Chasseuses d'autographes

"You're the cutest mouse in the joint." Its lines like that which make "The Youngest Profession" a classic. This is film isn't seen enough. I saw it the first time on TCM and was absolutely hooked. I'm a HUGE William Powell fan, and quite identified with a young girl's fascination with the debonair actor. Had I been a teen in 1943, I'd have been collecting autographs when stars were stars. Virginia Weidler gains a few John Hancocks by the end of the film which is littered with cameos by William Powell, Lana Turner, Greer Garson, Walter Pigeon, and Robert Taylor. This is a fantastically funny movie and if you're looking for something along the lines of "The Thin Man", "Bringing Up Baby" and other classics of the era, "The Youngest Profession" should quench your thirst.

Virginia Weidler, who usually gives decent performances in her pictures, stars in this narcissistic MGM romp. She plays a teen who disrupts the lives of movie stars with her best friend (Jean Porter) for just one more autograph, please! Clark Gable does not appear in this confection, because he's off at war. But other MGM contract players have been drafted into the service of this movie, such as Lana Turner, Greer Garson, and Walter Pidgeon.

Miss Weidler can be forgiven for being at that awkward stage of life known as adolescence, though someone has tried to glamorize her a bit too much and as a result, we cannot take her seriously as an average American girl. But what is most distressing is she has received direction that allows her to run the gamut from silly to sillier. To say she is over-acting on occasion is putting it mildly. Costar Porter is not much better, and at times her Texas accent seems to rub off on Weidler, who hails from Eagle Rock, California.

Several noteworthy character actors are present, but their talents are largely wasted. Agnes Moorehead as an out-dated governess has probably her most thankless role ever, and is permitted to shriek like Fanny Amberson in one of her other pictures. Edward Arnold, as Pop, tries valiantly but seems almost grandfatherly.

There are several subplots, some more entertaining than others. But this writer was distracted by the fact that some of the stories were recycled from other MGM films, as were some of the sets. The kitchen and dining room seem to have been left over from THE AFFAIRS OF MARTHA, an earlier production in which Weidler appeared.

Speaking of Weidler, how come her character doesn't recognize the fact that the actors playing her family are also under contract to MGM? And how come Weidler's character doesn't realize that Weidler herself is an MGM actress? I guess that would mean she'd have to ask herself for her own autograph, and then there wouldn't be much need to haunt hotels and cruise the streets until Mr. Gable returns to town.

The story is about an autograph-crazy teenager and her kooky friends who will do practically anything to meet celebrities. This is a small picture from MGM that has a lot going for it, but it also has a lot against it.

Let's first talk about the good. Edward Arnold does a wonderful job as the befuddled father of the lead wacky teen. He is suitably angry and confounded--an excellent and funny role. In addition, the film has some lovely cameos, as you get to see such notables as Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Taylor and William Powell. It's nice to see them playing themselves, though I seriously doubt that Garson would really invite star-struck teens in for tea, Pidgeon would have a fatherly talk with them--dispensing advice, or that Robert Taylor would deliver messages. These sweet cameos really were fun to see and did a lot to endear the stars to their fans. Plus it's a cute change of pace to see them as "real folks".

However, the bad outdoes a lot of the good. The autograph-crazy girl, Joan (Virginia Weidler) is just too annoying. It was so bad that I really wanted to see Arnold rap her in the mouth! And, although this girl acted too broadly and was too irritating for words, the character played by Agnes Moorehead was just too hateful and broad--and much worse! I actually was rooting to see this witch hit by a bus--and she was too rotten and conniving to be funny or realistic. In fact, neither seemed the least bit real and were severe detriments to the film. It's really too bad, as the idea for the film was fine but the actual writing and dialog sagged--and it's no wonder I just couldn't stand Wiedler and Moorehead--the writers simply gave us little to like.

A passable little film with some supposedly behind the scenes views, but nothing more.

... that was better than I expected it to be. And that is mainly because the focus of the film is not two teen girls autograph hunting. That would have gotten diabetic in a hurry.

Joan Lyons (VIrginia Weidler) and Patricia Drew (Jean Porter) are star crazy autograph hounds who head a club of equally star crazy teen girls who are also autograph hounds. They live in New York City, so it is probably more likely that they would run into stars there than Indiana, but they do seem to have an uncanny amount of luck, including having Robert Taylor move into the apartment across the hall from the Lyons with William Powell ending up in an elevator with the Lyons when he goes to visit Taylor. Taylor was married to Barbara Stanwyck at the time, so why didn't they run into her? The short answer would be that Stanwyck was not under contract to MGM in 1943.

This movie is beefed up with a subplot about a series of misunderstandings coupled with a gossipy governess (Agnes Moorehead) that have Joan believing that her father (Edward Arnold) is planning to leave her mother for his secretary. Joan and Patricia come up with a goofy plot to try and get them back together when there is no problem in the first place. This part of the film is up to the quality of the Andy Hardy films of the time, and it helps to have an old pro like Edward Arnold onboard.

I begrudgingly started watching this in my quest to watch and review all of William Powells existing films, and if not for its minor place in his filmography I would have likely passed on it, but it was better than I expected. If you like the MGM family comedies of the late 30s and early 40s you'll probably like this one.

Five of MGM's biggest stars did some box office cameo duty appearing as themselves in this B picture about the trials and travails of autograph pursuing. I do remember pursuing a few of them in my youth so I can somewhat sympathize with what these young girls headed by Virginia Weidler are going through. I can also understand some of the problems they cause the celebrities as well.

The landings in North Africa and Salerno should have been as well organized as what Virginia Weidler and her fan club when they're on the prowl for celebrity signatures. Weidler and her pursuits are bedeviling her parents, Edward Arnold and Marta Linden, and they've got additional problems with their son Scotty Beckett who fancies himself an inventor and a governess in Agnes Moorehead who's outlived her usefulness and won't take the hint to retire.

Weidler's imagination is set on fire by what she sees in the movies and already she's imagining trouble in her parent's marriage and switches from movie star hunting to Lucy Ricardo like machinations to keep her parents from a breakup that's all in her head.

Lana Turner, Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Taylor, and William Powell all make brief appearances as the hunted. Personally there's no way in God's green earth that Greer Garson would have indulged Weidler and her friend Ann Ayars. Only Pidgeon showed the slightest traces of impatience with the young ladies, maybe more than a trace.

The Youngest Profession is a cute film, a nostalgic look at the Forties, but not too much more than that.