"Dear Ruth" is an enjoyable film about a VERY annoying and precocious teenager who manages to create total chaos in her family...but it all works out in the end. Now, two years later, the same cast has returned for a sequel.
The film begins with Miriam (Mona Freeman) canvassing door to door for a guy running for state senator. She tells people that this guy is worth voting for, as the party machine's candidate is no doubt a crooked stooge. Naturally, when she returns home, she learns that it's her FATHER, Judge Wilkins, who is being backed by the machine in the upcoming election. He learns that Miriam has gotten enough signatures to get the Judge's son-in-law, Bill (William Holden), to run against him! Total chaos ensues and eventually no one seems to be talking to anyone in the family. As for Miriam, who orchestrated all this, seems to have gotten away with this. As for me, I would have grounded her for 9 or 10 years....or worse!
The film is enjoyable and fun. It's not perfect, as watching it without ANY consequences for Miriam seemed odd....and wrong. She is an awful girl and needed some sort of comeuppance. Because of this, I couldn't give it a score any higher than 7...though I did enjoy the movie.
