THE OLD SWIMMIN' HOLE

Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones

THE OLD SWIMMIN' HOLE (1940). Director: Robert F. McGowan. Colorized.  

Chris Carter (Jackie Moran of Haunted House) has dropped out of high school in a small town and taken a job to help his mother (Leatrice Joy of First Love) out with the bills. Chris wants to be a doctor and is mentored by Doc Elliott (Charles D. Brown of Charlie Chan in Reno), who apparently left his wife and daughter long ago. Now the daughter, Betty (Marcia Mae Jones), is grown and comes to see him. She and Chris realize that his mother and her father are in love but haven't figured it out yet, and scheme to get them together, but a lawyer named Baker (Theodore von Eltz) may stymie their plans. Meanwhile there are problems when Chris, who is head of a boy's club whose clubhouse is next to a swimming hole, refuses to let little Jimmy (Dix Davis) join their club and become a "lion." Tragedy nearly ensues. 

Theodore von Eltz and Leatrice Joy

The Old Swimmin' Hole is a nicely sentimental old film that has more than its share of "lump in the throat" moments, mostly concerning little Jimmy and his dog. (I defy anyone not to get choked up at one scene in particular). Jackie Moran was actually 17, the same age as his character, when he made this film, and he appeared in around forty others, his nadir probably being Russ Meyer's Wild Gals of the Naked West in 1962. Jones' career lasted until the 80s. Moran was a gifted and sensitive actor, although his character's treatment of the boy Jimmy is rather mean-spirited at times (although he makes up for it). A weak point of the film is the character of Chris' grandfather (George Cleveland), who is nothing but a stereotype of the nasty old rich man without a single nuance. The movie is often quite unrealistic in that Chris doesn't seem to realize that it takes money to go to medical school. Leatrice Joy, who was a star in silent pictures, was married to John Gilbert for three years. Dix Davis was a talented child actor who made about twenty pictures. Moran and Jones worked together quite often. 

Verdict: Charm to spare although it goes awry at times. **3/4.