Ann and pal Donald O'Connor

Fifteen-year-old Ann Blyth and lifelong pal Donald O'Connor in a publicity shot for The Merry Monahans (1944), Ann's second movie.  Unfortunately, her first four films, all musicals made at Universal, are currently unavailable on DVD and are not shown on TCM.

From my book Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.: 

"The first four movies, all musicals, that Ann made for Universal were Chip off the Old Block, The Merry Monahans, Babes on Swing Street, and Bowery to Broadway, and were all released in 1944.  Donald O’Connor was in most of them and the studio was in a race to crank out as many films with him as possible before he entered the Army Air Corps late in 1944.

Donald O’Connor is quoted in Dick Moore’s book Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star—But Don’t Have Sex or Take the Car:

They tried to finish all those pictures before I went into the service.  We worked three pictures at one time: the one coming up, the one we were doing, and we dubbed the one we’d just finished.  That’s all we did: work.  It’s amazing we had as much fun as we did, grinding them out like that.

Ann recalled the studio regimen for television talk show host Vicki Lawrence in 1993, noting that when involved in a picture they worked six days a week, which included Saturday:

“Sunday was the day to do the laundry, and sleep hopefully for a few extra hours.”

Despite MGM’s glossier and more famous “Andy Hardy” series, according to author Bernard F. Dick in City of Dreams-The Making and Remaking ofUniversal Pictures:

Universal movies featured more teenagers and young adults than any other studio—Deanna Durbin, Donald O’Connor, Peggy Ryan, Susanna Foster, Grace MacDonald, Ann Blyth…Gloria Jean…

Universal already had its youth unit, The Jivin’ Jacks and Jills, and the young dramatic stage actress, who it was discovered could also sing, was plunked into this energetic world of home front teens just shy of draft age.  Ann would recall these films as “good learning experiences.”

Chip off the Old Block, released February 1944, in her very first film, gives her third billing after Donald O’Connor and Peggy Ryan—above the title.  At some point in the frenetic assembly line, the studio decided she was worth the notice..."