Daddy Long Legs (1955)

I think we all wish we could have someone be kind enough to just give us money and opportunity for no reason. Imagine some kind of benefactor you never have to meet taking you out of the rut of your life, paying for you to go to school, and giving you an awesome wardrobe. That would be incredible especially the school part! (I know, I know nerd alert). The plot of Daddy Long Legs shows what our wish of a benefactor could maybe be like.

            Jervis Pendleton (Fred Astaire) comes from a very wealthy family. Part of his home is a museum of the family’s art collection. He takes a trip to France where his car breaks down. Looking for help Jervis comes across an orphanage. While waiting for a car Jervis sees a young girl named Julie Andre (Leslie Caron) teaching the younger kids. She is eighteen and Jervis sees she has a lot of potential so he decides to become her benefactor and send her to a good school in America. Before he gets into his car one of the kids sees Jervis’s shadow. The kid runs to Julie and says her benefactor looks like a Daddy Long Legs.

            Julie comes to America and attends an all girl’s college. Throughout school Julie writes to
“Daddy Long Legs” not knowing who he really is. Jervis receives the letters but he never writes back. He finds out that his niece is roommates with Julie. He arranges for himself and Julie to meet. Jervis begins to love her and Julie begins to fall for him.

            This being an old Hollywood film and a love story Julie and Jervis wind up getting together.

            Daddy Long Legs was good. It was an hour way too long for my attention span (well, let me be honest, I was exhausted and I started to fall asleep through most of it). The story was alright. What bothered me about is the thought that Fred Astaire was so much older than Leslie Caron and knowing their age difference kind of creeped me out. But apparently in the play this film is based off of the age difference is not too bad. I have to give a mention to some of the dresses that Leslie Caron wore because they were gorgeous. I wanted her clothes so bad! Daddy Long Legs is a film I will recommend seeing only if you really like musicals, Fred Astaire or Leslie Caron.