Saturday's Children

Knowing what we know about the period 1940 and the years that preceded and succeeded this film, a world war was underway and rationing and sacrifices were having to be made by all businesses and families. These two young lovers Bobby Halevy (Anne Shirley) and Rims Rosson (John Garfield) met on Bobby's first day of work at her new job. It becomes quite evident that Bobby plays coy but she knows what she wants and how to get it. As the 2010 Beyonce Knowles song Single Ladies (Pit A Ring On It) goes, the young and very attractive Bobby wants to get married to the gullible and loved starved Rims and she quickly develops a plan to catch her fish.

The film moves along at a quick pace with each conversation talking rapidly just like it most likely did when it was first delivered as a stage play. This is a simple picture about a young couple just starting their lives together when the war efforts directly impacts their ability to maintain a living and possibly to starting a family of their own.

It is a simple story filled with both family hardships and romance and keeping in mind that WWII was underway filmgoers were looking for some glimmer of hope which Anne Shirley and John Garfield deliver. Claude Rains plays Anne Shirley's father with the charm of a lucky leprechaun which is an added bonus.

I give this eighty (80) year old classic film a decent 8 out of 10 IMDB rating

This version of Saturday's Children is the third film version of a popular Maxwell Anderson play that ran for 326 performances on Broadway during the 1927-28 season. It's a story of young love with sad to say a most miscast John Garfield.

Of course Garfield might not have thought so since back on stage the role he plays as the young calf-eyed Rube Goldberg inventor was originated by none other than fellow Warner Brothers tough guy Humphrey Bogart. Hard to believe, but Bogey on stage played those kind of roles until The Petrified Forest changed his image. He and Ruth Gordon starred in the stage version.

But image is everything and Garfield's similar image of a tough guy was set in the mind of the movie-going public then. Garfield insisted on doing this film and Jack Warner gave in. But when it flopped at the box office and it did, Warner was ready with the 'I told you so'.

A silent version was done with Grant Withers and Corinne Griffith in 1928 and Warner Brothers later did the story again in 1935 with a more suitable Ross Alexander in the lead opposite Gloria Stuart.

I suppose it was the thing back then for young marrieds to live with their parents. This film has Garfield and Anne Shirley living with her parents, Claude Rains and Elizabeth Risdon, along with other married sister Lee Patrick and her husband Roscoe Karns. No wonder these two want a little privacy.

Rains brings Shirley to work in the office where he is a clerk and there she meets Garfield whom she falls for. Garfield is like George Bailey, a guy with an itch to do great things and sees an opportunity in the Phillipines for adventurous type work. But now he's got a wife who doesn't quite share that disposition.

The best performance in the film belongs to Claude Rains. He almost makes quite the sacrifice to keep our young folk together.

Even with a John Garfield that you can't quite get over, Saturday's Children is a nice film about people in love. That's a formula that always sells.

It should go like this: Monday's child is fair of face Tuesday's child is full of grace Wednesday's child is full of woe Thursday's child has far to go Friday's child is loving and giving Saturday's child must work for a living and the child that is born on the sabbath day is bonny and blithe and good and gay. I'm not sure why Jack Warner didn't catch this. It seems that to use the title to begin with presumes knowledge of the poem (I for one have to run through the entire thing in order to make sure myself. "Work for a living" also seems to fit better with the theme of the movie-- not that it matters though since the author came up with the title to begin with.

This film is a comedy with sad parts. If you want to see the past, the fashions, the way women were treated, or just escape from modern films, you might enjoy this. I watched it solely for Claude Rains, but found the female lead to be very likable and certainly very pretty. A girl of 22 meets a man at her new job, and they begin a solid friendship. I liked that she wasn't a typical girlie-girl, trying to catch a man. She was a person first and very honest. It's her sister who is determined the two must marry. The marriage runs into trouble mostly due to finances--nothing much has changed in America, has it! Claude Rains is absolutely charming as ever, kind, gentle, funny, and very devoted to his daughter. It shocked me that a 1940s film, or any father, would tell his daughter it was OK for girls to sow some "wild oats" as well as boys! Dad's action toward the end of the film shocked me as well, and overall this was a fairly poorly written, unrealistic kitchen-sink drama. However, Anne Shirley is so lovely and likable, and Claude Rains is wonderful. Great to see him not playing a villain or an overly intense individual for once (though he did that so well!) Worth seeing for those two actors. Without them, it would be a miss.

This copy of this film, seen recently on TCM, had a faded look, which contributes to lose the viewer's interest in a film that doesn't seem too relevant today. The main attraction for watching it, was the interesting cast put together for it. Unfortunately, the most important part, is terribly miscast.

The story takes place in Manhattan at the end of the Great Depression. Based on a play by Maxwell Anderson, it probably worked better on the stage than in the adaptation that Julius Epstein, one of the best writers of the period, gave it. It doesn't help either, that director Vincent Sherman didn't appear to be too enthused with the material, as evident in the finished product.

John Garfield was totally wrong for Rims Rosson. He doesn't have that spark that was his trade mark. In the film he is just too bland. Ann Shirley plays the sweet Bobby Halevy. Claude Rains, though, is about the most likable character in the film because as the father of Bobby, he is an honest man who wants to do everything possible to guarantee his daughter's happiness.

The supporting cast is excellent. Lee Patrick, is seen as Florrie. Roscoe Karns and the always dependable George Tobias, make good contributions in minor roles.

Watch "Saturday's Children" as dated curiosity piece.