Just what I expected

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

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

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is one of Margaret O'Brien's weaker films. She's the little girl that played in Meet Me In St. Louis, but although her character here is not as annoying as the precocious girl in Meet Me In St. Louis, she's still cloying and appears to have been surrounded by a wise family.Margaret O'Brien was 9-10 years old here, this movie had had production problems which kind of ruined the film for her because at times, she doesn't look much like an 8-year-old. Though, I still loved her marvelous performance and the expressions and emotions she conveys are real.This just strikes me as something that they have wasted Margaret's talent on, the director didn't seem to get her to perform her scenes as well as she did in other movies. And the script could've been rewritten in order for the movie to be a great one.

Having seen many sentimental movies over the years, I can vouch that I do have a big heart and can swallow even some of the most unbelievable situations. However, this one made me wince thanks to its outrageousness in trying to get me to stretch my imagination. When newly released jailbird George Murphy asks Margaret O'Brien why is she crying, I half expected her to respond, "I do that in all my movies". Like Tootie in "Meet Me in St. Louis", this is one weird child, and today, there would be some psychological term for the issues she has. For one thing, she seems to be much closer to her concerned aunt (an understated Angela Lansbury) than her own mother (Phyllis Thaxter), involved in their lives that they all share together in Hell's Kitchen. She's unaware that Murphy (Lansbury's fiancée) has been in prison, and the fact that the elders in her family keep all these secrets from her is the set-up for an emotional explosion that could destroy everybody.Mama Thaxter doesn't really endear herself to O'Brien by constantly telling her "wives tales" that really aren't true. For example, she says that the presence of a mouse in the house means that money is not far behind, and when O'Brien catches a mouse in a cigar box trap she's made, she hides it in a wall where she's sure she'll come back to find coin, not a dead mouse. Two neighborhood brats steal from the blind newspaper man whom O'Brien has befriended and ironically replace it with the cigar box mouse (still alive for you animal rights activists) which O'Brien then finds, only to discover that the money she found belonged to her pal.This sets off a whole series of tragedies which threatens the health of a pregnant Thaxter, and is even further compounded by the revelation to O'Brien of Murphy's past. Will O'Brien's search for a kneeling cow on Christmas Eve be the saving grace for the ailing Thaxter? Will Murphy and Lansbury get past his decision to leave Hell's Kitchen once his parole is up? All this seems to be in the hands of little Margaret, that little Tenth Avenue Angel who buried her dead dolls at Christmastime in St. Louis, now stalks the stock yards of the meatpacking district, ironically coming across Murphy who barely escapes being caught in another crime.Saccharine overloaded family drama, one of the most outlandish in the late Louis B. Mayer days at MGM, takes his pet child to the point of ridiculousness. The film certainly is watchable, and some messages might be learned in it, but as a film, it really stretches the credibility to an all-time low. Everybody in the cast does their best with the pretentiousness of the script which is as close to Tenth Avenue as Sesame Street is. Lansbury is made up to look rather dowdy, but it's nice to see her playing something other than the harridans she was usually cast as. Rhys Williams is very good as the kindly blind newspaper stand operator who obviously doesn't deserve the cruelty that befalls him and is never dealt with after O'Brien returns the money to him. Obviously made to capitalize on the success of "The Miracle on 34th Street", this fails in practically every aspect.

Some reviews may note that the story between Flavia's Aunt (Angela Landsbury) and Steve is a "filler". I don't agree. Although clearly a sub-plot to the story about Flavia coming to terms with growing up and what to believe, the relationship between the Aunt and Steve is very pertinent to the story in that much of the drama is also about Steve, not just Flavia. The ending is very moving and the 4th of July speech delivered by Flavia is something you have to see to believe. I highly recommend this film, which is a tribute to films about real life. The problems faced by the characters are real life issues. Questions about faith, the nature of truth and lies, and how difficult it can be to get back on the right path.

This is definitely not the sort of film they make any more. Margaret O'Brien plays an amazingly cute and sweet kid--the sort of role she was known for but that today seems a bit cloying...at times. Here she lives in a Hollywood version of poverty in New York City--one that, despite being told they're dirt-poor, just looks like a safe and clean place. Despite the poverty, she is a very chipper and optimistic girl. She sees the world as a magical and wonderful place and doesn't see the realities of life--such as what's really happened to her friend (George Murphy). There's more to the story than all this--including a plot involving her mother and some mice (don't ask--you just have to see it to understand).Overall, it's a decent film but not at all my cup of tea. While I loved O'Brien in "Journey for Margaret" and "Meet Me in St. Louis", here the plot seems fair at best. If you do see the film, look for an uncredited Elinor Donahue who plays O'Brien's friend about mid-way through the movie. However, apart from that, this one is pretty easy to skip.