The 23rd film in Mill Creek’s Fabulous Forties box set was an hour-long “comedy” from 1942.  The name of the film was Freckles Comes Home and I have to admit that I’m struggling to come up with anything to say about it.  That’s the thing about these Mill Creek box sets.  Occasionally, you’ll come across a really good movie and, even more frequently, you’ll come across a really bad movie.  But often times, you find yourself watching filler.  If I had to guess, Freckles Comes Home was probably a movie that was made to act as the 2nd half of a double feature.  Not much money nor effort was put into it.  It’s not terrible and it’s certainly not good.  It’s just sort of there.

With a title like Freckles Comes Home, I was expecting this movie would be about a lost dog but it turns out that I was wrong.  Freckles (played by Johnny Downs) is a human being.  He’s returning home from college because a friend of his has inherited some real estate and isn’t sure what to do about it.  While sitting on the bus home, Freckles spends so much time talking about how much he loves his hometown that the man sitting next to him decides that maybe he’ll make that town his home as well.  Unfortunately, that man is Muggsy Dolan (Walter Sande).  As you would expect with a name like Muggsy, Dolan is a criminal on the run.

Back in town, Freckles attempts to convince his father not to build a road that will go through his friend’s property.  He also romantically pursues a childhood friend named Jane (Gale Storm), despite the fact that everyone insists that Jane can do better than Freckles.  (Personally, I was wondering why — in the year 1942 — a young man like Freckles wasn’t overseas, fighting for his country.  DON’T YOU KNOW THERE’S A WAR ON, FRECKLES!?)  Meanwhile, Muggsy is plotting to rob the town bank…

And then there’s Jeff (Mantan Moreland), who is the porter at the local hotel.  Jeff thinks that he has a machine that will allow him to find buried gold.  And since Jeff is an African-American in a 1940s film, it’s impossible to watch the way the movie treats him without cringing.  There’s a few scenes where Moreland, as an actor, subtly suggests that Jeff is smarter than the movie gives him credit for and certainly, Moreland’s performance is the most memorable in the film but that really doesn’t make the role any less demeaning.

Anyway, Freckles Comes Home was largely forgettable.  I assume that audiences in the 1940s may have enjoyed it (especially if it was included on a double bill with a more interesting movie) but, seen today, there’s just not that much to be said about it.  It exists, it’s something of a time capsule, and that’s pretty much all there is to say about it.