A musicalization of a classic “woman’s picture” is about as unappetizing a prospect as can get for me film-wise, but the polished Hollywood expertise here wins out in the end and makes for a refreshing and appealing movie that I had long underestimated (it was shown several times on Italian TV but I never bothered with it).

Doris Day and, especially, Frank Sinatra are well-matched as star-crossed lovers in small-town America; Day comes from a classically-trained musical family headed by Robert Keith and including Dorothy Malone (with spinster aunt Ethel Barrymore watching maternally from the sidelines). Amiable popular music composer Gig Young bursts in on their quiet, happy family life (all the girls naturally fall for his charms) but this is further exacerbated by the belated introduction of his arranger pal, embittered long-time loser Frank Sinatra. The film’s narrative is largely made up of the romantic entanglements of the trio of girls (two of whom are engaged to local guys but pine for Young) while Day is longed for by Young but is immediately drawn to outsider Sinatra. Robert Keith is really no match for Claude Rains – who had played the father in Michael Curtiz’s original FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938) – but Sinatra does manage to make John Garfield’s star-making, Oscar-nominated turn his own.

Curiously enough, the screenwriters of YOUNG AT HEART – Julius J. Epstein and Lenore Coffee – were the very same duo who had earlier adapted FOUR DAUGHTERS to the screen; however, as is already apparent, the original movie had four daughters instead of three, the character names were also altered and the remake was even given a schmaltzy, happy ending! Naturally, both Day and Sinatra get to sing in the film but they only have a modest duo of sorts at the very end; incidentally, I was let down by the finale not just because of its improbable “all’s well that ends well” qualities but also because, after Sinatra is seen toiling at his magnum opus throughout the whole movie, the result is just a corny love song! At the very least, I was expecting the classic title tune to be it (which he does get to sing over the opening credits). Incidentally, he seems to have had a good working relationship with director Gordon Douglas – since they would reteam three more times in the next 14 years.

Unconvincing musical drama, a remake of 1938's "Four Daughters", has bright, cheery Doris Day picking brooding Frank Sinatra for a suitor over bright and cheery Gig Young. She's hoping to cure Sinatra of his demons, of course, and isn't true love the best medicine after all? A corny, artificial outing, although one mounted with classy studio-style and featuring pleasant supporting characters and chipper family chit-chat. Still, Sinatra's dour mood and Young's attraction to Day (over one of her sisters, whose tender emotions are never quite dealt with) leaves one unsatisfied. It's certainly a well-scrubbed, family-oriented diversion, but the all melodrama the screenplay brings up seems wrong-headed, and sour Sinatra never fits in with this sunny family and he never clicks with Day. **1/2 from ****

... and as a result, through the years, I've just remembered it fondly. This film is a remake of 1938's Four Daughters which had Priscilla Lane in Doris Day's part and John Garfield in Frank Sinatra's part as the morose pessimistic musician who believes if not for bad luck he'd have none at all. This one has not been televised in years because the elements are apparently in shabby shape and need restoration. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. The film follows the plot of "Four Daughters" pretty closely, with Laurie (Doris Day) eloping with melancholy Barney Sloan (Frank Sinatra) in order to clear the way so that the man she really loved and was planning to marry (Gig Young as Alex) might fall in love with older sister Amy. Laurie decides to do this after she realizes Amy is in love with Alex.

These attempts at manipulations of the heart seldom work out well, and such is the case here. Instead, Amy starts to see her long-time beau - who has always loved her - as the man for her precisely because of the way he takes charge of the chaos at the wedding after it has been discovered that Laurie has eloped with someone other than the intended groom. Thus Amy becomes engaged to her boyfriend, Alex is left unattached, Laurie is unhappy and trying to make the best of a bad situation, and her actual new husband Barnie is left feeling more like a failure than ever because he just knows he was second best plus now he feels like his bad luck is being imposed on his wife as well as himself.

Where Young at Heart truly splits from Four Daughters is the ending. Barnie attempts suicide just like in Four Daughters, but Amy brings him back from the brink of death by telling him she really loves him plus one other secret which I'll leave as a surprise if you ever get a chance to see this movie. Another odd departure - there are only three daughters in this film, not four as in the original.