mark.waltz
Half prize-fighting film and half tearjerker, this programmer was one of the last films of melodrama tragedy queen Helen Twelvetrees, once a promising leading lady at RKO during the early sound era. Now a blowzy party girl, she and former prizefighter Robert Armstrong unofficially adopt the son of a late pal whom they were unaware he had. Young Donald O'Connor is the precocious youth who comes to adore them, and in one hysterically funny scene, Armstrong (who has obviously been knocked in the head one too many times) delivers a speech at O'Connor's commencement. When Jones takes over the part, it is obvious that the younger and older versions of the part look nothing alike, and tension erupts between "father" and "son" over Jones' desire to go into a prize-fighting career while Armstrong wants him to go off to college. It is the non-marriage between the two adoptive parents which motivates the title and their relationship which goes from antagonistic to affectionate. A moderately touching programmer, this is one of those unknowns that yearns to be re-discovered for its many charming moments.
