Song of the Open Road
Republic Pictures, 1944, BW, 93 minutes, ***
(theatrical distribution by United Artists)
Jane Powell plays Jane Powell, a popular child movie star. She has just finished a two-reeler short film about "Crop Kids" - kids who help pick crops on farms. She is now in the midst of making a big picture, but she can't stop thinking of the friends she made in the short film. Finally she can take it no longer, so she cuts and dyes her hair, changes her name to Jane Price and runs away. In almost no time at all she has hooked up with another group of crop kids.
She has a bit of trouble fitting in when she volunteers to fix bicycles and a water pump on one of the farms while the kids go crop picking. She totally messes everything up, and the kids are quite angry at her.
To top it off she nearly destroys the relationships of two sets of young lovebirds when she offers some advice to Jack (Jackie Moran), one of the lovebirds. She tells him the way to get Bonnie (Bonita Granville) to admit that she loves him is to fake a romance with Peggy (Peggy O'Neill). She's sure that will make Bonnie so jealous that she will tell Jack she loves him. But everything backfires when she forgets to tell Bill (Bill Christy) about the plan, and he thinks Jack is trying to steal his girl.
Feeling bad about all the trouble she's caused, Jane is about to go back home when Mrs. Kerrigan advises her to hold her head up and take her medicine. That will make the kids respect her. And so that's what she does.
In a moment of weakness she tells the kids that she is really Jane Powell, and they make her prove it by singing "Carmena," a song from her latest picture. Once the kids are convinced she really is Jane Powell, they vote to bury the axe and let her back into their fold.
Later, when a big storm threatens to damage 100 acres of orange crop at the Moran Ranch (owned by Jack's brother John Moran), Jane comes up with a plan to get all the oranges off the trees before the storm comes -- in just a few hours! Can she do it?
This was Jane Powell's screen review. She was 14 years old. It's a cute movie, buy - sadly - it has never been released on home video - VHS or DVD. But it is shown occasionally on AMC. If you don't want to wait for it to come around, do as I did and buy a "pirated copy" on eBay. The DVD shown to the right appears to be a commercial release, but is actually a DVD made from an AMC broadcast. This copy, and others like it, can often be found on AMC. The picture quality is poor, but viewable.
This is one of those spirit pickeruppers from the war era. This one promotes the American Youth Hostels, which was an organization that placed volunteer youngsters with various farms to assist in harvesting and other farm chores while so many of the men were off fighting the war. Millions of youngsters pitched in and helped in many ways during World War II, and this is just one of the ways they helped pull America through those dark years.
Crew:
Produced by: Charles R. Rogers
Directed by: S. Sylvan Simon
Screen Play by: Albert Mannheimer
Based on a Story by Irving Phillips and Edward Verdier
Director of Photography: John W. Boyle
Production Manager: Val Paul
Film Editor: Truman K. Wood
Art Director: Bernard Herzbrun
Set Dressing: Earl Wooden
Sound Engineer: John R. Carter
Make Up by: Westmore
Assistant to Producer: William J. Fender
Musical Director: Charles Previn
Original Songs: Music by Warren Kent, Lyrics by Kim Dannon
Musical Presentations by: George Dobbs
"Introducing a New Singing Star... Jane Powell"
"We thank the American Youth Hostels for their inspiration, for their cooperation and, above all, for their fine contribution to the American way of life."
Cast:
Edgar Bergen (and Charlie McCarthy) ... Himself
Bonita Granville ... Bonnie
W. C. Fields ... Himself
Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra ... Themselves
Jane Powell ... Jane Powell
Peggy O'Neill ... Peggy
Jackie Moran ... Jack
Bill Christy ... Bill
Reginald Denny ... Mr. Curtis, the Movie Director
Regis Toomey ... Mr. Connors, the Detective
Rose Hobart ... Mrs. Powell, Jane's Mother
Condos Brothers ... Specialty
Lipham Four ... Specialty
Catron & Popp ... Specialty
Hollywood Canteen Kids ... Specialty
Edward Gargan ... Truck Driver
Music:
[0:01] Rollin' Down the Road (sung by Jane Powell and the Hollywood Canteen Kids)
[0:10] Delightfully Dangerous (played by Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra, danced by Condos Brothers)
[0:25] Fun in the Sun (sung by Jane Powell with a bit of whistling by Edward Gargan onscreen)
[0:31] ?? instrumental played by kids at hostel
[0:41] Too Much in Love (sung by Jackie Moran)
[0:48] ?? instrumental danced by kids
[1:04] Carmena (sung by Jane Powell)
[1:29] Here It Is Monday (sung by Jane Powell with Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra)
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Song of the Open Road
Join the U.S. Crop Corps!
Jane Powell the Movie Star
Jane Powell as Jane Price
Condos Brothers
Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy
Jane tries hard to fix the bicycles
Jane Powell and Bonita Granville
Jane Powell and W.C. Fields
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