ON MOONLIGHT BAY (1951)
75TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION
Warner Bros. already owned the rights to Booth Tarkington’s Penrod novels about a mischievous young man in a small Indiana town. The studio had previously filmed them with the twins Billy and Bobby Mauch, so 75 years ago it only seemed natural to do a musical remake starring…Doris Day? The studio shifted the focus from the boy to his older sister (Day) and had her fall in love with the college boy next door Gordon McRae. This was their fifth film together, and their singing of early 20th century hits like “Cuddle Up a Little Closer” and “Moonlight Bay” were delights that cemented Day’s position as the studio’s top musical star. She also welcomed the chance to play a tomboy who learns to femme it up when she falls in love. The film got some extra laughs from Billy Gray as her younger brother and Mary Wickes as the family’s wise-cracking housekeeper.
d. Roy Del Ruth, 95m, 35mm
35mm print courtesy Warner Bros. Discovery and Park Circus.