The Girl From Jones Beach

The Girl From Jones Beach (1949)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Farce  |   Release Date - Jul 16, 1949 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 77 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Review by Craig Butler

The Girl from Jones Beach is a surprisingly agreeable little trifle. It's no great movie, but it's a pleasing bon bon that makes for a fine waste of 90 or so minutes. One of the things that makes Beach so amiable is the girl of the title, one Virginia Mayo. Is Mayo a great actress? No, although she is often very pleasant company in lightweight comedies such as this – and occasionally can pull off a meatier assignment. Here, she's very much in her element, being called upon to display her very considerable beauty, yet also given the opportunity to show her way with a comic line and the very lovely manner in which she expresses indignation. It's no wonder that Ronald Reagan's character finds her the perfect girl. She looks the part, of course, but even in a film like this, beauty is only skin deep. Mayo effectively convinces that her real beauty comes from within; as corny as that sounds, it works. Reagan is also good, much better than one would expect from most of his film work. If Eddie Bracken is a bit much, Donna Drake, Henry Travers and Florence Bates are on hand to make up for his excesses. There are a few unexceptional songs, some nice costumes and serviceable direction from Peter Godfrey which helps to make one forget that the script is not exactly Shakespeare. Beach is lightweight, but breezily amusing.