I don't care very much

There are two movies coming up tomorrow against each other that, I have to admit, I don't care all that much for. As always, you should watch and judge for yourself.

First, at 8:00 AM on TCM, is the 1949 MGM Technicolor version of Little Women. This one has a lot going against it for me. First is Peter Lawford as the male lead. He's never been my favorite actor, coming across as a drip in love with himself. Elizabeth Taylor is certainly a very talented actress, but I have to admit that I've always preferred other actresses to her as well. I know a lot of people dislike June Allyson's voice, but it's never particularly bothered me. Oh, and the youngest March sister is played by Margaret O'Brien, who has always been one of my least favorite child stars from the studio era. Put all of this together and in a story that was probably always intended to appeal to the distaff side of the audience, and you've got all the ingredients for a movie that's just not my thing. C. Aubrey Smith makes his final screen appearance, though.

Over on FXM Retro is The I Don't Care Girl at 8:50 AM tomorrow. This is one that should be more interesting, being based on the real-life figure Eva Tanguay. But it's a Fox musical of the early 1950s. The Fox musicals were always less lavish than what MGM was doing at the time, and in a way that's not a bad thing at all. However, I found a lot of the action here lackluster as the whole musical genre at Fox was beginning to lose its steam. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which was released the same year, glitters with the presence of Marilyn Monroe; The I Don't Care Girl fizzles with Mitzi Gaynor and a muddled plot.

If you watch either of these, I hope you enjoy them more than I did.