This entry of John Nesbitt's Passing Parade deals with a young boy (Dean Stockwell with an awesome head of hair) having to write an essay on "a really important person." Who he eventually decides to write about is telegraphed immediately in the opening narration. My favorite scene was an early one with Dean in the library. He's trying his hardest to make an essay on John Paul Jones work but he just can't. Slowly the camera pulls back to reveal a bald old man (Chick York) sitting next to him. The old man says "What's the matter? Don't you like great men of the 18th century?" I have to admit I burst out laughing at this odd scene. It goes on and the old man convinces Dean to look closer to home for important people. This is a charming old short with some moments that are funnier now than they were intended at the time. Stockwell was an excellent child actor. One of the best. It's also nice to see the great Connie Gilchrist as his mother. Oh, and the old man appears again at the essay reading. He smiles and nods happily as he hears the words he told the boy read aloud. Yes, again I laughed. Overall, it's a pleasant ten minutes so check it out if you get the chance.
9 Reviews
Barely entertaining short benefits from Dean Stockwell's performance...
Doylenf23 September 2008
Surely, a better story could have evolved around a boy required to write an essay on "A Very Important Person" and choosing to name his father as recipient of the honor.
In this lackluster short, the boy suddenly decides that his hard working father (a traffic cop) is worthy of being the subject of his prize-winning essay. DEAN STOCKWELL, one of the few natural child actors, is impressive in the central role as the boy who gradually comes to realize that he doesn't have to look far for a worthy subject.
Perhaps if the father had a strong role in the proceedings, the ending might be more believable. As it is, it's a weak message delivered in a routine way by MGM. Contract player CONNIE GILCHRIST has a small role as Dean's hard-working mother.
Narrated by John Nesbitt, it's a bit pretentious and easy to skip.
In this lackluster short, the boy suddenly decides that his hard working father (a traffic cop) is worthy of being the subject of his prize-winning essay. DEAN STOCKWELL, one of the few natural child actors, is impressive in the central role as the boy who gradually comes to realize that he doesn't have to look far for a worthy subject.
Perhaps if the father had a strong role in the proceedings, the ending might be more believable. As it is, it's a weak message delivered in a routine way by MGM. Contract player CONNIE GILCHRIST has a small role as Dean's hard-working mother.
Narrated by John Nesbitt, it's a bit pretentious and easy to skip.
"Heroes walk on ordinary shoe leather"
boblipton28 January 2020
Dean Stockwell is trying to write a school essay on an important person. He thinks he's settled on John Paul Jones, but nothing will come. Someone suggests that important people are all around, so he goes out in search of one in this episode of John Nesbitt's THE PASSING PARADE.
It's a typical episode in the series, sentimental and concerned with the ordinary, unnoticed, forgotten things and people in the world. Here, it's Dean's father, the local beat cop.
To some, this has a definite post-war air to it, with its love of normalcy. True enough, but Nesbit had been telling such stories on the radio and in the movies for ten years by the time this came out. I guess people like things to be simple and normal.
It's a typical episode in the series, sentimental and concerned with the ordinary, unnoticed, forgotten things and people in the world. Here, it's Dean's father, the local beat cop.
To some, this has a definite post-war air to it, with its love of normalcy. True enough, but Nesbit had been telling such stories on the radio and in the movies for ten years by the time this came out. I guess people like things to be simple and normal.
Works Rather Well
Snow Leopard12 September 2005
This simple short feature works rather well, thanks in part to a decent story and in part to Dean Stockwell as the young boy. It is the kind of morality play that can easily become cloying or dreary if not handled carefully, but in this case it comes off all right.
Stockwell plays a boy who wants to enter an essay contest, for which the subject is "A Really Important Person". The character is portrayed as a typical boy, motivated by the desire to have fun and to please his friends. Stockwell plays the part well, and makes his otherwise familiar character worth being interested in. The story is also careful not to press its points too hard. The plot is rather predictable, but that was probably more or less by design.
There is just enough to the story to make it interesting without distracting attention from its intended point. While nothing remarkable, this is a decent example of how a simple, familiar, somewhat moralistic story can communicate its point without frills.
Stockwell plays a boy who wants to enter an essay contest, for which the subject is "A Really Important Person". The character is portrayed as a typical boy, motivated by the desire to have fun and to please his friends. Stockwell plays the part well, and makes his otherwise familiar character worth being interested in. The story is also careful not to press its points too hard. The plot is rather predictable, but that was probably more or less by design.
There is just enough to the story to make it interesting without distracting attention from its intended point. While nothing remarkable, this is a decent example of how a simple, familiar, somewhat moralistic story can communicate its point without frills.
