This movie was Universal's debut of another young singer, while Deanna Durbin continued to rake in hits at the box office. Gloria Jean was just 13 when she made this film, and she had a fine voice and good personality to go along with it. But she wasn't Durbin, or quite on the level of other singers at other studios - i.e., Jane Powell, Jeanette MacDonald, etc.. And, because she was new, the studio tried to boost the film by packing it with a supporting cast of some well-known and liked actors.
Thus, C. Aubrey Smith is here as Grandpa, and Beulah Bond is the camp director, Miss Thornton. Raymond Walburn is Mr. Layton, the father of one of the wealthy girls. Paul Cavanagh is another, as Franklin Cooper. Billy Gilbert has a role as Tolio, which is more lame than comedy. And, Samuel Hinds plays Dr McKay. Another child star, Virginia Weidler plays Janet Cooper, a sort of outcast girl whom Gloria Jean's Pip-Emma Binns takes under her wing. Co-stars Robert Cummings and Nan Grey were known actors but not at the top. They are camp employees and supposed to provide a romance angle. Cummings had made more than 20 films but was still a supporting actor whose star would rise within a couple of years. Grey didn't have much of a career and would quit show business in 1941.
Well, with all of this and a screenplay that just isn't very good, this film doesn't have much. Gloria's singing is fine for the few tunes she has. But the bulk of the story is about feuding among girls at a girls summer camp, which quickly becomes tiring. Pip-Emma tells a couple of lies early on, and she pulls a shell game on girls going to camp. She supports an underdog girl - maybe that's were the film gets its title, and latter apologizes a couple times to an opponent when coaxed to do so by camp personnel. In the end, she is welcomed into the girls club, the Purple Order of Penguins.
The movie has a number of oddities in the plot. The opening shows Pip and opposing kids whistling and forming young kid gangs in the city that do battle. Another is Pip telling Janet to swim faster in her swimming race when Pip whistles. Gosh, Janet would get all that extra strength and stamina just from a whistle by Pip! It appears that the writers and producers couldn't decided what to do for a plot - to get their new young singer introduced to the public.
I suspect this was a B film by Universal. The Wikipedia article on the film says it was well received. But, while giving a budget of $465,000, it doesn't have box office receipts. It doesn't appear anywhere in the top 230 plus films for the year in box office receipts. And, 1939 being a year of some great and very good films, my guess is that this movie didn't gain anything for Universal - if indeed, it didn't bomb at the box office.
My five stars are for Jean's good singing and the mostly good supporting cast - for showing up. Especially Grandpa and Miss Thornton.
