On Moonlight Bay (film)

1951 American musical film

July 26, 1951 (1951-07-26)

Running time

95 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$1,194,000^[1]Box office$3,730,000^[1]
$2.5 million (US rentals)^[2]

On Moonlight Bay is a 1951 American musical film starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae, and directed by Roy Del Ruth, which tells the story of the Winfield family at the turn of the 20th century. The movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington.^[3] The sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon was made in 1953.

Plot

In a small Indiana town in the mid-1910s, the Winfield household has just moved into a larger house in a nicer neighborhood. The family includes George, the father, who is a banker, his wife Alice, their grown tomboyish daughter Margie, their mischievous precocious trouble-making son Wesley, and their exasperated housekeeper Stella. No one but George is happy about the move, until Marjorie meets their new neighbor, William Sherman, home on a break from his studies at Indiana University. The two are immediately attracted to each other, which makes Margie change her focus from baseball to trying to become a proper young woman as perceived by society at the time.

Margie and Bill develop a romantic relationship despite, or perhaps because of, Bill's unconventional thoughts on life, including not believing in the institution of marriage or the role money plays in society.

The road to a happy life between Margie and Bill is hindered by distance (as Bill returns to school), Margie's attempts to learn perceived feminine things, her father’s disapproval and preference for another suitor, her brother’s continual meddling, and the U.S. entry into World War I.

Margie’s father softens when her brother breaks a window with their father’s old slingshot. This ultimately makes the father more receptive to her relationship with Bill and the movie reaches a happy ending.^[4]

Cast

Doris Day as Marjorie Winfield
Gordon MacRae as William "Bill" Sherman
Jack Smith as Hubert Wakely
Leon Ames as George Wadsworth Winfield
Rosemary DeCamp as Alice Winfield
Mary Wickes as the housekeeper Stella
Ellen Corby as Miss Mary Stevens
Billy Gray as Wesley Winfield
James Dobson as Army sergeant
Henry East as Doughboy by Train
Jeffrey Stevens as Jim Sherman
Eddie Marr as Contest Barker

Songs

"On Moonlight Bay"
"Cuddle Up a Little Closer"
"Till We Meet Again"
"Tell Me"
"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"
"Christmas Story"
"Love Ya"
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary"
"Pack Up Your Troubles"

Reception

According to Warner Bros., the film earned $2,738,000 in the U.S. and $992,000 in other markets.^[1]

Accolades

The film was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2006 list AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 31 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1951', Variety, January 2, 1952
^ "Musical Based on 'Penrod' Stories". The New York Times. 1951-07-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
^ On Moonlight Bay (1951), retrieved 2017-11-28
^ "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.