Behind the scenes on KATIE DID IT

A few weeks ago we linked to the charming Katie Did It (1951) on YouTube. Here is a behind-the-scenes shot from 1950, Photoplay magazine, with Ann Blyth with co-star Mark Stevens and director Fred De Cordova.  

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

Another mark of a spirited girl under the guise of prim librarian, is the scene when, parking the town “bookmobile” van by a secluded stream tucked into a wooded area, Ann takes a break from her duties on this hot summer day to strip and take a swim.  Of course, it isn’t long before the visitor from New York [Mark Stevens], with his fishing tackle, strolls by and notices the pile of women’s garments on the rock, topped by the hat he purchased.  Bemused, he sits down at her swimming hole to fish, and she is aghast, ordering him away.  He does not ogle her, or threaten to take her clothes, or any of the usual pranks of having the upper hand in this situation.  He teases her only a moment, then leaves with, “I’ll leave you with the hope that I’ll be seeing more of you.”

Back to school - Ann as Sally in Sally and Saint Anne (1952)

Back to school this week with Ann Blyth as the awkward Sally in the surprisingly screwball comedy SALLY AND SAINT ANNE (1952).  From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:


Sally and Saint Anne (1952) is a sweet and silly souvenir of a time when movies unabashedly basked in a warm glow of nostalgia even if the story was intended to be current and modern.  We have the strange feeling watching this that the filmmakers knew they were preserving an era, and we, the audience in the future, are the proverbial fly on the wall.  As such, we may enjoy it more than the original audience did. 



Though one could call this a family movie, in a time when most films were suitable for the whole family this quiet little gem is unfettered by the dubious yoke of being wholesome.  It is wholesome, too, but it is also a sly parody of doctrine, dogma, and a boldly tongue-in-cheek look at the peculiarities of the highly ritualistic Catholic faith.  As such, it is as courageously unselfconscious about what it is as is the main character—a teenage girl pursuing an unselfconscious friendship with a saint to whom she prays, and her family of screwballs unselfconsciously pursuing their own happiness...