Probably easier to appreciate back then than today
Horst_In_Translation15 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
"A Really Important Person" is an American English-language short film from 1947, so this one's over 70 years old now and naturally in black-and-white as a consequence. The child actor you see in here is the young Dean Stockwell, now in his 80s, and he is not the only Oscar nominee if you take a look at cast and crew. Even a centenarian is included. This is a film about finding an important person that a boy can write an essay about. And while the film starts off with some potential choices from American history and sports even, the final conclusion is that our everyday heroes are just as important. Oh well, it is a bit pretentious at times and the emotional aspect the film is trying to make is clearly not on the level they want us to believe it is. Talent does definitely not match ambition here. But I can see why people back then maybe could have enjoyed it and I would not blame them. Maybe so briefly after the end of a big war, perception and emotional states were on a level that is difficult for us to imagine today and they were thankful for uplifting stuff like this one. Or at least, we who are lucky enough to live in non-war areas cannot really see it from the same perspective. And by the way what was with that licking reference early on. I am sure it was very harmless, but it feels so awkward today. All in all, I cannot say I enjoyed the watch too much and I believe that only bog Dean Stockwell fans may want to check this one out. Everybody else can skip it without missing much.
A bit schmaltzy but also very sweet.
planktonrules1 March 2019
This is an excellent installent in the John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series. Like most of these films, I think it would have been better without Nesbitt's narration, but it's still quite nice...if a bit schmaltzy.
Billy Reilly (Dean Stockwell) is stumped. He wants to enter a local essay contest about who he considers a really important person but he doesn't know who to pick. After listening to some advice, he decides to write about his father...a local policeman. Why he picked him is for you to see for yourself.
This is a rather sweet film. Some might find it heavyhanded and schmaltzy, but I thought it was quite nice and worth seeing.
Billy Reilly (Dean Stockwell) is stumped. He wants to enter a local essay contest about who he considers a really important person but he doesn't know who to pick. After listening to some advice, he decides to write about his father...a local policeman. Why he picked him is for you to see for yourself.
This is a rather sweet film. Some might find it heavyhanded and schmaltzy, but I thought it was quite nice and worth seeing.
Passing Parade
Michael_Elliott27 December 2013
A Really Important Person (1947)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Charming entry in the Passing Parade series has a young boy (Dean Stockwell) going to the library to do some research on an important person. The story is meant for a contest he's trying to win and after doing something wrong the boy realizes that the most important person he knows is his father. A REALLY IMPORTANT PERSON isn't a masterpiece and it's not even one of the better films in the John Nesbitt series but there's no question that it has its heart in the right place and it manages to be entertaining as long as you don't take it too serious. The main goal of this film was to send home a message to kids that you just need to look in your own neighborhood to find heroes. The message certainly comes across quite well and without too much preaching. Stockwell, a very good child actor, does a fine job here, although he's really not given too much to "act" since a lot of the film is narration. With that said, fans of the series or the actor should enjoy this film as it's a good time killer.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Charming entry in the Passing Parade series has a young boy (Dean Stockwell) going to the library to do some research on an important person. The story is meant for a contest he's trying to win and after doing something wrong the boy realizes that the most important person he knows is his father. A REALLY IMPORTANT PERSON isn't a masterpiece and it's not even one of the better films in the John Nesbitt series but there's no question that it has its heart in the right place and it manages to be entertaining as long as you don't take it too serious. The main goal of this film was to send home a message to kids that you just need to look in your own neighborhood to find heroes. The message certainly comes across quite well and without too much preaching. Stockwell, a very good child actor, does a fine job here, although he's really not given too much to "act" since a lot of the film is narration. With that said, fans of the series or the actor should enjoy this film as it's a good time killer.
Some people say that baseball and Holocaust Remembrance Day don't mix . . .
oscaralbert29 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
. . . because the annual memorial observance falls in the middle of Winter. However, one cable movie channel proved such a wrong-headed notion to be a fallacy this year, marking its "Lest we forget" tribute (in part) by screening A REALLY IMPORTANT PERSON. Filmed during a time when actual Death Camp evidential movie footage was beginning to circulate among the general public, A REALLY IMIPORTANT PERSON commences by naming Detroit Tiger "Hammering Hank" Greenberg in the same breath with Hall of Famers "Night Ride" Longfellow, Tom "Louisiana" Jefferson, and Ben "Lightning" Franklin. The thing that set Hank apart from the other three players was the fact that he was Jewish. Blatant anti-Semitism is the only thing which could stop him from topping Gentile "Babe" Ruth's single-season home run record, and that--combined with Hank taking a multi-season sabbatical in the middle of his MLB career to help liberate the Death Camps--curtailed any chance for Greenberg to best the "Sultan of Swat's" career homer mark. Hank never ranted and raved over such slights. This quiet hero's credo was to live by the Golden Rule, and Do the Right Thing. This is the lesson that Billy's beat cop father teaches his son as A REALLY IMPORTANT PERSON. As long as you live an honest life, baseball can keep any soul from turning into a totalitarian goose-stepper or a cheating Houston Astro!
lovely
Kirpianuscus5 September 2018
For its predactibility . For its innocence. For the spirit of an old world. For its moral. And, sure, for Dean Stockwell. A boy. A contest. And his hero. And few details who, without be impressive, are seductive. A film about values. Nice, simple, moral. And, in special manner, seductive. That is all. For define it, not ignoring the involuntary humor and the dust, lovely. In memory of a lost age.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
