On Moonlight Bay is a 1951 musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film stars Doris Day and Gordon MacRae and is loosely based on Booth Tarkington’s 1914 novel Penrose.
Director: Roy Del Ruth
Production Company: Warner Bros.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Cast: Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Jack Smith, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp, Mary Wickes
US Box Office: $6,845,000 ($123,600,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Release Date: July 26, 1951
Plot Summary: In the 1910s, teenager Marjorie Winfield (Doris Day), her father George (Leon Ames), mother Alice (Rosemary DeCamp), and mischievous little brother Wesley (Billy Gray) move to a new neighborhood in Indiana. Marjorie doesn’t like her new neighborhood at first, until she meets and falls in love with college boy Bill Sherman (Gordon MacRae). However, Marjorie’s father hates Bill due to Bill’s arrogance and unconventional opinions and he refuses to allow the two to be together. But as Bill, and the times, begin to change, will Marjorie end up with him?
Production: In late 1950, longtime Warner Bros. producer William Jacobs began working on a musical film loosely based on the three books in the Penrod series by Booth Tarkington (the first of which was published in 1914). The Penrod stories focused on the misadventures of a boy named Penrod in the Midwest in the early 20th century. However, Jacobs decided to make Penrod (renamed Wesley) into a supporting character, and instead have the film focus on his older sister (Marjorie) and her relationship with a college boy (Bill). The script for the film was written by Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson, and the film was titled Moonlight Bay (later retitled On Moonlight Bay) after one of the historical songs featured in the film. The film was almost certainly inspired by the success of Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), another nostalgia-based musical comedy film about family life in the early 20th century. Roy Del Ruth was chosen to direct On Moonlight Bay.
Doris Day was cast in the role of Marjorie, the main character. Day was under contract with Warner Bros. at the time and she had starred in several films for the company. Gordon MacRae was cast as Bill, he had previously starred with Day in Tea for Two (1950) and The West Point Story (1950). Del Ruth had previously directed Day and MacRae in The West Point Story and would go on to direct them in Starlift later that year..
Filming on On Moonlight Bay began in January of 1951 and went until March. The film was mostly shot on set Warner Bros studios in Burbank, California. The scene where Marjorie, Wesley, and Hubert (Jack Smith) go for a brisk walk featured rear projection footage of Beverly Hills to represent the characters’ Indiana neighborhood (camera angles were carefully chosen to avoid showing the mansions in Beverly Hills). The house set used to represent the exterior of Winfield family house was later repainted and reused for the film Young at Heart (1954), starring Day and Frank Sinatra. On March 2, 1951 Raoul Walsh temporarily took over directing duties while Roy Del Ruth was ill with the flu. Del Ruth was recovered quickly and was able to resume directing On Moonlight Bay on March 8.
Fun Facts and Trivia: On Moonlight Bay was the first film acting role for radio singer Jack Smith (Hubert). Smith had previously appeared as himself in Make Believe Ballroom (1949) but On Moonlight Bay was the first film that he had actually acted in. Doris Day stated that of the films she appeared in On Moonlight Bay, By Light of the Silvery Moon (1953), and Calamity Jane (1953) were her favorites. Leon Ames played the father to Judy Garland’s character in Meet Me in St Louis (1944), which was very similar to On Moonlight Bay, both films nostalgically depicted midwest family life in the early 20th century and the two films also feature a few similar plot points and scenes.
Reception: On Moonlight Bay was released on July 26, 1951 and was a success at the box office for Warner Bros. The film was one of many hits for Doris Day at the time, and she appeared on Motion Picture Daily‘s annual list of the top ten box office stars for the first time in 1951. On May 5, 1952, Gordon MacRae, Mary Wickes (Stella), Eddie Marr (the carnival game owner) and Billy Gray all reprised their roles for a radio adaptation of the film broadcast by Lux Radio Theatre. Day was unavailable, so Jane Wyman played the role of Marjorie. In 1953 Warner Bros. released a sequel to On Moonlight Bay called By Light of the Silvery Moon with Day, MacRae, and most of the other lead cast members reprising their roles. In the 1950s it was very rare for an A-list film to get a sequel, let alone one in which most of the cast members returned.
On Moonlight Bay has received largely positive reviews from critics in retrospect. In a positive review of the film, Dennis Schwartz noted that On Moonlight Bay helped to establish Doris Day’s “girl next door” movie persona. John J. Pucco of Movie Metropolis described the film as “fun, [and] frothy” and he complimented its use of vintage 1910s songs. In 2006, On Moonlight Bay was one of 180 films nominated by the American Film Institute for their list of the top twenty-five greatest American musical films.
Why You Should See It: On Moonlight Bay is a decent comedy musical. The classic songs featured in the film (from the early 20th century) are all good, especially the title song “On Moonlight Bay.” Even though Doris Day was quite a bit older than the character she played, Day still gives a good performance in the part. She has the right amount of perky and cheerful energy for the part. Leon Ames is also very good in his role as Day’s father, he has the perfect demeanor and personality for a father-figure character. However, it should be noted that Wesley (Billy Gray) does get really annoying at times in the film and is an unlikeable little brat. Some people might think that the character is “cute,” but I just found him annoying and he almost ruined the film for me.