Junior Miss (1945)

One of my all time favorites.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Utterly charming lightweight comedy about two teenage girls coming of age in 1940's Manhattan. Director Seaton and the writers add a number of expert touches that lift the 90- minutes above the ordinary. I love the way the luckless teenage suitors keep shuffling in and out of the apartment as the girls' grouchy dad (Joslyn) gives them the better-be-home-by-ten evil eye. And was there ever a more beguiling early teen than Garner (Judy). What I like most is her utter lack of affect. She's a natural, not particularly pretty, but with a winning personality.Here Judy has a bouncy neighbor Fluffy (Whiting) to conspire with. Their project is to get recovering alcoholic Uncle Willis (Dunne) together with the lovely Ellen (Marlowe) in order to save what they believe is Judy's parent's marriage. Naturally, complications arise, particularly when it looks like Dad will lose his good job because of the girls' shenanigans. The movie's adapted from a stage play, which is apparent since nearly all the action occurs in the Manhattan apartment. But notice how things never drag as Seaton keeps moving people in and out with lots of sassy dialog, particularly between Judy and older sister Lois (Freeman). Also, catch a very young Mel Torme as one of the obnoxious suitors in an early walk-on. Hard to believe teens were ever like this, but then it is a movie, and though dated, is still quite entertaining, thanks mainly to the wonderful Miss Garner. In my little book, it's an unexpected sleeper.

This is a movie I remember from those days back in the late 50's when I was a teenager myself, staying up late to watch it on TV. It was a delightful period piece and, I think, nearly on a par with "The Bachelor and Bobby-Soxer". It is not as lively as Bobby-Soxer, but the sympathetic treatment of what it meant to be a teen girl back in 1945 New York City is charming. It doesn't contain an A-List cast like Bobby-Soxer either but those wonderful second string character players really shine. Peggy Ann Garner is excellent but Mona Freeman and Barbara Whiting, as the wise-cracking sister and her best friend(respectively), steal the picture, in my opinion. But then Mona Freeman steals the picture in "Dear Ruth" too. A sadly underrated actress. I see "Junior Miss" is not available on either VHS or DVD and I have not seen it broadcast on TV in many years. It would be a shame if this was a "lost" film.

I saw this movie as a pre-teenager living in New York, so I really identified with the main character played by Peggy Ann Garner. The location shots at the ice-skating rink at Rockefeller Center and Central Park in the winter (when Judy and Fuffy are sitting on a park bench eating cookies in their winter coats) are charming indeed. The story will keep movie fans interested. There is romance, generation gaps, family situations all centered around a couple of teen-age pals living in the same apartment building with a big sister thrown in for fun. Every time I see this movie, I am back in 1945 as a ten year old seeing this movie during the summer with my father.

This is a delightful film that I love to view whenever I run across it. It features Peggy Ann Garner as Judy, the thirteen-year-old daughter of a middle class family in New York in the forties. Through a procession of misunderstandings, the family is thrown into a series of calamaties during the Christmas/New Years holiday. Of course, at the end, all is well thanks to Judy. Peggy Ann Garner's performance is just perfect, and her relationship with Barbara Whiting, who plays Judy's best friend Fuffy, seems very true to life. I guess this film might seem a tad boring to some modern viewers, but it certainly transports me back to a wonderful time. Be sure to be on the lookout for Mel Torme, who has a tiny role as one of the boyfriends of Judy's older sister. He looks like he is about fifteen years old, but he has that unmistakable voice!