Cynthia

Elizabeth Taylor still a sweet young thing stars in the title role of Cynthia, a teen thought of as sickly by her over doting parents George Murphy and Mary Astor. I have to say that Liz looked pretty healthy to me.

A short prologue tells some of the answer. Mary Astor marries big man on campus George Murphy and both as it turns out are planning to study in Vienna, him medicine, her music. But the Great Depression happens and both return to the USA with a baby daughter and worried most of all about security.

I'm sure that the baby in its early years gets doted on and may have had more than her share of illnesses. But the parents develop an overprotective attitude and a hypochondria about her. Which is making Dr. Gene Lockhart who is married to Spring Byington, Astor's sister practically a practice of his own.

Kids do grow out of these things. One of my nieces was very sickly as a child, but she's 32 now and quite healthy. My brother and his wife never developed the attitude that Murphy and Astor have. She was not the hot house geranium that Murphy and Astor have raised.

Lockhart and Byington have a daughter Carol Brannan and Brannan as Liz's cousin thinks of nothing but boys 24/7. There's one special boy in Jimmy Lydon who lied about his age and went to war. Now he's back in high school and seen as the catch of the year.

Lydon never really rings true as a character. He surely doesn't show any of the maturity that one would have after war service. I can't see how he would fit into high school. Just get a GED and go claim your GI benefits would be more realistic. Lydon doesn't seem that much more mature than Scotty Beckett who is Brannan's ever reliable boyfriend and playing awkward as he always did as a teen. Lydon's character is a weakness that the movie Cynthia has.

It's biggest strength is Taylor of course. It's really heart warming to see her emerge from the hot house. Also S.Z. Sakall as a sympathetic music teacher who remembers old Vienna steals every scene he's in as he always does.

Cynthia is a film as old as I am. It's also holding up in far better shape than this author. Elizabeth Taylor's legion of fans will still love it.

"Cynthia" is a must enjoyable and unusual film...and it gives you a chance to see Elizabeth Taylor receive her first onscreen kiss!

When the story begins, Larry and Louise (George Murphy and Mary Astor) fall in love and marry...and have so many wonderful dreams for their future. Sadly, however, they soon have a child...and the child is sickly. As Cynthia (Taylor) grows, her over-protective homelife begins to take its toll. Her uncle is a doctor and he insists on Cynthia living a very sheltered life...and Larry insists that they do whatever his brother-in-law says....even though he and his family are jerks. As for Louise, she is beginning to realize the damage being done to her daughter...as she's in high school and shouldn't miss the things normal kids do. Additionally, she is tired of seeing her husband behaving so spinelessly with his boss and brother-in-law...which creates a schism in the marriage. What's to come of all this? See the film.

"Cynthia" is a great example of the sort of sweet family picture MGM could make during its heyday. Excellent acting, music, direction and a sweet story elevate this 'average' film for the studio into something special.

By the way, IMDB noted it and I was surprised too to see Spring Byington playing a rather hateful person....quite unusual.

Elizabeth Taylor in the title role plays an overprotected 15-year-old who has lengthy bouts of illnesses seemingly due to a compromised immune system. She yearns to do normal teenage activities, but keeps having these setbacks related to her illness that constantly worry her parents (played by George Murphy and Mary Astor) and her doctor uncle (played by Gene Lockhart). Their strategy to prevent the illnesses from happening is to isolate her from her friends at school, have her come straight home, and forbid her from participating in school activities. Of course Cynthia is not going to be a wallflower forever, because this is a young Elizabeth Taylor here and the one thing she does not suffer from, even at 15, is awkward teenager syndrome compared to most. Noticing this right away is Ricky Latham (played by Jimmy Lydon, who was not the Zac Efron of the 40's, but somehow managed to play Taylor's love interest in "Life with Father" as well), who looks past the sicknesses and sees a beautiful, smart, charismatic young girl that just needs to get out of the house. Noticing this as well with jealousy is her cousin Fredonia (played by Carol Brannan), who has eyes on Ricky also, despite the fact she has a boyfriend of her own. Eventually, Cynthia's mother realizes that babying her will never teach her to overcome her problems, and hatches a plan with her daughter to get her to the Prom without Dad and Uncle knowing. Elizabeth Taylor shows her acting is beyond the capabilities of most other teenage actors of her day, but still displays the girlish charm of someone coming into her own. The movie has a fair amount of fretting and whining, but it does come out of it with some fine comedic scenes throughout the film and underrated performances from the supporting cast.

All of the reviews seem to be about Elizabeth Taylor, but very little mention about George Murphy and Mary Astor. Murphy almost sleepwalks his way through the film. Sixteen years as a clerk in a hardware store without a raise? Really? Where's the gumption, the backbone in the character. Is Napoleon so small a town that he can't find a better job somewhere else? A better actor would have shown some bitterness as being denied the opportunity to become a doctor. Mary Astor was going to be a concert pianist. Surely these failures of ambition can't simply be blamed on the sickly child that was born to them.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR's fans are really the only ones who will find any reason to watch CYNTHIA, a sugar-coated confection about a sickly girl churned out by MGM for the fast developing teen who was turning into a woman almost overnight.

Here, at fifteen, she's still got a lot of her girlish charm, exhibits a modest singing voice (is that her???), and portrays a girl who's so fragile that her parents hold her back from doing anything more strenuous than going to the corner store.

Ironically, it foretells Liz's own lifelong struggle with illness. GEORGE MURPHY and MARY ASTOR are her rather stern but loving parents and JIMMY LYDON is the boyfriend who gives Taylor her first screen kiss. S.Z. SAKALL is her encouraging music teacher.

It's all very downbeat without a sense of humor, too straightforward in the telling for its own good. Unimaginative and more of a B-film than anything else.