Perhaps the oddest fact about this movie is that it's an alternate-world sequel: An entirely new plot has been constructed around the same six basic characters from "Four Daughters" (1938). But while that movie was nominated for several Oscars, and was remade in 1954 as "Young at Heart" (Doris Day, Frank Sinatra), this sequel is so lame it made me reconsider the original, not to its advantage.<br /><br />Claude Rains, Fay Bainter, and Donald Crisp were capable of saving just about any film, but even though they ganged up on this one, it was hopeless, not least because the movie's arteries are again clogged with the frothy Lane sisters and three feeble counterparts (Dick Foran, Frank McHugh, Jeffrey Lynn). <br /><br />In the thankless role of a father who returns years after deserting wife (Bainter) and their frothy daughters, Papa Rains is so charming that he manages to make believable their ludicrously swift forgiveness of him. But Mama and her goody-eight-shoes girls would forgive him, or anyone, of anything. Every character in the movie is wearisomely benevolent. Even the bad boys — Rains and John Garfield — have hearts of gold.<br /><br />Well, maybe not gold, since metals don't break as easily as these hearts. When blonde daughter (Priscilla L.) falls for Garfield, Mama convinces Papa that the only decent thing for him to do is: First, send boyfriend Garfield packing; and second, abandon his family again. Huh?? After they've just welcomed Papa back and forgiven him?? But guess what? Papa Rains does it, and so does Garfield, dumping Blondie without so much as slap on her bum.<br /><br />Unhappy ending? Clearly it's not meant to be. Marriage is supposed to be the happy ending, right? And we're buried in nuptials or the promise thereof: Blondie winds up with one of the milksops (I don't even remember which one). Mama Bainter and fiancée Crisp tie a pretty frayed knot. The only fun pair-up, though, is hardly a nuptial, and hardly admirable in the real world: Bad Boys Rains and Garfield wind up together at the train station, setting off as con men teamed up to rip off the world. (They start with a bookish fellow traveler-- he's wearing glasses-- who nevertheless believes he's buying a whale tooth from Moby Dick. Hollywood never misses a chance to dis' book smarts and respect street smarts.)<br /><br />So the film ends with Garfield and Rains eloping. And why not? They're the most romantic couple in the whole movie.