On Moonlight Bay
US Release Date: 26 July 1951

• Doris Day — Marjorie ‘Marjie’ Winfield

• Gordon MacRae — William ‘Bill’ Sherman

• Jack Smith — Hubert Wakely

• Leon Ames — Banker George ‘Father’ Winfield (Mr. Winfield)

• Rosemary DeCamp — Alice ‘Mother’ Winfield (Mrs. Winfield)

• Mary Wickes — Stella (Winfields’ cook and housekeeper)

This may have been unfairly dismissed by some critics as a copycat of Judy Garland’s Meet Me in St. Louis but in my opinion the characters and script are much more enduring. Based on Booth Tarkington’s ‘Penrod’ stories the success of the movie led to the 1953 sequel By The Light Of The Silvery Moon. This really is an enchanting, wholesome movie. It follows the very animated lives of the Winfield family who relocate to a small town in Indiana. Doris plays the tomboy daughter (Marjorie) who is more at home on the baseball pitch than in a dress. Things somewhat change on the arrival of the boy next door (William). This boy unfortunately has some rather unconventional ideas for the era (which is World War I). This includes not believing in marriage or money which causes friction with Marjorie’s father!

Director(s): Roy Del Ruth
Producer(s): William Jacobs
Studio: Warner Bros. (USA)
Comedy/Musical/Romance
Colour (Technicolor)