It Comes Up Love (1943)

Sorry, this movie sucks

How sad is this?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Every studio seemed to have a stand-by for their bigger stars in case their fan base started to die down, and in the case of Universal's Deanna Durbin, it was the slightly younger Gloria Jean. Having been around for several years, she was going through the awkward teen stage in this B musical that featured popular Donald O'Connor who managed to reach legendary status while Gloria Jean is pretty much forgotten even while Deanna Durbin's fan base has crossed generations.Having seen Ms. Jean in musicals with the likes of Crosby and W.C., I must admit that her personality never grabbed me. Here, she has tried valiantly, but the impression has remained the same. As the older daughter of wealthy widow Ian Hunter, it has seemed to be her job to keep him out of the clutches of grasping females, in this case O'Connor's mother Louise Albritton and it seems to be working until she meets O'Connor. Pretty soon, she's gone from opera to jazz and from the waltz to jitterbugging. It's all forced with Jean initially a stuffed shirt who quickly changed her mind when Hunter begins spending time with the haughty Frieda Inescort.Jean and O'Connor don't seem suited at all and this is a pale imitation of the more lavish Deanna Durbin musicals she was making at the same time. In fact, this is probably filmed on the same sets while Durbin was on hiatus. Other than O'Connor and Mary Lou Harrington as Jean's livelier younger sister, this is truly second rate.

I think most people would agree this is the least entertaining of the several films that featured teens Gloria Jean and Don O'Connor, and runs only 60 min. Unlke the several other such films, it lacks Don's usual dance and comedic partner, Peggy Ryan, to lighten things up. Also, Don doesn't get to sing nor to be especially funny, and has only one dance scene with Gloria. Like the previous, better, "Get Hep to Love", it serves mainly to feature Gloria Jean's singing and acting, and thus is too limited in entertainment value today, with mostly forgettable songs, none original for this film.By far, the highlight of the film is the nightclub scene, in which Gloria sings Ernesto Lecuona's popular "Say SiSi" at the Flamingo Nightclub. During this performance, she also dances with Don. At times, Leon Belasco's Latin-themed orchestra and the 'Guadalajara Trio' take over. Gloria's initial "Love's Old Sweet Song" starts out with a straight mellow rendition, but at Don's command, the orchestra switches to a swing tempo, which is another highlight.The melodrama has aristocratic character actor Ian Hunter(as Tom Peabody)as owner of the Peabody architecture firm in NYC. He seems to have no wife, but two teenage daughters, who are moving from their grandmother's to living with him. Obviously, they have been to an exclusive school, and have had little contact with the popular teen culture, exemplified by Ricky Ives(Don). Now, Tom has a thing going with both his secretary, Edie Ives(Louise Allbritton), and an apparently single wealthy socialite(Portia Winthrop). Edie's nephew, Ricky(Don), arrives home from a military academy. Apparently, Edie is his guardian. Gloria, at age 15, has an immediate liking for the slightly older Ricky, but he initially brushes her off as a child, and not hep. Tom's two competing women speed up their competition by buying gifts for the girls, hoping also to change their negative attitude toward them. They also compete by trying to interest Gloria in their respective teen sons. Gloria shows no interest in Portia's stuffy son, but is definitely interested in hep Ricky. Portia tries to pressure Tom into forbidding Gloria to see Ricky. This slows things a bit, but not for long. In the end, Ricky is dancing with Gloria, and Tom with Edie, suggesting the exit romantic relationships.Ian Hunter, who plays Tom Peabody, was South African-raised. His typical friendly aristocratic British bearing resulted in his being typecast in aristocratic or other authoritative figure roles, often British ones. Some of his notable film roles include : King Richard , in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", and the lead male in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Some of his previous films that featured juveniles include: Shirley Temple's father, in "The Little Princess", and 'The Devil is a Sissy", with several juvenile male stars. In the latter film, he plays a struggling Manhattan architect. In the present film, he is an accomplished and wealthy Manhattan architect.Louise Allbritton, who plays Don's adoptive aunt, had a significant role in several of the Don + Peggy films, usually playing a strong independent woman. In "Bowery to Broadway", she made a charismatic Lillian Russell. In "This is the Life", she was a world-traveling professional. In fact, she was only 5 years older than Don, but she seemed older and more mature than her age, thus she could convincingly play Don's aunt guardian.

"It Comes Up Love" was a change of pace for actress/singer Gloria Jean, who was cast in several fast-paced "hep-cat" movies ("What's Cookin?", "Get Hep to Love", and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", Mr. Big", and "Moonlight in Vermont") during the same time period. Unlike those movies, which moved along at often frantic speeds, this movie is very slow-paced---so much so that it tends to drag its feet at times.While the story is interesting (briefly, a New York man is sought after by his secretary and a socialite, while simultaneously trying to deal with two daughters, one of whom falls in love with his secretary's nephew), if a bit contrived, and the acting is excellent, the movie just doesn't gel in places. The opening 10 minutes hems and haws, while the ending comes about suddenly without much preparation. It doesn't make a lot of sense, and while that was acceptable for the faster-paced hep-cat movies, it doesn't go over well with a movie that depends more on its storyline.As said, the acting was excellent (check out Mary Lou Harrington as the younger sister) and in fact was one of Gloria Jean's better efforts in that department. The music was also well-done, with Jean singing three songs: "Love's Old Sweet Song", "What the Rose Said", and "Say Si Si". Some of the "Jivin' Jacks and Jills" can be seen at the ball, and The Guadalajara Trio makes an appearance with Leon Belasco and his orchestra. Sadly, Donald O'Connor isn't given much to do in the entertainment department: he barely picks up his feet in one dance with Jean and isn't really given a chance to display any of his many talents.Overall, this is a decent enough movie, and it appears to be an effort by Universal to appeal to both young and old alike (which it only met modest success with). I don't recall seeing this movie listed on television in the past 30 years, and it's hard to find on the internet, but if you want a copy of it, you can get one from Gloria Jean's website. While IMDb policy forbids the posting of URL's, you can find Gloria's website by using your favorite search engine and the quoted query "Gloria Jean Schoonover".