I stumbled upon this movie on TCM and saw one of the stars was Claude Jarman, Jr from The Yearling. I had seen that movie on TV when I was very young but I was deeply moved by Jaman's emotional and very natural performance. This film was also an adaptation of a Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings story and since it had the kid from The Yearling, I thought it must be worth watching.
There is an amazing cast from Jeanette McDonald to Percy Kilbride to Margaret Hamilton to Lassie! The only one I wanted to see however was Jarman, who played an emotionally wounded orphan boy named Jerry. About 20 minutes into the film, here comes Jarman, 3 years older than he was in The Yearling, all arms and legs and awkward as only a young teenage boy can be, both physically and emotionally. I was not disappointed by his performance which was every bit as natural as his role in The Yearling.
Jarman was not a stereotypical pretty boy, he had average looks and bordered on odd looking when he was older so I wondered what made him so popular as a child actor. After watching this film, I am convinced his appeal lay in his overwhelming believability. During both The Sun Comes Up and The Yearling, I had the sense I was watching a boy that could have lived next door, or down the street, or gone to school with, not a Hollywood actor.
Although the story here was sappy and predictable, Jarman handled it well. When he lied about having a mother, you could see the inner turmoil in his eyes, when he broke down and cried when he thought he had been abandoned by McDonald's character, you wanted to weep with him and in fact I did. I managed to find some clips of his later performances. He made 11 films in all and in every scene I saw, he brought with him an amazing emotional depth and genuineness which is extremely rare in young performers.
Here's to one of the great child actors who has sadly been almost forgotten today. When you have a chance to see one of his performances, please do so, and just enjoy Claude Jarman, Jr doing his thing, namely just being a boy.
There is an amazing cast from Jeanette McDonald to Percy Kilbride to Margaret Hamilton to Lassie! The only one I wanted to see however was Jarman, who played an emotionally wounded orphan boy named Jerry. About 20 minutes into the film, here comes Jarman, 3 years older than he was in The Yearling, all arms and legs and awkward as only a young teenage boy can be, both physically and emotionally. I was not disappointed by his performance which was every bit as natural as his role in The Yearling.
Jarman was not a stereotypical pretty boy, he had average looks and bordered on odd looking when he was older so I wondered what made him so popular as a child actor. After watching this film, I am convinced his appeal lay in his overwhelming believability. During both The Sun Comes Up and The Yearling, I had the sense I was watching a boy that could have lived next door, or down the street, or gone to school with, not a Hollywood actor.
Although the story here was sappy and predictable, Jarman handled it well. When he lied about having a mother, you could see the inner turmoil in his eyes, when he broke down and cried when he thought he had been abandoned by McDonald's character, you wanted to weep with him and in fact I did. I managed to find some clips of his later performances. He made 11 films in all and in every scene I saw, he brought with him an amazing emotional depth and genuineness which is extremely rare in young performers.
Here's to one of the great child actors who has sadly been almost forgotten today. When you have a chance to see one of his performances, please do so, and just enjoy Claude Jarman, Jr doing his thing, namely just being a boy.