estherwalker-34710 Review of The Girl from Jones Beach

The Girl from Jones Beach (1949)

Ronnie Reagan is teacher's pet and Virginia Mayo is teacher.

[6/10 · 8 December 2020]

Much reminds me of the decade-later film "Teacher's Pet", in which newspaper man Clark Gable joins Doris Day's night class on journalism. Naturally, he becomes her star pupil, and a romance follows........ This B&W film is only 78min. long: a typical length for a 'B' programmer film. Reagan would again costar with Virginia a few years later, in "She's Working her Way through College".......... Ronnie is an artist, currently specializing in painting gorgeous young women. He also is drawing a composite woman, made up of the best feature of 12 women, which he calls 'the Randolf girl', his last name being Randolf.............His friend Chuck(Eddie Bracken) knows that Randolf is looking for a real 'Randolf girl', and thinks he spots her in a bathing suit on Jones Beach(Long Island), while boating just off the beach. But, she disappears into the women's bath house, and he doesn't recognize her when she emerges. Nonetheless, he tells Ronnie about this, and they motorboat in front of Jones Beach again, about week later, and spot her again. Again, she disappears into the women's locker room, but Chuck recognizes her this time when she emerges and follows her home, where he discovers that she is a night school teacher for immigrants, who hope to become US citizens, and that she prefers to be known for her brains rather than her beauty. Ronnie decides to sign up for her class ,pretending to be from Czechoslovakia, humorously speaking with a pan-European accent, which Virginia isn't sure is believable. At first, a goof off, eventually, he impresses her with his sincerity and knowledge, so much so , that he she accepts an offer for a moonlight stroll along Jones Beach. Here, he discovers that she also likes to be known for her beauty..........A photo of Virginia in her swimsuit, on the beach, appears in the local newspaper, and the schoolboard, especially in the person of old Miss Shoemaker(Florence Bates) takes exception to this display, and fires Virginia. But, Virginia decides to fight back, and a trial is arranged. Ronnie helps her by displaying a series of slides of women's bathing suit fashions through the past few decades, noting that when Ms. Shoemaker was young, she was arrested for wearing her then daring swimsuit. Charismatic character actor Henry Travers is the judge, and is impressed by Ronnie's logic, rendering a decision to reinstate Virginia as teacher......... Now, Chuck has a girlfriend, played by the very light-skinned African American Dona Drake, who is playing a Caucasian here. He suggests to Ronnie that they have a double wedding, and the film ends there..........In sum, this is a pleasant breezy romantic comedy, if you have nothing better to do, and are turned on by one or more of the stars. Eddie Bracken, as usual, adds light comedy with his awkwardness and hair-brained ideas.