Song of the Open Road
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
S. Sylvan Simon
Edgar Bergen
Bonita Granville
W. C. Fields
Sammy Kaye
Jane Powell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In appreciation for starring in a commercial promoting the United States Crops Corps, a brigade of teenagers that travel California by bicycle picking crops, teenage movie star Jane Powell is presented with a membership card to the American Youth Hostels, a chain of residences that shelter the itinerant pickers. The members of the corps are on their way to Salinas to pick crops when Jane invites them to watch her filming her latest feature. After Jane finishes her scene, she tries to leave with her newfound friends, but her chores with the still photographer keep her behind. When Jane's domineering mother dismisses the youngsters, they peddle away on their bicycles and Jane feels lonely and forlorn. Soon after, Jane wins the lead in a new picture, and her mother cancels the long-awaited vacation she has promised her daughter. After accusing her mother of failing to understand her needs, Jane decides to run away and join her friends in Salinas. Jane cuts her long blonde locks, dies her hair brown and hitches a ride with her bicycle to Salinas. At the hostel there, Jane introduces herself as "Jane Price" and is greeted by Jack Moran, who makes the daily assignments, and his girl friend Bonnie. Anxious to please, Jane volunteers to repair the bicycles and the water pump, although she possesses no mechanical ability. Meanwhile, Mrs. Powell, alarmed at her daughter's absence, enlists Connors, a representative of the American Youth Hostels, to help find Jane. When the girl's tutor, Miss Caspar, confides to Connors her concern that Jane is being deprived of her childhood by her demanding mother, the two conspire to prevent Mrs. Powell from locating her daughter. At the hostel, the youngsters return from the fields to find Jane covered with grease and the pump completely broken, prompting Jack to lecture Jane that she should not volunteer for tasks she is incapable of performing. That night, Jack, who is a member of a farming family, proposes to Bonnie, who rejects him, claiming that the life of a farmer is too hard. Jack's friend Bill then volunteers to intercede with Bonnie on Jack's behalf. Overhearing their conversation, Jane suggests that Jack make Bonnie jealous by flirting with Bill's girl friend Peggy. Bill has gone to reason with Bonnie, and Jane promises to find him and disclose her new plan. Jane fails to reach Bill before the youngsters leave for the fields, however, and her plan backfires when Bonnie sees Jack kiss Peggy and becomes furious. Bill and Jack are both angry at Jane's meddling, and consequently, when all the bicycles crumple due to Jane's repairs, she is ostracized by the entire group. Trying to win back her friends, Jane reveals that she is Jane Powell. When Jack and the others refuse to believe her and accuse her of lying, Jane bursts into tears, and deciding to return home, phones her mother. Challenged by Jack to prove her claim, Jane sings a song from her latest film and the children realize that she is telling the truth. Deciding to leave immediately to avoid Mrs. Powell, Jane and her friends bike to Pomona. Upon arriving at his brother's farm there, Jack learns that a gale is headed in that direction and will destroy his brother's 1,000 acres of orange crops unless they are picked by midnight. Soon after, Mrs. Powell and Connors arrive at the hostel, and Jane's friends conceal Jane in a tree. After her mother drives away, Jane decides to enlist her help in solving Jack's problem and runs after the car. Jane climbs in, and no longer afraid of her mother, Jane reaches an understanding with her. In Hollywood, Jane asks Charlie McCarthy and her other entertainer friends to broadcast an announcement over the radio, promising free star-studded entertainment in Pomona. As crowds throng to the Moran ranch, W. C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen and Sammy Kay arrive. The audience is disgruntled when they are directed to pick oranges, but after W. C. Fields reminds them that the oranges are to be sent to soldiers fighting overseas, everyone eagerly flocks to the fields to do their patriotic duty. Bonnie, now convinced that the farming life is not frought with peril, agrees to marry Jack.
Director
S. Sylvan Simon
Cast
Edgar Bergen
Bonita Granville
W. C. Fields
Sammy Kaye
Jane Powell
Peggy O'neill
Jackie Moran
Bill Christy
Reginald Denny
Regis Toomey
Rose Hobart
Condos Brothers
Lipham Four
Catron & Popp
Hollywood Canteen Kids
Sig Arno
Irene Tedro
Pat Starling
Chuck Faulkner Band
Crew
John W. Boyle
John R. Carter
George Dobbs
William J. Fender
Kim Gannon
Bernard Herzbrun
Bernie Kamins
Walter Kent
Leleiohaku
Albert Mannheimer
Johnny Noble
Val Paul
Irving Phillips
Charles Previn
Charles R. Rogers
Charles R. Rogers
Georgia Stark
Maurie Suess
Edward Verdier
Truman K. Wood
Earl Wooden
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Score
Best Song
Quotes
Trivia
Director S. Sylvan Simon had terrible difficulty filming scenes with W.C. Fields due to his alcoholism. After lunch hour he was often nowhere to be found. This problem was solved by luring Fields into his truck early in the day and removing the ladder. Fields would often rant and complain before eventually asleep.
'Jane Powell' and W.C. Fields have one scene together, during which he ad-libbed all of his lines.
Notes
This picture marked Jane Powell's screen debut, and according to a January 1944 news item, M-G-M lent the fourteen-year-old actress to Charles R. Rogers' company under the proviso that he build up her musical numbers and feature her in the advertising campaign. The film had its premiere in Portland, OR, Powell's hometown. Hollywood Reporter news items yield the following information about this production: Locations were shot at the Pyramid Date Gardens in Palm Springs, CA, and the Pan Pacific Auditorium parking lot in Los Angeles, CA. Although Hollywood Reporter news items add Jeanne Johnston, Betty Arnold, Barbara Coleman, Al Kunde, Evelyn Moriarity, Catherine Guy, Olga Vilner, Gregg Rhinelander, Lorraine DeWood, Frank Scannell, Sid Tomack, Edward Gargan, Hugh Beaumont, Jean Stern, Eric Sinclair and Jeanne Newport to the cast, their appearance has not been confirmed. The picture was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Score and the song "Too Much in Love" was nominated for Best Song.
