Primrose Path

this version(the only one I have seen) takes place in the fishing industry of Monterey California. It not only takes place in the famous stomping grounds of John Steinbeck but is as interesting as many of his stories such as Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat. Like a good Steinbeck story it about the poor and the very poor. The lower working class that struggles to survive and the even less fortunate. Ginger Rogers' family is made up of the even less fortunate.A kind mother who sells herself to keep a roof over their head and at the same time takes care of an alcoholic husband. Well acted by real troopers of the early thirties and well worth watching. Snappy dialogue and some wonderful shots of Montereys' scenic coast are an added plus. The Blue Bell Cafe is mentioned often in this film and was an actual popular establishment in the town of Monterey.

Joel McCrea and Ginger Rogers did some of their best work in this picture. The story is a great one, and it was well executed. It should have made the list of 100 greatest American films, but there are flaws. Two of the secondary character are caricatures - the grandmother and the little sister were overplayed. The father, while perhaps realistic, came off as a melodramatic, sick joke. The coverage of one of the main themes, prostitution, was handled too graphically for 1940's audiences and too "victorianly" for modern audiences. But these are really minor complaints. I think Ginger Rogers did a great job, and should have gotten an academy award. When I first watched it, before I found out when the movie was made, I thought it must have been very early, say 1933, because she was very convincing as an apparent teenager - say a 19 year old. I should have realized the movie was not that old, as the direction, cinematography, and other secondary production aspects were much better, definitely in the "Citizen Kane" ranks. And after all, Ginger was very good at playing women a lot younger than she (see "The Major and the Minor"). Joel McCrea was also excellent, showing again that if he would have resisted his urges to play cowboys he could have developed a reputation as one of the greatest American film stars (see "Foreign Correspondent"). I am happy to see that IMDb users rate this film above 6.0, but I think it is much better than that.

It was fun seeing Virginia McMath a.k.a.Ginger Rogers at age 29. As I watched this film on Turner Classic Movies I saw a resemblance and body language very much like Doris Day's. Bubbly!! I found the film interesting because here Hollywood was, back in 1940, handling the theme of prostitution which is handled quite differently today. I'd say in 1940 it was done tastefully compared to the trash we see today.

Joel McCrea was the same mild mannered, easy going type that made him famous while the film was stolen by meddlesome witchy Queenie Vassar playing Ginger's maternal grandmother and Miles Mander playing Ginger's highly intelligent has-been drunk father once well acquainted with Greek philosophy.

The novel upon which this is based centers on the mother figure, but the Broadway play and film version instead emphasize the growing pains of the oldest daughter. RKO has cast Marjorie Rambeau as the mother and Ginger Rogers as the daughter.

The story is told in simple, straightforward fashion. We glimpse the young woman's desire to break away from a cycle of poverty, as well as attempts to distance herself from her mother. Life changes dramatically when she embarks on a romance with a local restaurateur (Joel McCrea), but due to a set of circumstances beyond her control, she finds herself following her mother's path as a prostitute.

While this is largely a vehicle for Rogers' talents, it is Rambeau that gives a most extraordinary performance as the one whose choices catch up to her in dramatic fashion. Rambeau previously played a destitute mother forced into sin in MGM's Min and Bill, and in this picture, she is revisiting familiar emotional territory.

Rogers and McCrea previously costarred in Chance at Heaven, also for RKO.

This is one of Gregory La Cava's last pictures and doesn't seem to be very well known. Film critic Andrew Sarris didn't seem to think much of it in his book The American Cinema, and rates it as one of his lower pictures. I never would of watched this movie before until i discovered how great Ginger Rogers was and now i want to watch all her films. Rogers plays a poor girl who lives in the slums with a drunk father, a prostitute for a mother and some other relatives. Rogers has no interest in guys until she meets Joel McCrea at a restaurant and they wind up married. She lies about her family to him and it causes some problems between them. Ginger Rogers is good as usual and Joel McCrea is very good as the husband.