Les trois gloires

"Chip Off the Old Block" isn't a hidden gem of Hollywood that's waiting for someone to discover. But it is a good film to show the talents of Donald O'Connor, as well as Peggy Ryan. The comedy is so-so, and enjoyable, and the rest of the cast has some familiar faces that make it a comfortable film. Arthur Treacher and Helen Broderick help in that quarter.

The plot isn't anything original and the screenplay is just so-so. What make this film is the singing and dancing. O'Connor was just 18 years old when this film came out. While he had been in 20 films already, including some with big stars of the day, this is one of the first of several films that will showcase the talented dancer and singer. Peggy Ryan, too, had been in a bunch of films before this, but her career tapered off fast after the mid-1940s, and she ended her career early in television.

Here are some favorite lines form this film.

Dean Manning, "You know, I ought to expel you. But on the other hand, I don't want the other schools you've attended to think that I'm a copycat."

Glory Marlow Sr., "Oh, if you boys want a drink, just help yourself." Blaney Wright, "Got any arsenic?" Henry McHugh, "With a carbolic chaser?" Glory Marlow Sr., "Yep. On the top shelf."

Glory Marlow Sr., "I went on the roller coaster, the magic carpet, the whip." Henry McHugh, "At your age? Something wrong with your mind?" Glory Marlow Sr., "No. But that's the only part of me that there isn't something wrong with."

Donald Corrigan, "Hey, dad's here. Is he all right?" Porter, "In your language..." Donald, "He's on the beam, in the groove, and cookin' with gas."

I am a huge Donald O'Connor fan and have seen most of his movies. Donald in the early forties made several teen B-Musicals, this one being one of his best. Donald O'Connor's charm and personality really shine through in this film. It is packed with tons of really great songs and really fabulous dancing by O'Connor. He and Peggy Ryan, my favorite on screen duo, have great chemistry in this film. It is short on time and budget, but is still my favorite of his teen pictures and I highly recommend it to others.

A talented star cast completely wasted (not for the first time), by a silly plot and far below standard execution of it. It has Donald O'Connor, with two teenagers Pgyy Ryan and Ann Blyth forming a semi-bigamist triangle. Of these two female leads of course I don't put much value on. Peggy I haven't seen much of screen time, so I can't really talk about her, Ann, I have seen a few, and neither, in the allocated screen, has shown much talent. Donald of course is in other circle, his antics are quite charming. The major wasted talents were the two Helens (Vinson and Brodrerick) as Gloria I and II, the mother and the Grandmother. Of course none of them looked old enough to be of that relation, but I would overlook it, since they could have been just that (real age then was 37 and 53, so allowing for child marriages, they could have just made it). But let me rein my horse a bit. The Grand mother was in love with Mad Michael Corrigan, and he escaped. Naturally the hearl broken Glory I wasn't, or may be she did, marry on rebound, but that, considering she was already a Broadway actress then when Michael breached the promise and engagement, couldn't have been too young. In that circumstances, the relation would be just too bad, and the daughter naturally would be sufficiently brainwashed to be attentive to the pursuit of the enemy's son, Judd (Corrigan). Even if he finally succeeded to breach the wall and then finally breach the promise (he too followed suit), the daughter Glory I would have been quite advanced age, by the time she decided to marry (again I suppose on rebound). With these two histories well explained, I doubt that Glory III would fall for Corrigan III, but she fell like nine-pins, without any misgivings whatsoever. Of course it isn't still very clear why Corrigan III was virtually rusticated from Academy (when War was till going strong, and they wanted recruits, not lose them), and what was the Dean expected to gain by setting him free ! As far as I know, military academies don't work like that, especially to bring the difficult recruits into line. When Glory III was offered to become actress, I wonder why she would ask the advice of the, not too dependable teenager, Corrigan III, especially when her mother as well as Grandmother had agreed (another slip- just some time back, they had been clear that they didn't want the heiress to join the profession). The whole thing is full of these slips. If one wants to make a musical comedy, there shouldn't be a story, or if it is, it should be simple, uncomplicated, just to stitch in the dances and songs. And that's where this one missed, trying to bring in Military, misplaced-patriotism,... Despite O'Connor, it was difficult to watch it through.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. Over all, I enjoyed it. I've seen 5 movies with Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan and this is definitely not my favorite of them all.

I'll start with the negative. Ann Blyth is one of the things that I don't particularly like in this musical. I've seen her in "The Merry Monahans", also with O'Connor and Ryan, and she was quite different. This was her first film. So she might not have been so confident. But her singing is very irritating. In "The Merry Monahans", her singing is great and her acting is amazing, too. But in this one, her singing sounds very bad and her acting is far from good. Maybe it's just because I dislike her character in this one, Glory Marlowe III. The character is an annoyance and she was not very enjoyable in this one. There was also some broken direction here and there. And the plot is an real cliché. But, really other than those, it's a good movie.

O'Connor and Ryan sparkle in this one. They get to do one great dance called "Is it Good or is it Bad?". This song alone is enough to make you buy this one. They also dance to "I Gotta Give My Feet a Break" and they get to do a few comedy bits. These two are dynamite and carry the movie through. If it weren't for these two, the film would have been a disaster. But these two take the picture to the end and make it full of life.

I don't recommend this that much. If you want some great stuff from O'Connor and Ryan, check out "Mister Big" or "Patrick the Great". But this one is good, too. Not their best. But pretty good.

7/10