The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady

Irish James Barton is a widower with three daughters: Marcia Mae Jones, who is secretly married to a cop and expecting twins, June Haver, who wants to go on the stage with singer/impressario Gordon MacRae, and Debbie Reynolds. Barton used to be a big noise on the vaudeville stage in a singing act with his wife (played in flashbacks by Miss Haver), but she died, and he now hates show business.

It's a pleasant movie, originally planned for Doris Day in the role played by Miss Haver. Like many of the Warner Brothers movies of the period, it uses the Warner Brothers song catalogue for Gay Nineties and Mauve Decade songs; Gene Nelson plays a dancer in MacRae's troupe, and S. Z. Sakall and Jane Darwell appear.

MacRae plays Tony Pastor, and as often happens, it's a very anhistorical performance. The real Tony Pastor was born in 1837 and died in 1908. He entered show business about 1846 as a singer, and became a producer about 1865, taking part in the evolution of vaudeville, and always pushed for his shows to be family-friendly. Even as the industry became centralized in various circuits, he remained through the end as a small player with usually a single theater.

After Look For The Silver Lining Gordon MacRae and June Haver were teamed again for The Daughter Of Rosie O'Grady another period musical. This one is set in 1898 the year of the Spanish-American War and MacRae plays the real life vaudeville entertainer and impresario Tony Pastor who falls for one of the daughters of Rosie O'Grady.

MacRae looked remarkably well I have to say because in 1898 the real Tony Pastor was 61 years old and the objections of James Barton the husband and father of the daughters of Rosie O'Grady might well have been understood as cradle robbing.

June is only one of the daughters, but she's the one with the stage ambitions. Marcia Mae Jones is the oldest and is secretly married to returning Spanish American War veteran and policeman Sean McClory. But they're keeping it a secret from Barton though something is on the way that will blow the secret wide open.

Barton plays your blustering Irish American father, the part usually reserved for Barry Fitzgerald. He's got some objection to McClory so Jones and McClory are trying to work up nerve to tell him. Barton and his late wife were a vaudeville team back in the day, but her early death has soured him on show business. He has forbidden his daughters to even think about the stage and wants them to make marriages to men of substance.

The youngest daughter is Debbie Reynolds who is her usual perky self, but really hasn't a whole lot to do in this film. It might have been nice to team her with Gene Nelson who is one of the performers at Tony Pastor's. Nelson of course shows again why he came along just a tad too late to musicals.

Nothing special in The Daughter Of Rosie O'Grady, but the cast performs well and there's a nice Christmas finale to the film.

Here is a delightful musical comedy movie that should be put out on DVD so everyone can enjoy viewing it during the Christmas holiday season. If nothing else, it should be released in a box set of Christmas movies. In our opinion this film is drastically underrated by other critics. This is June Haver's best movie and Gordon Macrae is also outstanding and in excellent voice. Debbie Reynolds, in her film debut, and Gene Nelson are also very good. All of the songs are well done and memorable and we would like to see a CD soundtrack release, also. It has a strong plot that takes place during the 1890's. Some of the characters may have come from real life, but the plot, I am sure, is pretty much fiction. This movie is very entertaining all the way through to the wonderful grand musical and comedy finale. We try to watch it every year around the holiday season.

A pleasure to see such a great team as Gordon McRae and June Haver on the big screen together. Debbie Reynolds, as her little sister, added a delightful touch (her first speaking role, I believe). June and Debbie's Irish Dad, Barton McLane, did a great nostalgic song and dance ("My Own True Love And I") that would break any Irish person's heart. Gordon played the part of Tony Pastor in his own bright inimitable way. His singing was particularly terrific. Always liked the man. No one else I can think of sang the gay nineties songs as well as he. June and Gene Nelson's (whom I can usually do without) presentation of the title song "The Daughter Of Rosie O'Grady", was a gem, and added much to the show. You came out of the theater humming this tune.

Any time the movie appears on TV, I will try very hard not to miss it. It is a 'feel good about the world' musical and one of the great "escape" pieces of it's day. In my opinion, no MGM musical (including "Singing In The Rain") can make it take a back seat. My lord, how I envied that man (Gordon). He could fall off a shelf and come up singing right on the beat. Strangely enough, I cannot remember S.Z. Sakall's part in the movie; although he appears on the credits. When I track down the video (and I will track it down) I'll come back and update this. Of course, he was a street car conductor.

Pleasant, light headed nonsense still has its pleasures. Chief among them is Gordon MacRae singing beautifully and so handsome. He really should have been at MGM with the Freed unit to take advantage of his gifts, Warners never had the quality productions his talent deserved.

Even though made on loan-out to Warners this was made at the height of 20th Century Fox's big push to make June Haver the new Betty Grable. June had a pleasing way about her, sang and danced adequately but didn't have the punch of Grable nor the vulnerability or flesh impact of the girl who would replace her within a couple of years, Marilyn Monroe. She's serviceable in the lead but not memorable.

Debbie Reynolds in her first featured part is pert and bursting with her special brand of energy. Her role is small but even with that she registers on screen in a way Haver never does. A good illustration of star quality and the lack of it in one film. Gene Nelson stands out in the dance department although he is made to look ridiculous in some awful costumes but his footwork compensates.

The rest of the cast all perform well and the film is loaded with color but it's all a bunch of malarkey.