‘Listen, Darling’ from 1938: A Family Road Trip, 1930s-Style

"Listen, Darling" publicity still. (MovieStillsDB)

Commentary

As the cost of everything continues rising amid increasing inflation, it’s hard for families to make ends meet and still have a little left over for fun. Financial worries are nothing new for our wonderful nation. In the earlier twentieth century, many Americans had to operate on a strict budget, first during the Great Depression of the 1930s and later during the shortages and rationing of World War II in the 1940s. Thus, many films, magazine articles, and books from that era dealt with how to thrive on a conservative budget.

One great example of a movie which shows a family enjoying the simple pleasures of life on a small budget is “Listen, Darling” from 1938. This is an obscure MGM musical with four huge stars of their day: Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew, Mary Astor, and Walter Pidgeon. The supporting cast also includes recognizable character actors of the 1930s and 40s, including Gene Lockhart, Charles Grapewin, and Alan Hale.

Poster for the 1938 film "Listen, Darling." (Public Domain)

Most of the film takes place during a summer vacation, which the family spends taking a road trip in a trailer. During the ride “On the Bumpy Road to Love,” to quote one of the songs, they grow closer than ever as they try to decide how to proceed with their lives.

A Simple American Story

Dottie Wingate (Astor) is a widow with two children, an adolescent girl who loves to sing, Pinkie (Garland), and an eight-year-old rapscallion, Billie (Scotty Beckett). Pinkie’s best friend is another middle schooler, “Buzz” Mitchell, who lives with his uncle Joe (Grapewin) but spends most of his time with the Wingate family.

Dottie worries that she can’t give her children everything they need by herself, since her husband was an impractical dreamer who left her very little, and she isn’t trained to do any work. She has decided to marry the town banker, Mr. Drubbs (Lockhart), since he is a conscientious man who can provide for them all. Pinkie is very distressed at this news, since she knows her mother doesn’t love him. She asks for Buzz’s advice, since he is planning to become a lawyer.

Pinkie and Buzz devise a plan to keep Dottie from marrying Drubbs. Borrowing the Wingates’ trailer, which Dottie is trying to sell, Buzz tricks her into getting inside the trailer, only to lock her and Billie inside and drive away. Once the duo has driven their hostages miles out of town, they let them out. Dottie is furious and flabbergasted by this maneuver, but her anger quickly melts away when Pinkie tearfully says that she would do anything to keep her mother from agreeing to an unhappy marriage for her sake. The foursome decides to spend their summer vacation in the trailer and have a good time together while seeing the country.

A photo of actress Mary Astor by Elmer Fryer from the 1930s. (Public Domain)

When Dottie explains to Buzz how important it is for a woman in her position to find a husband who can provide for her family, he realizes what must be done. He and Pinkie determine to find another man for Dottie to marry, someone whom the children like and their mother loves. Although they plan to hit the open road in search of the perfect someone, a likely candidate parks his trailer next to theirs the next morning. Buzz wastes no time in finding out that their neighbor, Richard Thurlow (Pidgeon), is a lawyer from New York who enjoys photography and inventing in his spare time. Dottie is immediately attracted to his cavalier attitude, but it also worries her. Meanwhile, Billie befriends J. J. Slattery (Hale), the widowed owner of an insurance company, who immediately wants to adopt the reckless lad. Could either man be a potential husband for Dottie, or will she have to go back home and marry Drubbs when the vacation is over?

Love and Laughter

The central point of this film is the relationship between the mother and daughter. They love each other so much that each only cares if the other is happy. Mary Astor is very tender in the role of Dottie, who is a loving, devoted mother not only to her own two children but to Buzz, an orphan who lives with his gruff uncle. Pinkie and Buzz have an adorable bond, since the older boy fits into the family so well that it’s easy to forget that he’s not actually a Wingate. Sometimes even the other characters forget. There isn’t even a hint of a romance between Pinkie and Buzz, since they seem entirely like brother and sister. I think the only reason the character of Buzz was written as a friend instead of a third child is that the British Freddie Bartholomew couldn’t hide his English accent enough to convincingly fit into an American family. He tried to tone it down, but they still say that he is from Canada.

Publicity still of Freddie Bartholomew in "Little Lord Fauntleroy" from 1936. (Public Domain)

There are some hilarious scenarios in this film! While the female characters provide the sentiment and the tender moments, the male characters supply the humor and the comical scenes. The role of Buzz is unusually comedic for Freddie Bartholomew, whose earlier roles had mostly been very serious, proper lads, often in historic settings. He’s much more relaxed and down-to-earth as this average “American” boy, who acts like he’s ready to start practicing law. His funniest scene is when he interrogates Richard Thurlow to determine his suitability as a husband for Dottie. His rapid-fire questions about his finances, career, and family life are brilliant. My favorite moment is when, in response to his enthusiastic recommendation of married life, Richard very seriously asks, “Been married long?” A younger well-known child actor, Scotty Beckett, provides lots of funny antics as Billie. One of the best scenes with the energetic rascal, who is never parted from his Daniel Boone suit, is when he insists on shooting a skunk with his suction cup arrow! As expected, stinky consequences ensue.

A Fun Family Trip

This is the last movie Judy Garland made before she was launched to stardom by “The Wizard of Oz.” In fact, she was able to join the cast of “Listen, Darling” because filming for the fantasy musical was delayed a few months. Judy got to show off her musical talents in three songs in this movie. In the opening scene, she sings “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart,” which she originally sang for her MGM audition. This was the first time she sang the song on film, but it would later become one of her biggest hits. The other two songs in the score were original compositions written for this film. The first, “On the Bumpy Road to Love,” is a bouncy little tune which Judy sings with the other principal cast members a couple of times. The other is “Ten Pins in the Sky,” a charming lullaby Pinkie sings to her little brother when he is afraid of a thunderstorm.

Actor Walter Pidgeon in 1945. (Public Domain)

“Listen, Darling” shows how taking a road trip can be a fun, cost-effective option for a family vacation. If you rent, borrow, or buy a trailer to hitch to your car, and cook your own meals, you can avoid the cost of lodging and the expenses of eating out. Although an RV or motorhome offers the same benefits, it doesn’t allow for the rustic camping options which the Wingates utilize. While Pinkie and Dottie sleep inside the comfortable trailer, Buzz and Billie bunk in a tent outside. Both the Wingates and Mr. Thurlow use clever customizations to make their trailers more comfortable. While the technology is very different than that which we see now, it doesn’t look antiquated or inferior. On the contrary, it looks far more ingenious than anything you would see in a modern vehicle!

Whether or not hitting the open road in a trailer, motorhome, or car is your cup of tea, “Listen, Darling” can give you inspiration for planning your family’s next vacation. It proves that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a good time and enjoy a wonderful vacation. You just have to know how to have a good time, laugh, and sometimes forget about tomorrow so you can truly enjoy being with the people you love.