Get Hep to Love 1942

Doris Stanley, Gloria Jean, is a teenage singer—“14 going on 15”—billed as a child prodigy by her money-hungry Aunt Addie, Nana Bryant. When Aunt Addie reneges on giving her a break from touring, Doris runs away and ends up in a small town.

She presents herself as a potential adoptee to a young married couple, Ann Winters, Jane Frazee, and Steve Winters, Robert Paige. Unbeknownst to Doris, Ann was on the verge of breaking up with Steve due to his golf obsession and refusal to find a real job. Doris’s arrival gives the couple a reason to stay together.

At school, Ann makes both friends and enemies, as she vies for the affections of Jimmy Arnold, Donald O’Connor, who is hung up on a girl, Elaine Sterling, Cora Sue Collins, who toys with him.

A newspaper story appears offering a $5,000 reward for finding the missing Doris. The music teacher, Miss Roberts, Edith Barrett, realizes Doris has a remarkable singing voice and takes an interest. She travels to the city, ostensibly to claim the reward, but really to learn why Doris ran away. She then implies the girl she has encountered is not Doris. The aunt grows suspicious and, to keep control, sends a detective to follow Doris back to the town, Detective Tucker, Tim Ryan.

Meanwhile, Steve remains determined to stay with Ann and to care for Doris, even as he faces a court battle ahead. He secures his future income by applying for an insurance job, and his bold approach helps him land a large policy with a wary client.

After being initially kept out of a music recital, Doris is finally allowed to perform, and she wows the crowd with a voice that captures the audience and the detective’s attention.

The courtroom showdown reveals a crucial truth: Aunt Addie never properly adopted Doris, and Doris is old enough to choose her own adoptive parents. She selects the Winters as her adoptive family, while Aunt Addie receives visitation rights. With Jimmy’s prospective Prom date down with the mumps (caught from another boy), Jimmy escorts Doris to the Prom.

Offscreen, the film’s main cast had previously appeared in Gloria Jean’s 1942 film What’s Cookin’?, and would reunite in two more titles—It Comes Up Love and Mister Big. In particular, [Gloria Jean], [Donald O’Connor], and Peggy Ryan would again light up the screen together in these later releases.