GLORIA JEAN’S FILM DEBUT

Southland Times, Issue 24174, 10 July 1940, Page 5

GLORIA JEAN’S FILM DEBUT

Young Star’s Role In “The Under Pup”

A new motion picture star, possessing a remarkable singing voice and a personality at once warm and refreshing, is introduced in Universal’s “The UnderPup,” which opens at the Regent Theatre on Saturday. She is Gloria Jean, an eleven-year-old whose coloratura voice and natural appeal dominate a picture replete with romance, comedy and musical “surprises.” Presented by Producer Joe Pasternak, the man who also introduced Deanna Durbin, Gloria will undoubtedly be compared to her stellar predecessor; yet she has a personality all her own.

Gloria is by no means the whole show. Robert Cummings repeats his hit of “Three Smart Girls Grow Up,” ■while Nan Grey, again opposite him, is equally effective. Honours are divided between a cast of adults and a talented array of youngsters. The grown-ups are Beulah Bondi, Margaret Lindsay, C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Walburn, Paul Cavanagh and Frank Jenks. Among the youngsters are Virginia Weidler, Ann Gillis and Shirley Mills. It is Gloria who carries the most important character. She is cast as a poor girl from the East Side of New York, whose “lowly” station in life and her eccentric but lovable family incur the ridicule of a group of wealthy girls at an exclusive summer camp. The heartbreak of Gloria’s attempts to make friends with the “Penguins,” her winning over of a bitter old-maid camp sponsor and the amusing part she plays in the lives of other adults provide the I theme of the story. Logically woven into the story are six musical numbers, with Gloria scoring a genuine triumph in her rendition of five songs, from the favourite “Annie Laurie” to Mozart’s “Shepherd’s Lullaby.”