Our Hearts Were Growing Up

Our Hearts Were Growing Up is a sequel to Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, and it continues to follow the misadventures of Gail Russell and Diana Lynn, two teenage girls in the 1920s. In this one, you'll see the familiar faces of the boyfriends they each got from the first movie, James Brown and Bill Edwards. In their rush to get to the Harvard-Princeton game, to support Gail's boyfriend James, the girls lie to the headmistress of their girls' school, Sara Haden. They say their Uncle Eddie is meeting them at the train station and will act as their chaperone all weekend. The trouble is Uncle Eddie doesn't exist, and they're left to pick out an "uncle type" and persuade him to lie to Sara.

Brian Donlevy, a bootlegger who wants to hide under the radar and smuggle in his suitcases full of booze, gets chosen. He agrees to help the girls, and right from the get-go he gets a big kick out of being their knight in shining armor. He buys them magazines and chocolates for the train ride and blushes when they kiss his cheek. It's very cute. He's not the focus of the story; that belongs to the frantic and oft-times silly ravings of Gail and Diana. But Brian does get to play the gangster with a heart of gold character that's always very cute.

Gail and Diana have great energy together, and you can really imagine that they're the best of friends. The coming timing is quick (with the exception of Billy de Wolfe's stand-up routines), and the energy is high. Even though the story is silly, you can help but root for the girls to keep hold of their boyfriends.