living under the care Mrs. Perkins (Elizabeth Patterson), an elderly woman wheelchair bound. These two lonely souls love and help one another, with Mrs. Perkins teaching Patsy the importance of the Good Book: whenever she gets in trouble and nowhere to turn, she should say a little prayer, open up the Bible and point her finger on a verse on any given page, and accept it as a message from God. (Very interesting concept). Trouble starts knocking at their door when the head of the orphanage comes to take Patsy away, causing Mrs. Perkins to succumb to a heart attack. Back at the orphanage where Patsy originated, the supervisors (Arthur Aylesworth and Esther Dale), of the dreadful place bring her down in saying that she is a jinx to those who take her in. Wanting to escape her surroundings and with no idea where to go, Patsy opens up her Bible, points onto the page that writes about Egypt. Taking her dog with her, Patsy heads over to the nearest train station where she buys a ticket to Egypt, not the Egypt across the ocean, but to a small town in New Jersey. While there she encounters Tommy Wilks (Gene Reynolds), a teenage son of a habitual drunk (Henry Hull), who guides her to the right direction, especially after learning she's an escaped orphan eluding authorities who are after her. Tommy introduces her to Jim Creighton (Ian Hunter), editor of the town newspaper,The Sentinel. He finds himself taking this child home with him where she meets his wife (Lois Wilson) and three children (Ann Todd, Mickey Kuhn and Douglas Madore). All goes well until Creighton loses his job and becomes critically ill, causing Patsy to really believe she is a jinx, but in time, just as she is losing her faith and planning to leave, she opens the Bible once more and comes across a very important verse that really opens her eyes.

A "B" movie running at 73 minutes consists of familiar faces supporting the cast, including Guy Kibbee as the unlikable Luther Marvin; Reginald Owen (Scrooge in 1938s A Christmas CAROL) as Marvin's butler; with Milton Parsons, Mitchell Lewis, Byron Foulger and George Irving in smaller roles.

BAD LITTLE ANGEL might be a misnomer of a title, since the girl is far from bad. The story has warmth, amusement and inspiring message, a sort of movie best presented to children attending Sunday School class, particularly since it has a youngster as the central character, with Weidler being more like an ordinary child than a child performing like an actress. Direction, authentic period settings and acting all get "A" for effort.

BAD LITTLE ANGEL occasionally airs on Turner Classic Movies. To find out when it will be shown again, instead of the Bible, let the website or program listing be your guide. (**1/2)

The truly delightful Virginia Weidler is at her most engaging as an innocent teenage orphan in this film excellently directed by Austrian émigré William Thiele. She is supported by a host of splendid character actors of the period such as Elizabeth Patterson and Guy Kibbee. The film has some truly hilarious moments and is most entertaining. The South African actor Ian Hunter is wonderful as the ever-cheerful adoptive father who battles corruption in his town with fearless intrepitude, risking ruin for his whole family. And Gene Reynolds is perfect as the young boy who befriends Virginia. Reynolds had come fresh from his excellent work earlier in the year in 'They Shall Have Music' with violinist Jascha Heifetz (one of the best such musical films ever made), and he later ended up as the producer of the TV series 'Mash'. The girl played by Virginia is deeply religious in a conventional Southern Baptist way, and opens the Bible at random to receive a message from the Lord in exactly the same manner that Oliver Cromwell used to do in the 17th century. Although this film may seem 'deeply religious' now, in this far more secular age, there was nothing at all unusual about the story in 1939, and it was not made as a religious film at all, but as a comedy fable. If it had been of truly religious intent, it would not have made such jokes out of the Biblical passages. Early in the film, Virginia is fleeing the horrible orphanage, having been instructed by the Bible to 'flee into Egypt'. She goes to the train station and asks for a ticket to Egypt, and is told blandly that that will be one dollar and fifty cents. The ticket turns out to be to Egypt, New Jersey. This film is a wonderful joyride, highly recommended to all who can laugh and to all who can cry, and Virginia Weidler was a marvellous presence on the screen, a child actor who was far from beautiful but whose personality shone.

This movie makes us believe that there is still goodness in this crappy world. I watched on the 26 of Dec and was in the mood for a movie that shows people's good side, if we only give them a chance to be, if we believe they could only be. No, i'm not naïve, have gone through my share of suffering, and will till the end of my life, but oddly enough, i believe in people, in love and in God.

No, still not naïve - how can a lawyer be naïve? But i believe that as there is bad in men, there is also good and that is this movie shows. It is very worth a try, if you still have a little faith in humanity. And even if you don't have it - it may be a good start to it.

10 stars.

As an atheist, ordinarily I'd steer clear of religiously themed shows. Too often they're sanctimoniously smug with their Christian message. On the whole, however, this little MGM programmer manages to avoid most of the pitfalls, and I watched all the way through.

Shrewdly, the religious theme is carried by the charming little Patsy. As the little girl, 11-year old Weidler is anything but sanctimonious in her reliance on the Bible as a guide for her future. An orphan, Patsy is hoping for a home after running away from a cruel orphanage. Due to the late Mrs. Perkins' influence, the orphan uses Biblical passages chosen at random as God's wisdom in guiding her. The book's a substitute parent, as it were. At the same time, however, she thinks herself a jinx because she seems to leave misfortune in her wake, as when kindly Mr. Creighton is seriously injured, which Patsy blames on her jinx. Which of these influences will prevail amounts to the plot's crux.

It's not surprising that an 11-year old orphan, now footloose, would hunger for emotional backup that a source like the Bible could provide. Thus, I didn't object to the Bible's use in that regard. Of course, that the passages would be so wisely relevant when picked at random is pure Hollywood contrivance. Nonetheless, the unheralded Weidler carries the film in winning style.

All in all, the movie's fairly heart-warming without being sappy. Plus, the special effects from the factory fire are worthy of an A-production. For a non-believer like me, the 70-minutes works pretty well as a human interest story, whatever else might be gleaned.

(In passing—Catch Patsy's pig-tails, a popular hair style among little girls of the time, which gave mischievous little boys like me a chance to pull on them! But only if we liked the girl. For sure, I would have tugged on Patsy's.)