Paddy O'Day Reviews

This was a vehicle designed specifically to fit the talents of child star Withers. She plays a young Irish immigrant who's come to America in search of her mother. She escapes from immigration authorities with the help of a Russian dancer (Hayworth) and gets to the house where she believes her mother works as a cook. Unfortunately, her mother has died, leaving Withers an orphan in the storm. Tomlin is a boarder at the house who's charmed by the girl's talents and agrees to help her. Problems arise when the girl's two spinster aunts (Lewis and Carter) try to gain custody of her, but Tomlin marries Withers' friend Hayworth, and the couple adopts the little girl. Of course there's plenty of opportunity for Withers to strut her musical stuff as she sings and dances to the tunes "Keep the Twinkle in Your Eye" (Sidney Clare, Edward Eliscu, Harry Akst) and "Changing My Ambition" (Pinky Tomlin). For what it is, the film is enjoyable and not overly saccharine. Withers handles the turns from comedy to drama like a seasoned pro (which she was). Cansino later changed her name and achieved stardom as Rita Hayworth. She was cast in this film by Winfield Sheehan, the vice president of Fox. She had been his discovery and he was determined that she would become a star. He was going to use PADDY O'DAY to prove that Cansino could handle herself in a meaty role and thereby justify his decision to cast her in a Technicolor remake of RAMONA. But it was her bad luck to be involved with the Fox Studios just when it was merging with Twentieth Century. The new president, Darryl F. Zanuck, did not agree with Sheehan about Cansino's talents. He cast Loretta Young in RAMONA and stuck Cansino in a minor role in A MESSAGE TO GARCIA with Barbara Stanwyck. After the preview Cansino's footage was cut altogether, and she was dropped from the studio's payroll. A few years and one name change later, Zanuck came to regret his decision. Additional song: "I Like a Balalaika" (Clare, Eliscu, Akst).