One more movie in the FXM rotation that I've never actually done a post on before is On the Sunny Side. So, the last time that it showed up, I made it a point to record it so that the next time it would run, I could do a post on it. That next showing is tomorrow, May 15, at 4:45 AM.
The Andrews family are a well-to-do family in a small town in Ohio in the days where World War II had begun in Europe, but had not yet come to America. There's a father (Don Douglas), Mom (Katharine Alexander) and one child Don (Freddie Mercer), with the family being well-off enough to have a live-in maid Annie (Jane Darwell). Don is the sort of kid who has the clubhouse thing that was more of a thing back in the days of free-range kids, and he's popular enough with the other boys that he could be elected president of the club.
But then the postman comes, and Annie has to sign for a letter because it's a special delivery from the UK. The Andrews parents had been to the UK before the war, and became friends with a British family, the Aylesworths, who have a son who is just about the same age as young Don. With the Nazi air raids going on and the UK evacuating a fair number of its children to places like Canada and Australia, the Aylesworths and Andrewses have agreed that the Aylesworth boy, Hugh (Roddy McDowall) should spend the duration over in America to remain safe. Now the letter has come telling when they can expect Hugh.
Hugh arrives in Ohio, and as you can expect there's a bit of culture shock. The adults are trying to recreate a little bit of Britain for Hugh so he won't feel so homesick, but as it turns out Hugh is just as willing to try all-American foods like hot dogs. The two boys become fast friends at first, and Hugh is even in the same class as Don. But it's not all sweetness and light.
Trying to make British foods is just the first sign that everybody -- and I mean everybody is going to gush all over this foreigner in their midst. The adults seem to want to cater to his every need, while all of the kids seem to want him to be their new best friend. Don begins to feel like he's the fifth wheel, and being ignored. Heck, even his dog wants to sleep in Hugh's bed. Don thinks about running away. But On the Sunny Side isn't going to be a dark movie.
It's easy to see why a film like On the Sunny Side got made. Fox had recently cast McDowall in How Green Was My Valley, where he made a big impression. And even though the movie went into production before Pearl Harbor, it was clear war was coming, and much of the US was solidly on the British side. So something that was family-friendly and sympathetic to the plight of the British was just the thing. A morale-booster, if you will, without being too heavy. There's no battle to be shown here.
However, looking 80-plus years back, On the Sunny Side is jarringly, and at times gratingly, simplistic. Hugh comes across as a stereotype of the oh-so-proper Englishman, while the culture differences are played up in a way that makes you want to reach through the screen and tell everybody, no, Hugh is going to adjust lickety-split. Brits use words like "cheque" and prefer cricket to baseball? At times it's almost cringeworthy. Well, more than almost, as in a scene where the radio plays "America"/"God Save the King" (why would the radio even be playing that?).
So at best, On the Sunny Side is a time capsule of what America was thinking about Britain at the time just before entering World War II. Not much more to recommend it, I'm sorry to say.
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