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Daddy Long Legs

[1931, Movie]

Daddy Long Legs: Review

A perennial, DADDY LONG LEGS has been done to death. Made in 1919 with Mary Pickford, then in 1935 as CURLY TOP with Shirley Temple, then again in 1955 with Leslie Caron, this 1931 version features Janet Gaynor and Warner Baxter as protagonists in a May-December relationship. It's another variant on the CINDERELLA theme, with perky Gaynor living in an orphanage and bridling under the harsh treatment of matron Elizabeth Patterson. Gaynor is sent to college by mystery man Baxter, a soft-touch millioniare who is a trustee of the orphanage. Matters get complicated when her roommate's (Una Merkel) brother (John Arledge) falls in love with Gaynor. But all ends well when she discovers that the man she loves is also the man who has been her benefactor for all those years. There's enough pathos for two hankies, but spirited cast just manages to keep film from falling into bathos. Gaynor was 25 and Baxter was 40--not quite a May-December romance, more like a June-October--but they suffuse their characters with pro instincts. Patterson was the perfect crotchety old biddy. She didn't get into movies until she was in her fifties, but she made a slew of features and endeared herself to generations of television watchers in her recurring role of Mrs. Trumble on "I Love Lucy."