I'll Remember April

Plot

Garrett Garfield is on the board of directors of financier Henry Childs's company. The board is shocked when Childs confesses that he has embezzled six million dollars. Garfield, who has invested all of his money with Childs, suffers a heart attack after threatening to kill Childs. Childs asks the board to reconvene in 30 days, when Childs will reveal whether he can repay the money. Garfield's daughter April graduates from a prestigious private school in Vermont, and is summoned home to New York after her father's collapse.

Rival radio newsmen Dave Ball and Willie Winchester enjoy scooping each other. Dave discovers April in a local café and invites her to sing on his radio show. When Dave loses track of his new discovery, Willie locates her and signs her for his own program.

When Childs is about to disclose the fate of his company, Dave hides a microphone in the boardroom and broadcasts Childs's announcement. A shot rings out, Childs is murdered on the air, and Garfield becomes the prime suspect.

Dave is convinced of Garfield's innocence and turns to Willie for help. Together they investigate the circumstances surrounding Childs's death, and re-enact the crime on a live, network-radio broadcast. They identify the killer, clearing Garfield. Willie gets the scoop, and Dave gets April.

Cast

Gloria Jean as April Garfield

Kirby Grant as Dave Ball

Milburn Stone as Willie Winchester

Edward Brophy as Shadow

Samuel S. Hinds as Garrett Garfield

Jacqueline deWit as Whisper

Morgan Wallace as Henry Childs

Hobart Cavanaugh as Joe Billings

Addison Richards as Inspector Pat Malloy

Pierre Watkin as Dr. Armitage

Walter Tetley as Messenger

Clyde Fillmore as J.C. Cartwright

Mary Forbes as Mrs. Barrington

Paul Porcasi as Popolopolis

Production

The film's working title was Mike Goes to a Party, the name of Dave's radio show. I'll Remember April was released, appropriately enough, in April -- one day before Gloria Jean's 19th birthday, in 1945.

Gloria Jean had already left Universal's employ by the time I'll Remember April was released. Her manager, Eddie Sherman, advised her to leave the studio at the end of 1944 and embark on a series of personal appearances:

He said, "You'll die on the vine at Universal. They're only going to let you go, anyway." I could see that it was happening, people I knew were let go, and I felt the same thing was going to happen to me. Even though I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it.

Reception

Gloria Jean had been Universal's adolescent singing star since 1939, and critics were pleased by her first adult lead. Elizabeth A. Cunningham in Motion Picture Herald: "Gloria Jean is quite a young lady now, as her latest film will attest, and the young, sweet voice which first brought her featured roles is still her most charming asset. In I'll Remember April her songs cover a pleasing range of styles and rhythms, and the role of an ingenuous youngster is well within her abilities."Boxoffice: "Next to the last of Universal's features toplining Gloria Jean, who is no longer on the studio's contract list, this is a pleasant parcel of supporting entertainment which materially can add to the enjoyment of any program." Showmen's Trade Review: "This latest [Gloria Jean] effort fares somewhat better than its predecessors, for it winds up with an interest-holding mystery. There's the unusual role for Gloria: that of a would-be singer whose glorious voice wins her the plaudits of the nation, and that's evidently as it should be, for it is this type of role that built up her large fan following." Charles Ryweck of Motion Picture Daily: "I'll Remember April is a bright little comedy with music that recklessly detours in the direction of a murder. This one can be summed up as good, light escapist fare, aided by a tuneful score. Cast is uniformly excellent. Miss Jean, in one of her last chores for Universal, is pleasing vocally, in a demure way." Film Daily: "Human interest-packed drama with music should go over with family audiences."