I'll Remember April

When the man who is supposed to manage Samuel Hinds' investments comes up short, Hinds and the other investors give him thirty days to make the loss good. Meanwhile, Hinds is broke, so daughter Gloria Jean tries to get a job singing.... which takes about ten minutes until Kirby Grant catches her on a candid microphone show, resulting in a contract with a cigarette company. But another cigarette company offers him money to kidnap her, so of course he does. All of this seems a trifle to Hinds, who expects the money back... only when the man tells them there wont be any, the lights go out, and the man is shot. Hinds is arrested for his murder.

Universal tries to transition Miss Jean into adult ingenue roles with this film a la Deanna Durbin, albeit without Miss Durbin's crackerjack production team; this posed no threat to Deanna, who was ready to pack in movie stardom anyway. The movie is eked out with some well performed, if mediocre songs, and Eddie Brophy, who dresses, in one sequence, as a washer woman. I'm pretty sure that Thelma Ritter wasn't worried.

It does have the virtue of speed and brevity, but is otherwise undistinguished.