I'll Remember April

"I'll Remember April" is a departure from the mold of earlier movies starring Gloria Jean. The earlier movies were "hepcat" types that were breezy and upbeat, and which usually included such contemporaries as Donald O'Connor, Peggy Ryan, The Jivin Jacks and Jills, and many entertainers, and whose story lines were incidental to the more important duty of music and dance entertainment. Towards the middle of the 1940's, Jean was cast in more mature roles, and the movies she appeared in had plots and substance. This movie follows her critically acclaimed performance in "Destiny." The story is reasonably well-done and surprisingly novel. When Jean's father gets into financial trouble due to a colleague's stealing investment funds, she leaves school and attempts to get a job as a singer. She lands a job on a popular radio program, and at that time, her father is charged with the murder of the colleague who stole the money. Of course, everything turns out well for Jean and father, but the way this happens isn't as predictable as one would guess.

The acting is top rate, as is the entertainment. Jean sings several songs, and in fact, this movie, as well as any other, marks her transition from the coloratura soprano who trilled in the upper registers of the neighborhood of High C to the somewhat lower register of the mezzo and upper alto. Not surprisingly, Jean's voice still has plenty of range, albeit an octave lower than in her early teens, and there is a richness and maturity that was not present when she was younger.

This movie is almost impossible to find nowadays, and I haven't seen in on television for over 30 years. However as usual, you can order a copy of it from Gloria Jean herself by visiting her website. While IMDb rules forbid the posting of URL's, you can find the website by using your favorite search engine and the key phrase "Gloria Jean Schoonover." All in all, this is a decent effort and worth viewing if you have the chance.

When the man who is supposed to manage Samuel Hinds' investments comes up short, Hinds and the other investors give him thirty days to make the loss good. Meanwhile, Hinds is broke, so daughter Gloria Jean tries to get a job singing.... which takes about ten minutes until Kirby Grant catches her on a candid microphone show, resulting in a contract with a cigarette company. But another cigarette company offers him money to kidnap her, so of course he does. All of this seems a trifle to Hinds, who expects the money back... only when the man tells them there wont be any, the lights go out, and the man is shot. Hinds is arrested for his murder.

Universal tries to transition Miss Jean into adult ingenue roles with this film a la Deanna Durbin, albeit without Miss Durbin's crackerjack production team; this posed no threat to Deanna, who was ready to pack in movie stardom anyway. The movie is eked out with some well performed, if mediocre songs, and Eddie Brophy, who dresses, in one sequence, as a washer woman. I'm pretty sure that Thelma Ritter wasn't worried.

It does have the virtue of speed and brevity, but is otherwise undistinguished.