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Chatterbox is a really innocent film that could actually use an update today in the sense that some things that were done in the Thirties might seem as camp to us now as Anne Shirley's mother's favorite role from the Victorian Age.

Anne Shirley a devoted daughter to her late mother who was a prominent stage actress during the Victorian Era dreams of success on the stage much to the dismay of her down to earth father Edward Ellis. He wishes she'd just settle down and marry a responsible young man which doesn't include their farm hand George Offerman or Phillips Holmes, a rich kid who'd rather paint than make money. Holmes is as much a trial to his father Granville Bates as Shirley is to Ellis.

Anyway when a small theater company wants to revive the play, Anne eagerly wants the part and gets it of course on the strength of her name. But with changing public taste what was great Victorian melodrama back in the day is now high camp and played absolutely straight might bring down the house.

We hear about many of the stage legends of the past and the names come down to us, but you never see the works revived because public tastes have changed. With film you can measure the changing tastes of the public and when reviewing items for this forum you always have to try and watch it through the eyes of the public of the time as well as through your own. Sometimes films are hopelessly dated and you must say so.

However Chatterbox is an interesting film because it deals with the phenomenon of changing public tastes in a gentle manner. I daresay it could be remade today and some of the work that was done on the stage then would be camp today.

Not everything lasts forever.

This is an endearing movie of times gone by. Nice performances by Anne Shirley and Margaret Hamilton. Jenny wants to live out her dreams by acting in a part in a play her mother had played in previously. Her dreams are innocent and naive, and she is taken advantage of by shallow theater types who mislead her. She takes a hard lesson on real life in the theater and who to trust. Anne Shirley shows her talent in a challenging role. This movie is also interesting for the actors in it that one would not expect or show their talents as character actors -- Margaret Hamilton and Lucille Ball. This movie is not for everyone, but is likely to be well appreciated by those who cherish days when movies highlighted innocence and virtue.

Jenny Yates lives with her grandfather because her mother died some time ago. However, she holds some resentment towards her grandfather because he essentially tossed the mother out of the house after she left to try to become an actress. Now, many years later, Jenny has a chance to leave home to act in the same play that her mother starred in...and although her grandfather is gruff and grumpy about this, he's not about to disown her like he did his daughter...by Jenny doesn't know this. So, she takes a giant leap and joins a traveling company of actors...and finds out it's not all it's cracked up to be.

Apart from seeing one of the theater company members in black-face, this is a very good film...enjoyable and with a few fun moments. This is a good showcase for Miss Shirley...one of her better films of the 1930s.

CHATTERBOX (RKO Radio, 1936), directed by George Nichols Jr., is a simple-minded little tale about a naive young teenager's inspiration in fulfilling her dream by becoming a stage actress against the wishes of her grandfather, only to learn the full meaning of life not really imitating art. The teenager in question is Anne Shirley, a young and prominent contract player for RKO Radio whose career specialized in playing such wholesome characters as presented in CHATTERBOX. As much as this sort of characterization might display her to contemporary viewers as a weak sister, she is, in fact, strong-willed without losing her feminine charm.

Inspired by Shirley's early characterization, which began with ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (RKO, 1934), where she was more of a chatterbox than she was in this production, Shirley does bring forth her titled-role in its early stages of the story as a lonely teenager whose only pleasure is constantly talking to anyone who would listen to her. Blending in the elements of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (1934 - the talkative teenager) with Al Jolson in THE JAZZ SINGER (1927 - going against family authority by doing what she feels she's meant to do, and forbidden to return home) and Katharine Hepburn in MORNING GLORY (1933 - taking her profession so seriously that members of the troupe secretly regard her as goofy), the duration of the story concerns Jenny Yates (Anne Shirley), wanting to carry on the tradition of her deceased mother, an actress many years ago. She hopes to attend the upcoming presentation of the Village Players revival of "Virtue's Reward" (which her mother had appeared) being presented at the Hale Barn Theater. She is forbidden by Uriah, her grandfather (Edward Ellis) who warns her that once she steps out that door, like her mother, it will be locked to her forever. After she does leave home, Uriah has a change of heart and leaves the door unlocked, only to have it closed by their handyman, Michael Arbuckle (George Offerman Jr.) who does it in spite since Jenny knows enough about Michael, ranging from missing articles to the accidental burning of their barn, to get him fired. Jenny does return home only to find the door locked. With no other place to go, she hides inside the rumble seat of a car belonging to Philip Green (Phillips Holmes), a struggling young artist on his way to New York. After he arranges for Jenny in obtaining the lead role in "Virtue's Reward," reality sets in once she steps foot upon that wicked stage.

