Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick

Fun to watch Alan Young and Dinah Shore together. Silly musical didn't age well but still fun to watch.

I remember listening to one of Bing Crosby's old radio shows Dinah Shore was his guest and she was hawking this new film she did for Paramount, Aaron Slick From Punkin' Crick. Said Bing who opined that it sounds like one highly sophisticated piece of work.

Maybe if the rather large score that Jay Livingston and Ray Evans had contained a memorable song the film might be better known.

Alan Young plays the title role and he and Dinah Shore own adjoining farms in the bustling metropolis of Punkin' Crick. The two get involved with a pair of sharpies Robert Merrill and Adele Jergens and it's country versus city folk. Guess who wins.

For the life of me why Robert Merrill signed for this film is beyond me. If he was going to do a film adaption of some Broadway musical I would understand. But none of this material is worthy of that voice.

Aaron Slick From Punkin' Crick is mildly amusing. Alan Young comes out best.

The hillbilly Aaron Slick has been unsuccessfully wooing the young widow Josie Berry for many years. Josie is eager to take a trip in the big city. Bill Merridew and his "kissing cousin" Gladys hide in the trunk of a $20,000 obtained from an improper transaction. Relatively speaking, they held a touring tent show on Josie's farm. Merridew actually went into hiding, thinking that there was oil on the farm. Aaron knew that was not the case and tricked him into buying the farm for a large sum of money. Josie ran to Chicago with the money, and Meridou realized that he had been cheated and pursued him. Aaron arrived in time to prevent Josie from letting Meridou "invest" her money.

This is a wonderful show with an outstanding cast. The movie is based on the play Aaron Slick From Punkin Crick, a delightful play. When I was in Jr. High School we put this play on in our church and I played the part of Aaron Slick. So.i was quite naturally drawn to this title on Netflix.

This was the time period when musicals were popular but somehow this movie missed the mainstream even with such a power house lineup that included Robert Merrill, Dinah Shore and Edy Williams. One cannot go wrong by spending time with this movie. It is a great family movie! So grab the kids pop some corn and snuggle up and enjoy some fine entertainment. I had a blast as a kid participating in the play as Aaron Slick.

I have to admit I watched this oddity out of curiosity because of Dinah Shore's oft repeated put-downs of it. Whenever her film career was brought up over the years on her television show Dinah would mockingly mention this film with a wry smile and a chuckle, it's easy to see why that would be her reaction.

Maybe not the worst movie ever made but a dumb, flat footed concoction to be sure. If the horrible title wasn't enough of a warning, although the alternate title "Marshmallow Moon" isn't much better, the basic plot summary should warn off most people. Stereotypes abound and the musical numbers are mediocre but it has nice color photography and an amusing supporting performance by Minerva Urecal. As for the two leads, Dinah is almost idiotically naive and too chipper for words, Alan Young starts out as an annoying bumpkin but gets better as the film goes along. A forgettable enterprise best viewed, if at all, by those who enjoy campy foolishness.