MetaChat - Please help me ID this movie.

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17 August 2007

Please help me ID this movie. →[More:]Boy and girl meet in an orphanage in this black and white movie, possibly from the 1950s. When the girl (named Pauline, I think) is about to be adopted as an infant, the boy pricks/pinches her to make her cry and the prospective parents decide not to take her. It's been so long that I can't remember any other details except that the girl was blond and ended up with the boy in the end. Oh, also it seemed like he followed her around the world or country in a non-stalkerish adoring sort of way when they grew up. Sorry, so little to go on. I'm pretty sure I watched it on TV in the 1980s as part of KTLA's Family Film Festival hosted by Tom Hatten. I remembered the title as "My Pauline" but looking at the descriptions for Pauline titled movies makes me think I could be wrong about that.

post by: PY at: 20:02 | 8 comments

A wild guess - could it be Jeux interdits, aka Forbidden Games? The girl is blond, and her name's Paulette, but FG seems very heavy for a family film festival, plus it's subtitled.

posted by iconomy 17 August | 21:18

Thanks iconomy. That movie sounds interesting and probably better than the one I saw. Your suggestion reminded me of something else - this movie was definitely set in the U.S., with their childhood condensed to a few scenes or short sequence. It had a fluffy feel somewhat like Doris Day movies, also typical fare for this family film festival.

posted by PY 17 August | 21:50

Could it be The Perils of Pauline from 1967? Or a film by the same name from 1947?

posted by brina 17 August | 22:24

I've been reading synopses for the 1967 one and it sounds right! I'll rent it if possible and check, because I don't see many stills from it and the ones I do see don't seem familiar.

Thank you brina!

posted by PY 17 August | 22:51

PY: One problem: I just looked and it appears to be in technicolor!
But it also seems there was a whole series of films about this particular Pauline, some called "The Perils of Pauline" and others with other names. Hmm.

posted by brina 17 August | 22:56

That 1967 movie sounds completely and utterly insane! Deep freezes and fake gorillas and lecherous slave traders and spacewalks. It's got everything.

posted by iconomy 17 August | 23:00

To tell you the truth, all that stuff about the harem & the pygmies did not ring a bell for me. But I was hopeful because of the Pauline part and the two orphans falling for each other at the orphanage. Pat Boone (who I saw listed in the cast) also sounded plausible as the leading man. It was definitely in black and white.

posted by PY 17 August | 23:06

The Perils of Pauline is, quite literally, the template for the cliffhanger melodrama. Tied to the tracks, riding the boat over the waterfall, etc.

posted by stilicho 17 August | 23:06

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