The Girl Next Door (1953) [HD]

"The Girl Next Door"- A delightful "lost" 20th C.Fox Musical !
It's interesting, and amazing to me , that 20th has finally decided to release this musical on DVD along with "The Bloodhounds Of Broadway" (a fun, but not a particularly inventive Mitzi Gaynor musical), and the long-awaited, song filled "With A Song In My Heart". Although I've had a poor, taken-from-TV, video of this film for 20 years or so, I never thought it would ever see the light of day again.
It's always been one of my favorite "minor" 20th musicals since I first saw it as a kid in 1953, mainly because of the charming performances of June Haver, Dan Dailey and Dennis Day. I doubt that anyone even remembers it, since it sat on the shelf for almost 2 years,..and then was rushed into release only to quickly disappear.
Originally offered to Betty Grable, who turned down the script ...( one CAN picture her in the role),...it fell to Miss Haver, who with her sparkling personality...and singing and dancing talents, was far better suited for the part. Beginning shooting...

Almost lives up to it's great potential.
4.9 stars. I bought this DVD for my mother's 86th birthday, primarily because her very favorite films are the Warner Bros. Doris Day musicals On Moonlight Bay and By The Light of The Silvery Moon -- so our opinion and this review of The Girl Next Door is in comparison to those. When my mom read the box, she was delighted that it stars June Haver (Wake Up And Dream, another favorite) and has Dennis Day (The Jack Benny Program) and Billy Gray, who was also in those two Doris Day movies a year or two earlier. When we watched it last night, everything seemed perfect - yet somehow not quite up to our hopes. The plot's sort the converse of The Courtship of Eddie's Father, but not as poignant. Haver's and Dailey's numbers are fine and the highlight of the film. But Dennis...

June Haver
The Girl Next Door. It was great seeing June Haver again. This was her last picture and right after making it, she went to the convent. The movie is quite spectacular and also stars Billy Gray of Father Knows Best. It was great seeing him, too. He was quite an actor. I'm surprised that he didn't go on with his acting career. It is sad to think that June Haver is gone now. I was shocked to hear that she died in July of 2006. I had just been thinking about her the day before her death, wondering what she was doing now.

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