The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady

The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady is a 1950 American musical film directed by David Butler. It stars June Haver and Gordon MacRae. The story is mostly about the lives of musical performers in New York in the closing years of the 19th century. Most of the songs were written for the movie, but "Rose of Tralee" dates from the 19th century, and the song "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" dates from 1917. Plot At the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898, grumpy and overprotective Irish widower Dennis O'Grady (James Barton) has three daughters. The oldest, Katie (Marcia Mae Jones), welcomes her husband James Moore (Sean McClory), whom she has married in secret, home from the army. The youngest two, Patricia (June Haver) and Maureen (Debbie Reynolds), pass a vaudeville theater owned by Tony Pastor (Gordon MacRae). Patricia recognizes the man from earlier that afternoon when he mocked her father, and she scolds him for his actions. Dennis is advised by his friend Miklos (S. Z. Sakall) to warn his daughters about the immoral behavior of most men before it is too late. He is not aware of Katie's marriage and pregnancy, nor Patricia's flirtations with a vaudeville actor. Since the death of his wife Rosie – a famous vaudeville actress – Dennis has been wary of vaudeville, feeling that the hard life of vaudevillians was the cause of Rosie's death. When Patricia is caught by her father accompanying Tony, she lies that Tony is a college student. Dennis is impressed by the young man, and decides that he would be perfect to date Katie. Patricia is upset but keeps quiet, afraid of her father's judgment. Patricia tells Tony that she is interested in joining him on the stage, but Tony thinks she should tell her father the truth. Dennis is outraged when he learns about Tony's connections to the vaudeville, and locks Patricia in her room, but she sneaks out to join Tony on the stage, where she quickly becomes a big hit. Dennis, meanwhile, learns that one of his daughters is expecting twins, and decides that Patricia must be the one. Devastated, he gets drunk and gets in trouble with the police. He disowns all his daughters – including innocent Maureen.