Janie (1944)

Hortonville is a small American town that is in for quite a shock. An army base is going to be built nearby and that is going to cause no end of difficulties for the “Conway” family. Principally, father “Charlie” (Edward Arnold) is worried that his hormonal teenage daughter “Janie” (Joyce Reynolds) is finally going to get off the phone and instead fall for a dashing man in uniform - rather then continuing her long-term rapport with her school-friend “Scooper” (Richard Erdman). True to form, she meets the Jimmy Stewart-esque “Dick” (Robert Hutton), feels herself mature into a grown woman and consequentially suffers from some mischief instigated by both her disgruntled pal and by her own younger sister “Elspeth” (Clare Foley). When her attempt to have a quiet night in with her new beau spirals out of control, she has her work cut out trying to stop her father’s house being trashed and arrests occurring on a mass scale. This is all harmless stuff held together well by the increasingly frustrated Arnold; the amiably annoying Foley, Hattie McDaniels throws some lovely facial expressions into the mix and a Reynolds who looks like she is enjoying herself throughout. There’s a bit of swing thanks to an army band and a rendition of “Keep Your Powder Dry” to break up the procedure and though it does come across now as a little twee, it’s easy to see why this wartime romance raised some smiles.