Margie

I have looked for the movie in the stores without any success. "Margie" was wholesome and refreshing. Hopefully today the movie industry will produce movies that the family can sit back and enjoy like we did in the mid 40's and 50's.

Mr. Cavanaugh had a long career, but rarely did he distinguish himself as in his role of the heroine's father in "Margie". His normal roles were of quiet little men, frequently henpecked or bossed about. Here he is a town businessman who rarely communicates with his daughter.

Most of the film deals with small town growing up in the roaring twenties (I notice that the writing credits state the original story is by Ruth McKinney, author of the stories that became "My Sister Eileen" which is about the misadventures of two small town girls trying to make it in New York City in the 1930s). Margie's main tribulations are which of three boy friends (one the school French teacher) she will end up with. That part of the film is justly considered charming, and Jeanne Peters, Alan Young, Conrad Janis, Frank Langan and the rest of the cast do very well here. But it is the part of Mr. Cavanaugh as the father that is the real treat.

Margie has to take part in a debate, and when she mentions this at home her father finally sees an opportunity to get closer to his daughter by helping her. So what is the subject? Should the Coolidge administration keep sending American marines to fight Sandino? Mr. Cavanaugh was expecting some simple topic, like are the old virtues the best. Instead he is forced to ask what Margie is talking about. It seems that in this film (set in 1926) President Coolidge is involved in one of a series of "police actions" that flared up between the Spanish-American War and (say) 1941 in Latin America. This one is in Nicaragua, and involves a popular local "bandit" leader Sandino who is trying to get rid of a corrupt government under a man named Somoza (the father of the Somoza most of us recall from the 1970s). Unfortunately, Somoza is close to American business interests in Nicaragua, so the Coolidge administration is sending Marines in to help catch Sandino.

Cavanaugh has no conception of the background of this, and is amazed to discover this police action is three years old. For the rest of the film whenever we see Cavanaugh he is studying old newspapers, and slowly learning the ugly side of the Monroe Doctrine. And it is riling him. Not only is this un-American imperialism (he's a bit naive there), but there have been injuries and fatalities in this illegal, undeclared war. He becomes a critic of the government policies...an outspoken critic. Finally a respected critic. At the end of the film we learn that Cavanaugh eventually became the Ambassador to Nicaragua.

Would that it could have been that simple, but I note this film is the only one I am aware of (except for the two versions of "Torrid Zone", first with Cagney and then with Reagan - and both are fictionalized versions) that tackle the story of Sandino. He was killed in a government ambush in the early 1930s, but (as we know) his cause survived him. Taken over by left wingers, who called themselves "Sandinistas", they ruled Nicaragua for a number of years in the 1980s, and even now are not out of that country's political system. This then is the only film that actually gets involved in the seed of the problem that helped lead to the "Iran Contra Affair". I cannot think of any other likable little comedy that manages to open up such a curious historical trail. And in doing so it gave Mr. Cavanaugh his big moment to shine on screen.

I agree absolutely with - Xeresa6 of San Diego,Ca - her synopsis of this movie is gob smack right on! I just wanted to add that I at age 10 years, saw this movie in 1946 with my mom who was a teen in the flapper era and it was a sweet experience to enjoy this film with my mom. She regaled me with her stories of bloomers with broken elastic and safety pins.

Young girls today would not really pick up on the chains on the fireplace story without someone older 'walking' them through it. A lot is taken for granted today on the struggles of women not so very long ago to be able to have the right to vote.......we can learn a lot of history from these old movies - but it is wise to also check further into the history to be sure it is portrayed accurately in the film.

It is interesting to find out the film was made in Reno NV. It looked so much like the towns in Ohio where I grew up, that's probably one of the reasons why Mom and I connected with the film.

What a crass movie industry we have today. It is so hard to find non-violent and non-vulgar stories in the movies today. One can occasionally find a good movie but they are few and far between. I find myself looking to pre-1950 movies more and more. That is sad.

This is one of my favorite Jeanne Craine films. I often think of her in the attic sorting through the box of memories while her daughter asks her about some of the items in the box, especially when I have sorted through my own mother's memory boxes in her attic. I wish this were on video. I'd dearly like to share this with MY daughter. Ricardo-38

Can a movie made in 1946 still move teenagers today? Well, all I can say is when I first saw this movie in 1983 I was still in high school and this film totally touched and inspired me!

At first, it just seems like your typical nostalgic sentimental high school film. We have, Margie the geeky girl who's so far from being in the 'in' crowd it's pathetic. Then we have the popular girl, Mirabelle, living next door to Margie as a constant reminder of how 'out of it' she is. Then Margie has the typical school girl crush on her gorgeous French teacher and also has the typical pathetic loser/ boyfriend following her around.

But wait! Then Henry King takes a simple movie to a another level and it soon becomes clear we are watching the emergence of a strong and unusual woman. Our first clue that this movie is something different are the sly hints about Margie's emerging sexuality. (I mean, she literally keeps losing her knickers at the most in-opportune occasions, how did this get past the censors?) Then there is Margie's feminist grandmother, who wants Margie to be the first woman president of the United States. But just in case we still don't get it, it all becomes clear when we hear Margie's winning debate speech on why the U.S. should take the Marines out of Nicaragua. (Ironically, when I saw this film in 1983, this issue was as hotly debated as it apparently was in 1929!) Margie, in spite of her awkward gestures and amateur delivery, gives one of the most amazing speeches ever given by a teenager in a film. It is truly amazing. We see unsuspected depths in this young woman and from that point on we (along with the men in her life) are fascinated with how this young ladies life will turn out (to give any more away would spoil the film for you!)

This film also has an unusual look for the time period, since it was one of those rare films in the 40's where exteriors were filmed on location. Henry King is one of the great studio directors who is constantly forgotten and overlooked. But take one look at the skating sequence in this film, where the camera follows skaters beautifully, as they circle around the camera, and you will see a master craftsman in league with Hitchcock or any of the other Hollywood greats. (And as a former ice skater, I can tell you Jeanne Crain is a pretty good skater!)

But the moment that got me most, and still gets me, is the way Margie handles her disappointment about who she has to go to the prom with and the dignity in which she carries herself. This movie shows the amazing and difficult journey of Margie McDuff from a little girl who is on the road to being an amazing woman! (Well, we hope!) So by the end of the film, we believe, along with her grandmother and the others in her life, that Margie is indeed a unique and unusual person and really could have been the first woman president of the United States!