Mary Small, "The Little Girl with the Big Voice" was 11 or 12 when she made this celebrity Screen Song, and while it is consistently fun -- despite a somewhat soppy song -- it's not one of the great ones.
Still, it is, as I said, fun. It's offered as a newsreel of selected subjects, with Mary the next to laugh. The others are gag reels, offering a stage blackout construction to the entire piece. It lacks any real coherence beyond that.
There was a run of young girls singing songs like adults. Best remembered is Judy Garland, who was just in the process of breaking away from the family act, the Gumm Sisters. Deanna Durbin was another. Miss Small is as good as the song will let her be. Apparently she is remembered fondly in some quarters, as a documentary about her is currently in the works.
Still, it is, as I said, fun. It's offered as a newsreel of selected subjects, with Mary the next to laugh. The others are gag reels, offering a stage blackout construction to the entire piece. It lacks any real coherence beyond that.
There was a run of young girls singing songs like adults. Best remembered is Judy Garland, who was just in the process of breaking away from the family act, the Gumm Sisters. Deanna Durbin was another. Miss Small is as good as the song will let her be. Apparently she is remembered fondly in some quarters, as a documentary about her is currently in the works.