I've suggested before that I think Warner Bros. made the best B movies and programmers. Having said that, other studios could make good programmers too, especially when it fit the sort of movie the studio was good at making. If MGM needed something glossy and upscale for one of its programmers like a romantic comedy, they didn't do so bad. There were also the "family" type movies to keep up the spirits of people during the depression, such as all those Andy Hardy movies. Another movie that fits more into that second group is Listen, Darling.
The family here is a sort of broken family, which is largely because Dad has died, leaving behind Mom, Mrs. Wingate (Mary Astor) to try to raise two children. Billy (Scotty Beckett) is the nortmal sort of Hollywood brat you get a lot of from younger children in the movies, but the elder child is already becoming an adult. Pinkie (Judy Garland) is about 15, finishing middle school, and already a talented singer. She ought to go to music school, but then, Mom's a widow now, and can't afford that.
Meanwhile, there's a well-meaning banker, Mr. Drubbs (Gene Lockhart), who likes Mrs. Wingate as something more than just a friend. He also doesn't dislike the children, and is willing to provide for them by marrying their mother. Mom doesn't exactly dislike Drubbs, but recognizes that it would be more of a marriage of convenience to give the kids what they need. It's a sacrifice, but one that Mom would be willing to make for her children.
The other problem is that Pinkie is getting to the age where she's mature enough to understand all of this. She wants her mom to be happy, and recognizes that Drubbs isn't right for Mom. But how to get Mom to recognize this? Well, Pinkie has a platonic friend in the form of Buzz Mitchell (Freddie Bartholomew) who is picking up some extra money by working at his uncle's service station. Buzz finds some law books in the Wingate family trailer, and gets the idea to shanghai Mrs. Wingate into the trailer and then taking the whole family on a trip, where hopefully they'll find a more suitable man for Mrs. Wingate. It's a ridiculous idea, least of all because one wonders how they'll get the money to keep gas in the car and keep the trailer powered.
But of course, this being a light MGM comedy, you know that the plan is going to have success, and if you know the formula of the movie, it'll have too much success. Also traveling around by trailer is the bachelor photographer Richard Thurlow (Walter Pidgeon). He and Mrs. Wingate keep meeting and eventually become friends, with the possibility that it could become love. But one of the places they camp is just down the road from the mansion of insurance executive J.J. Slattery (Alan Hale), and he and his butler take care of the children when they get lost and have an encounter with a skunk. Slattery could be a good father for the kids, too, but he knows better since he's further down the credits from Walter Pidgeon's character.
Judy Garland was on her way to stardom, although the hadn't quite attained it yet, as this was a year or so before The Wizard of Oz and the big musicals with Mickey Rooney like Babes in Arms. As such, she only merits the programmer treatment and not a prestige movie, especially not with this plot. And you'd think that a plot like this could become too syrupy, yet somehow it works surprisingly well. Especially Walter Pidgeon surprises at doing what is fairly light comedy. Contrast this with something like Scandal at Scourie a dozen years later where he's weighted down by a moralizing plot and the presence of Greer Garson.
If you were looking to watch an old-style movie night with a B movie or programmer before the big show, Listen, Darling would be a great movie to start off with.
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