OBLIGING YOUNG LADY (1942)

Screwball comedies on a "B" budget don't generally work since they need top-notch writing and acting to come off well, but this one from RKO is better than most; even if it doesn't quite hold together, individual moments are very funny. The parents of 10-year-old Joan Carroll are seeking a divorce (for the third time) and they're squabbling over custody; the judge decides she should be kept by a neutral party until the parents sort things out, so legal secretary Ruth Warrick gets the girl. The rich parents are adamant about keeping the issue from the press, who are snooping around the courtroom, so Warrick takes Carroll off to an isolated lakeside resort. However, a detective follows and starts to piece things together. Also complicating matters is Edmund O'Brien, a reporter who, with no encouragement, has fallen head over heels for Warrick at first sight (just as these things happen in these kinds of comedies). He figures out what's going on and heads out to the lodge to try to help, followed by Warrick's jealous boyfriend (Robert Smith). Disguises, mistaken identities, and car chases lead to the predictable happy ending. O'Brien and Warrick aren't exactly known for their comedy work, but they do alright. Carroll (Agnes in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS) is quite good, as is Eve Arden as a reporter who follows O'Brien out to the lodge and passes herself off as Warrick's Southern sister, Swannee Rivers. Smith, who has very few credited roles aside from this, comes off well as a handsomer Eddie Bracken. However, Franklin Pangborn and his birdwatching group almost steal the movie, especially in the scene where they perform a birdsong symphony for O'Brien, whom they believe is Dr. Stanley, the famous African explorer. There are a number of running gags, some better than others. The resort desk bell that doesn't ring (except when no one expects it to) is fun; Carroll's penchant for putting tacks on chairs wears less well; the movie opens and closes on a train where O'Brien irritates everyone by chanting the name of a famous baseball player over and over again in rhythm with the train (Heinie Menush, Heinie Menush, Heinie Menush...). Actors that will be recognized by classic movie buffs include Charles Lane, John Miljan, George Cleveland, George Chandler, and Almira Sessions, all of whom get at least one good bit of funny business. [TCM]