[6]
In this feel-good comedy/drama, a charismatic family of lying, cheating, opportunists sets their sights on a kindly old lady who enjoys their company. At first, the family — who’ve never held jobs in their lives — hope to get the old woman, aptly named Miss Fortune, to leave her estate to them in her will. But as they move in with her, they come to genuinely adore her. The daughter wants the family to stand on its own and stop taking advantage of people. She insists her father and brother go out and get jobs while Miss Fortune provides for them. In the end, the family’s secret is revealed by the old woman’s lawyer — but that doesn’t mean the family has missed their opportunity for redemption.
The Young in Heart is a sweet but goofy movie that requires suspension of disbelief, especially in Miss Fortune’s refusal to judge her boarders. The script rides the line between showing the family for the scoundrels they are, while also making them human enough that we hope they’ll change for the better. (It reminded me of TV’s Schitt’s Creek with these characterizations.) It dips more than a toe into saccharine, sentimental waters, and Franz Waxman’s score sometimes makes the movie feel like a children’s cartoon.
The film might not be remarkable if not for the charming cast. Roland Young (Topper) plays the father and Billie Burke (Dinner at Eight) is cast-to-type as the ditzy mother. The more interesting characters are the adult children, played by Janet Gaynor (A Star is Born, Sunrise) and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (Gunga Din). Both are given love interests who subtly challenge them to do the right thing. Gaynor is really the main star of the piece. She’s the first character to wish a better, more respectable life for her family, and we share her hopes that her family can refuse Miss Fortune’s inheritance when the time comes. While the film could use more verisimilitude, Gaynor, an Oscar-winner, grounds the film more than anyone or anything else. Miss Fortune is played with convincing sweetness by Minnie Dupree.
Young and Fairbanks have good chemistry together as father and adult son, especially early in the film, when they leave the house during the daytime, pretending to look for work. One of the best scenes is one where they lean on a railing and narrate the lives of the construction workers below them as if they were watching a nature documentary. Fairbanks also has great chemistry with his workplace love interest, played by a beguiling Paulette Goddard (The Women, An Ideal Husband).
Directed by Richard Wallace. With Richard Carlson and Henry Stephenson.
Oscar Nominations: Best Cinematography, Score (Franz Waxman)