While Anne Shirley's presence makes the film, she's not in every scene. There are moments when time allows Uriah (Ellis) and Philip Green Sr. (Granville Bates) to brag about their ancestors, but on the whole, there are others in the cast worthy of honorable mention. Erik Rhodes, famous for his comedic Italian characters in two Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals (THE GAY Divorcée and TOP HAT), plays it straight as Archie Fisher, director of the theatrical troupe. Then there's Margaret Hamilton, three years before immortalizing herself as the Wicked Witch in THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939), as "Tippy," a sympathetic landlady, once an actress herself, whose one-on-one talk with Jenny about the realities of theatrical life comes across realistically and sincere; and a very young and blonde Lucille Ball, as a temperamental stage actress who wants nothing more than to get her back salary.

CHATTERBOX, a feel good movie that says it all in its brief 68 minutes, is one of many Anne Shirley movies produced during that time to be overlooked and forgotten due to lack of television revivals. Formerly shown on American Movie Classics during its early years during the 1980s to 1993, it can be seen whenever possible on Turner Classic Movies (at one point in time was shown as part of a viewer's request night), and available on video cassette through a private collector. Film buffs, take note: the title, CHATTERBOX, was later used for a 1943 comedy for Republic Studios starring Judy Canova and Joe E. Brown, which can stir up come confusion whenever found in the TV listings. While the premise to CHATTERBOX is basically a story much to the liking of teenage girls, it does win the appeal of others as well. (**1/2)

This is a nice little Anne Shirley gem, but also a fine showcase for Phillips Holmes, as well as a fine supporting cast.

Anne plays an orphaned country girl, whose late mother had been a stage actress, who bequeathed a volume of readings, long inseparable from Jenny (Anne).

Jenny stays on the farm with her widowed grandfather (Edward Ellis), stern but just to Jenny and his hired hand, Michael Arbuckle (George Offerman Jr.), who does something naughty, which Jenny discovers, and so they vow to keep their secrets from the grandfather. Her secret, of course, is that she wanders through the woods rehearsing monologue from the volume, at the expense of her chores.

But then in the woods, Jenny encounters the handsome Philip 'Phil' Greene Jr. (Phillips Holmes), an artist creating his canvas, whom she mistakes for an actor in Archie Fisher's (Erik Rhodes) theater troupe, which includes the spirited Lillian Temple (Lucille Ball). Jenny and Philip instantly like each other even though she rattles on while he's trying to concentrate, hence "Chatterbox."

When the grandfather suspects that Jenny is sneaking off to the theater, he threatens to lock her out if she doesn't return by curfew. Michael overhears the ultimatum and considers Jenny a threat, so when the grandfather decides against locking the door, Michael secretly pulls a fast one and prevents her return.

Jenny, realizing that Philip is heading back to the city, considers this her big chance after having no where else to turn. She stows away in his rumble seat, a fact he discovers after his automobile experiences a flat tire along the way.

When Philip transports Jenny to his boarding house so that he might figure what to do about her, his landlady (Margaret Hamilton) is taken by surprise. This is a refreshingly kindhearted role for Margaret, who has a chance to help to resolve several predicaments here.

One other problem facing Philip has his father's (Granville Bates) insisting that he carry on the family business while Philip prefers to create art.

Another problem is trying to find a spot for Jenny in Archie Fisher's (Erik Rhodes) stage company, which is under attack by temperamental actress Lillian Temple (Lucille Ball). Lucy plays the egotist, while Margaret Hamilton plays the kind soul.

The theater decides to give Jenny her break by casting her in a most unflattering role, which would make her appear quite foolish before the audience. When it does, she now has nowhere to turn.

So, it's up to Edward Ellis, Granville Bates, Margaret Hamilton and Phillips Holmes to try to think up some sort of solutions which may optimally benefit one and all.