To fully enjoy this movie you need to imagine you are a teenager back in 1938 watching a matinée on a Saturday afternoon. It is the tail end of the Great Depression, with World War II in Europe only a faint rumble in the distance. Someone looking for light entertainment would find it in Listen Darling.
The plot is hackneyed now: children trying to help their widowed mother find a good husband she will love and they will like. But back in 1938 I suppose it was still fresh, especially the conflict of mom marrying for money versus love in the Depression. While camping, they just happen to find a clone of mom's deceased husband, plus a jolly good millionaire. I'll bet the kids watching this were rooting for the banker or millionaire to be their new father! (If this had been one of those saccharine sweet Disney movies, the millionaire would have won.)
I like movies like this as a cinematic time capsule. Anyone who has owned a travel trailer will love seeing the insides of these two old gems. The idea of going camping in a trailer was probably still novel back then. This is the first trailer movie I can think of. Lucille Ball's wonderful "The Long, Long Trailer" is next.
If it weren't for the first-rate cast, this might have been a B movie. Judy Garland and Freddie Bartholomew were two of the most famous young actors of the time. See Captains Courageous for Bartholomew's best. And The Wizard of Oz was just a year away for Judy, who is reunited with Charlie Grapewin as her uncle. Judy was one of the finest singing actress ever, and it shows here, even at the age of 16. I'll bet every teenage boy fell in love with her in this movie.
After watching this, I said, hey, isn't that the Alan Hale in Gilligan's Island? Sure looked like him. But, of course, it was his father. You can see the resemblance, even in mannerisms.
Walter Pidgeon was a fine actor from the period, largely forgotten today, with a distinguished style like Gregory Peck. See him in How Green Was My Valley.
Mary Astor is fine, the sort of mother you wish you had, but a dozen other actresses could have done as well.
It was odd seeing Bartholomew driving, and not being asked for his drivers license by the police. Perhaps they hadn't created drivers licenses yet. Bartholomew is cast as Judy's cousin from Canada, I guess because of his very proper British accent.
I watched this because I had read it was filmed using experimental stereo sound. There is no evidence of this in the print I watched. The music in The Wizard of OZ was recorded using multiple tracks (recorded separately on film), and reissues have stereo sound in sections. Fantasia was recorded with six track audio. It would be nice to see Listen, Darling remastered and reissued, especially to better appreciate Judy's singing.
Movies like this were commonplace entertainment in the 1930s. It is still enjoyable and worth watching today as a reminder of life in a different era.
The plot is hackneyed now: children trying to help their widowed mother find a good husband she will love and they will like. But back in 1938 I suppose it was still fresh, especially the conflict of mom marrying for money versus love in the Depression. While camping, they just happen to find a clone of mom's deceased husband, plus a jolly good millionaire. I'll bet the kids watching this were rooting for the banker or millionaire to be their new father! (If this had been one of those saccharine sweet Disney movies, the millionaire would have won.)
I like movies like this as a cinematic time capsule. Anyone who has owned a travel trailer will love seeing the insides of these two old gems. The idea of going camping in a trailer was probably still novel back then. This is the first trailer movie I can think of. Lucille Ball's wonderful "The Long, Long Trailer" is next.
If it weren't for the first-rate cast, this might have been a B movie. Judy Garland and Freddie Bartholomew were two of the most famous young actors of the time. See Captains Courageous for Bartholomew's best. And The Wizard of Oz was just a year away for Judy, who is reunited with Charlie Grapewin as her uncle. Judy was one of the finest singing actress ever, and it shows here, even at the age of 16. I'll bet every teenage boy fell in love with her in this movie.
After watching this, I said, hey, isn't that the Alan Hale in Gilligan's Island? Sure looked like him. But, of course, it was his father. You can see the resemblance, even in mannerisms.
Walter Pidgeon was a fine actor from the period, largely forgotten today, with a distinguished style like Gregory Peck. See him in How Green Was My Valley.
Mary Astor is fine, the sort of mother you wish you had, but a dozen other actresses could have done as well.
It was odd seeing Bartholomew driving, and not being asked for his drivers license by the police. Perhaps they hadn't created drivers licenses yet. Bartholomew is cast as Judy's cousin from Canada, I guess because of his very proper British accent.
I watched this because I had read it was filmed using experimental stereo sound. There is no evidence of this in the print I watched. The music in The Wizard of OZ was recorded using multiple tracks (recorded separately on film), and reissues have stereo sound in sections. Fantasia was recorded with six track audio. It would be nice to see Listen, Darling remastered and reissued, especially to better appreciate Judy's singing.
Movies like this were commonplace entertainment in the 1930s. It is still enjoyable and worth watching today as a reminder of life in a different era.