Plot
Pip-Emma Binns is a New York tomboy with 11 uncles, who wear uniforms and teach her the professional tricks of their trades. Pip-Emma is invited—as a charity case—to a summer camp for wealthy girls. The snobby "Purple Order of Penguins" resent Pip-Emma's brash behavior, plain-spoken opinions, and streetwise skills learned from her uncles, and she is bullied by the other girls. Her only girlfriend is Janet Cooper, a poor little rich girl whose parents are on the verge of divorce. Pip-Emma calls upon her beloved grandfather to visit Janet's parents and talk some sense into them. Camp counselor Priscilla Adams and her football-playing suitor Dennis Lane carry on a reluctant romance while trying to sort out Pip-Emma's problems. Camp caretaker Tolio befriends Pip-Emma while his two bratty sons pester her. Pip-Emma stands up for herself and wins everyone over, including the girl who had bullied her the most.
Production
The screenplay by Grover Jones was based on a story by I.A.R. Wylie, which was published in 1938. [3]
Joe Pasternak held extensive auditions to find the lead throughout 1938, during which he discovered Gloria Jean. She later recalled:
There were hundreds of beautiful little girls there [at the audition]. I had been grabbed out of the sandbox, and I didn’t look so nice. I had pigtails and my teeth were a little crooked. But that’s what Joe liked.... I said, ‘I can’t sing, the piano’s out of tune.’ My mother almost shot me. Joe said, ‘I like this kid. Let’s get the piano tuned and bring her back tomorrow.’ I got all kinds of lectures on the way home about being a little more subdued. When I sang the next day, I knew it went very well. [4]
Filming took place from May to June 1939. [5] It was originally budgeted at $445,000. [6]
Robert Cummings had just appeared in Three Smart Girls Grow Up and been signed to a long-term contract with Universal. [7] Although The Under-Pup was his first above-the-title lead, he was overshadowed by screen newcomer Gloria Jean, on whom the publicity was focused.
Reception
The film had its premiere in Gloria Jean's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania on Thursday, August 24, 1939. [8] [9] As Gloria Jean's biographers recounted, "In a surprise move that amazed both the studio publicity men and the national press corps, the local coal miners declared a strike, and shut down the community's major industry for the day in Gloria's honor." [10]
Variety called the film "surefire entertainment" and singled out Gloria Jean: "Typical American girl of her age, youngster has warm poise, winsome personality, and a screen presence that is remarkable considering this is the first time she faced the cameras." [11]
The film was well received, and was followed by an unofficial sequel, A Little Bit of Heaven (1940). Many of the cast members from The Under-Pup appear in the second film, but with different character names.
In 1946, Hollywood studios joined forces to create a special film library of feature films, intended specifically for children's matinées. All the studios contributed a few of their greatest hits with juvenile appeal; Universal supplied The Under-Pup. [12]
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