Juke Girl

1942
Approved
1h 30m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan in Juke Girl (1942)

Danny and Steve are migrant farm workers who wind up in Cat Tail, Florida. Cat Tail is run by Madden Packing and Danny works for Madden while Steve works for the underdog farmer named Nick. ... Read allDanny and Steve are migrant farm workers who wind up in Cat Tail, Florida. Cat Tail is run by Madden Packing and Danny works for Madden while Steve works for the underdog farmer named Nick. After the Tomato crop is destroyed by Madden, Steve takes Nick, Lola and the next crop to ... Read allDanny and Steve are migrant farm workers who wind up in Cat Tail, Florida. Cat Tail is run by Madden Packing and Danny works for Madden while Steve works for the underdog farmer named Nick. After the Tomato crop is destroyed by Madden, Steve takes Nick, Lola and the next crop to Atlanta where they sell it for big money. Danny is going up with Madden and thinks Steve i... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

553

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Ida Lupino was considered for the part, but the actress felt her accent made it an inappropriate role.

Goofs
In the early scene at the gas station, which is supposed to be somewhere in Florida, the hills of California can clearly be seen in the background.

Quotes
Danny Frazier: The body's familiar but I can't place the face.
Lola Mears: I never forget a face but for you I'll make an exception.

Connections
Featured in This Theatre and You (1949)

Soundtracks
I Hates Love
(1942) (uncredited)
Music by M.K. Jerome
Lyrics by Jack Scholl
Played during the opening credits
Also played at Muckeye's and sung by Ann Sheridan (uncredited)
Played often in the score

User reviews21

Review

Featured review

6/10

Good up until the hard to believe ending.

Steve (Ronald Reagan) and Danny (Richard Whorf) are friends who are out of work. When they arrive at a crappy town in Florida, both move in different directions. Danny turns out to be a rather amoral guy and sees that his best bet is working for the local strong-man, Madden (Gene Lockhart). Steve doesn't understand this, as Madden is underhanded and treats the local farmers like dirt. One farmer in particular, Nick (George Tobias), has gotten on Madden's bad side and Madden has decided to ruin him. Can nice-guy Nick manage to defeat Madden and his forces of evil? And, can Steve manage to win the heart of a local juke-girl (a lady who works in a bar and whose job it is to dance with customers and get them to drink)?

This is an interesting film because in many ways it's like a 1940s western...yes, western. While there are no cowboys, the idea of a local boss-man ruining people and using his gang of thugs is very, very common in westerns. It's also interesting to see Reagan playing such a populist sort of role, though it was very much in line with the Reagan of the 1940s (a union man through and through).

So is it any good? Well, for the first 90% of the film, I'd say yes. However, the ending has quite a few problems. Seeing the town inexplicably turn into a lynch mob made little sense--especially when one of Madden's goons is clearly egging them to action. Additionally, Madden's behavior at the very end made little sense--he was evil through all the film--so why would he suddenly do the right thing?! All I know is that it's frustrating to see a good film that folds up at the end of the movie. Worth seeing but it should have been better.