A Brilliant Conflict

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Jeanne Crain and Gene Tierney, two of the most beautiful stars of the 1940s, were both at the same studio, 20th Century Fox, but now while Tierney has achieved almost cult status, Crain is just a glamorous footnote. Even in the film they made together, "Leave Her to Heaven", while Tierney received an Oscar nomination, Crain was merely beautiful decoration. "Margie" was exactly what fans wanted to see Jeanne in and she was pushed to the top of stardom - her fan mail was second only to Betty Grable's and she received over 2,000 letters a week. The critics praised her freshness and wistfulness, she earned a cover on Life magazine and the movie, a charmingly sentimental journey down memory lane grossed 4.1 million.Tidying up the attic with her daughter (Ann E. Todd) Margie remembers Central High when she was an eager teenager. It was a time of Rudy Vallee, raccoon coats - and bloomers with broken elastic!! Falling bloomers and Margie were constant companions, she was always having to excuse herself and armed with a safety pin find a very quiet corner - until she finds the easiest solution is to just faint!!! It is during one of these "accidents" that she happens to meet the new French teacher Mr. Fontaine (Glen Langan - the "Amazing Colossal Man") in the library. Another of Margie's trials and tribulations (along with her nervous stutter) is her outspoken grandmother (Esther Dale) who keeps chains by the fireside that she used when, many years before, she chained herself to the White House in order to make sure women got the vote. With her bluntness and her oft expressed wish that Margie will someday be President is it any wonder that Margie doesn't get many visitors!!!That leaves Margie lots of time to be champion debator and top of her French class. One of the year's highlights is the Senior debate. It is a deadly affair, as one of the students says "It's like "Old Man River" - it just keeps rolling along" but Margie's inspirational speech on "Why Soldiers Should Keep Out of Nicaragua" is the hit of the evening, especially with her father who eventually makes Nicaragua his life's work!!! The prom provides the dramatic part of the movie. When her faithful beau Roy (Alan Young of "Mr. Ed" fame) finds he can't take her, her grandmother organises that her father will escort her as a surprise. Then Mr. Fontaine arrives with her test results but Margie mistakenly thinks he is her date. Being a 1940s 20th Century Fox Technicolor movie you know what to expect. Margie is pleased as punch to go with her father and after being the Belle of the Ball and yet another fainting fit, is taken home by - her future husband!!!!Barbara Lawrence, better known for "The Street With No Name" played Margie's "friend" Maybelle. There are plenty of old time songs played throughout the movie - "A Cup of Coffee, A Sandwich and You", "Avalon", "My Time is Your Time", "I'll See You in My Dreams", "Collegiate", "April Showers" etc often sung by Jeanne Crain although her voice was dubbed by Louanna Hogan.

I watched this movie with my mother as a child and have loved it ever since. The fact that it's not available on Video or DVD is a shame. I keep my eyes peeled for it on TV but have not come across it in years. The song "A cup of coffee, a sandwich and you" sticks with me and I find myself humming it occasionally. This is one of those movies where things like that song and the underwear scenesk stick with you forever. Jeanne Crain is wonderful and is a young actress from this era of film-making that I adore. She also happens to be in another of my favorite movies "Meet me in St. Louis". Her appeal is lasting and stands the test of time.

I saw this movie for the first time in 1987 on a cable channel. I love this classic because it has great actors such as Jeanne Crain. It is a coming of age story that deals with the same things that teens encounter today such as popularity in high school, morals, sense of humor, crushes, different family structures and modesty. I think this film was entertaining in every aspect.My children watched it when they were five. Now they are 15 and still adore watching the embarrassing and funny things this young teenage girl experiences. This movie is for young and old alike. There is also no worrying about foul language or obscene scenes. I only wish that the movie would be released on a DVD. My video tape is about to wear away from all the playing!

MARGIE is a wonderful movie that is deft blend of comedy,and romance. I consider this to be one of the best performances of Jeanne Crain during the 1940's. Miss Crain is delightful as a young, 1920's high school girl who is envious of her best friends romance with Johnnie, the coolest boy in school, and attracted by the handsome new French teacher,Mr. Ralph Fontaine who is currently romancing the school librarian,Lynn Bari. Margie has many crosses to bear in her young life. Her mother died at birth and she is being raised by her maternal grandmother and visited weekly by her mortician father. Her grandmother, who once chained herself to the gate of the White House, in support of woman's suffrage, makes her wear old-fashioned bloomers under her unfashionable clothes which the elastic is constantly breaking at the most inapropriate time-- usually in front of the french teacher. All the supporting roles are acted by first-class characters actors, but special kudos go to Alan Young as Margie's adenoidal, would-be boyfriend,Roy. At the end, of the movie, Margie is shown with her own teenage daughter, and we find out who she finally married-- cool Johnny, adenoidal Roy,or handsome Ralph. She got the one I wanted for her all along and all I can say(spoiler alert) is vive la France!