This is a fictional character, the singing teen star Jane Powell here, probably not anything like the real lady that is one of the last of the great leading ladies of Hollywood's golden age still with us. In this, her first film, she is a 1940's version of Deanna Durbin, a "little miss fix-it" who wants to have a real life, thrilled when she is given a lifetime membership to teen hostels around the country, and determined to become involved in the work these kids are doing on farms all over to support the war effort. Running away from her well meaning but domineering mother (Rose Hobart), Powell hides out in a work camp under an assumed name and unwittingly creates a lot of trouble as she tries to blend in, eventually feeling forced to reveal her true identity so they won't turn their backs on her. They learn that a big storm is a-comin' and with Jane's help put on a big show (not all that big really, just a few names popping in) to collect volunteers to save the orange crop that might be destroyed if they aren't removed from the trees before the storm hits.
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy (along with Mortimer Snerd) are seen early in the film for supporting parts in Powell's latest teen musical (along with Sammy Kaye's band) and come in for the last reel, getting one last chance to insult a very tired looking W.C. Fields who tries to give em' the gusto but doesn't quite score. The focus is on Powell and her interference in the older teen's relationships, failing to fix the bicycles she was assigned to work on, and rejected until she breaks into song to prove who she really is. Jackie Moran, Bonita Granville and Peggy O'Neill represent the teen element of the story. The film opens with a very enjoyable bicycle song (on the film within the film) but the story gets a little gooey and unbelievable as total strangers gathered together assuming they are there for a show are basically bribed into working for free in exchange for some big band music, some light comedy and a few songs from Powell. As outlandish as that plot element is, it still did stress the need for a community of strangers getting together to work for the cause of soldiers and sailors in need of crops like the oranges, tomatoes and lima beans being picked. Powell, still radiant in her late 80's as I write this (having found a recent interview with her complete with recent photos), hasn't changed at all, and while she might have felt she contributed little to screen art, there is a sweetness about her at the age of 15 that is still there at the age of 89. That aspect alone is Hollywood magic!
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