The generation gap, 1940s style

TCM is showing The Youngest Profession at 9:45 AM ET on September 29. It's an interesting look at how MGM thought they could lure the teens into theaters during the early 1940s.

Virginia Weidler stars as a high-school student who is president of the school's celebrity fan club. Her day, and those of her friends, seems to be filled with no more concern than trying to get the autographs of all those wonderful MGM celebrites. Her father (Edward Arnold) doesn't quite understand, and frankly, he's right not to: there's a war going on, and you'd think that high-school boys would be concerned about going off to fight, with the girls concerned about their boyfriends going off to fight in the not too distant future.

But, of course, the studios wanted to keep up the people's morale duirng the war, especially the moral of our impressionable young people, so we get nearly plotless piffle like this movie. But, if the teen plot line wasn't enough, MGM felt they could lure people in to theaters with the promise of more stars than there are in the firmament. So, in Weidler's search for autographs, we get a slew of MGM contract players showing up in bit parts, notably the Minivers (er, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon), as well as the typically glamorous Lana Turner. Granted, this isn't the only cameo-filled movie from that era. But at least films like Stage Door Canteen and Hollywood Canteen had good reason for featuring cameo after cameo after cameo.

The end result of The Youngest Generation is a weird little period piece that isn't terrible, but, other than the cameos, also doesn't offer anything of enduring value. That lack of value would probably explain why a movie like this isn't exactly a candidate for DVD release.