Sentimental Journey (1946)

Maureen O'Hara ("Julie) and John Payne ("Bill") are a happily married, successful, theatrical couple for whom all is going well until she starts to feel a bit poorly. It transpires that she has an heart condition, so she decides that it might be a good idea to adopt a child so her husband will have someone once she has gone. She alights on the rather high maintenance "Hitty" (Connie Marshall), a girl with lots of fantastic dreams of unicorns, and whose heart is in the right place. Bill, initially, doesn't take to the youngster but as things run their inevitable course, the three of them must all learn to adapt. There are a couple of fine supporting efforts from William Bendix as "Uncle Don" and some gravitas from Sir Cedric Hardwicke as her doctor; and for the most part the drama is paced well and the production adequate. O'Hara doesn't quite work for me here, though - there is little chemistry between her and Payne; and the whole premiss of the film I found too far-fetched, even cheesy, for me to enjoy. It certainly lives up to it's title, and is frequently peppered with the eponymous, and charming, song but it's was all just a bit too schmaltzy for me.