On the Sunny Side

Because of the war, a 12-year-old boy from England, Hugh, is sent to live with the Andrews family in Ohio. Don, the Andrews' 11-year-old son, eagerly accepts the English boy, and is happy when his school-friends do the same. But his isn't so happy when things begin to change when his father fore-goes their evening game of Chinese Checkers to play chess with Hugh, and Hugh shows himself to be a formidable scholar, and impresses Don's girlfriend Betty, and becomes more popular with the boys than Don was...and Don is beginning to think that Hugh is too much of a good thing. Don gets downright depressed and decides to run away. Uh, oh, here comes Hugh.

Directed by Harold D. Schuster, On the Sunny Side leans on a strong ensemble — Roddy McDowall, Jane Darwell, Stanley Clements — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1942.