It is not often that a follow-up is every bit as good and actually on the same level as its predecessor, but 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon', a follow-up to the immensely charming and warm-hearted 'On Moonlight Bay', manages it.Both are among Doris Day's best musical films and in the top end of her filmography. Anybody who is a fan of Day and Gordon McRae (have always loved Day and consider McRae immensely talented) will get huge pleasure from both and will find it difficult to decide which is better. Like 'On Moonlight Bay', the story in 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' is very slight. Again, like 'On Moonlight Bay' it doesn't feel that big a problem with everything else executed so well.Visually, 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' captivates. The Technicolor styling is superb and rich in colour, the production design is lavish and leaves a warm and cosy feeling from head to toe.The songs are terrific and the treatment of these standards truly enchant. Standouts are the title song, "Be My Little Baby Bumble-Bee" and "If You Were the Only Girl in the World".'By the Light of the Silvery Moon's' writing is witty and warm-hearted and few will mind the slightness of the story with it warming the heart so much, being so consistently entertaining and making one feel so cosy and relaxed with its innocence. The ice skating sequence epitomises all this.Day sings beautifully and has such an endearing and fresh approach to her acting, while McRae is a dashing presence with his warm baritone voice being one of the best and most beautiful on film. Their chemistry once again is irresistible and a huge part of the film's appeal.Leon Ames has the memorability factor, Rosemary DeCamp is a sympathetic presence, Billy Gray makes a potentially annoying character appealing and Russell Arms charms as a nerd. Mary Wickes' sharp-tongued but well meaning housekeeper is particularly fun.Overall, a musical delight. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Penrod (renamed Wesley Winfield in this update) has less to do in this one, although he still provides a catalyst for the film's main pieces of action (the turkey dinner and the actress chestnut which was much funnier when Wallace Beery was taking rumba lessons from Carmen Miranda), and even has a dream sequence more elaborate than that in On Moonlight Bay. Penrod's decreased footage has been taken up by Doris Day. I'm not complaining.I like Doris Day. She even has a production number – the agreeably staged and sprightly sung, "King Chanticleer". Butler's direction is a mite smoother than Del Ruth's and the color photography is nice and bright here. But the screenplay lacks flair and is plainly a bit of a bore. Dead dreary old Leon Ames and Rosemary DeCamp help make the scenario even more sluggish. Gordon MacRae manages to put over a song rather well, but he's otherwise a bit of a bore. However, many of the support players are on top of their material and I especially liked Leon Ames' delightful rendering of "Bumble Bee".

A turkey named George threatens to steal the scene here in this Thanksgiving holiday musical which is a follow up to the earlier made "On Moonlight Bay", based upon Booth Tarkington's Penrod stories, itself a remake of a few movies which Warner Brothers made in the 1930's. It is also one of those rare movie sequels which is even better than the original. The film starts off in fine form with that delightful wisecracker, Mary Wickes, narrating directly to the audience who everybody is (just in case you forgot or hadn't seen "On Moonlight Bay"), but telling the audience not to be so nosy when it comes to revealing her own identity. It's just after the end of the first World War and soldier Gordon MacRae is on his way back (with a song on the train of course...) to claim his girl Doris Day from the nerdy neighbor who safeguarded her while MacRae was away.Brother Billy Gray is a detective in training trying to save turkey George from the wrath of the Henry VIII like butcher while parents Leon Ames and Rosemary De Camp prepare for their 20th anniversary. A misunderstanding concerning a visiting actress has Day, Gray and Wickes in a tizzy (treating Ames like a pariah rather than a patriarch) and town gossip (started by telegraph office operator Minerva Urecal) is spreading, leading to the ice-skating scene finale where the entire cast joins together in singing the title song.Innocuous fun, this gives the beloved Wickes one of her best roles and endeared her to audiences even more who had loved her ever since she told Monty Woolley off in "The Man Who Came to Dinner". Day is combination tomboy (initially seen in overalls fixing a car) and lady (she certainly knows how to tone down her feistiness while singing a love song with MacRae), then bombastic in the outrageous on-stage set "King Chantacleer", a campy production number set in a hay-stacked barn with chorus boys dressed up as a variety of foul.Day and MacRae get to help Wickes and DeCamp prepare for Thanksgiving dinner while singing "Ain't We Got Fun?", giving Wickes an amusing moment where she tangos with MacRae, and MacRae serenades passerbys while singing "Just One Girl", his declaration of love for Ms. Do-Da Day. Another musical highlight is the sappy sweet "Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee", a ditty which may gag some listeners with its hokey lyrics, but is funny and amusing for people who appreciate all styles of music.Winter never looked so pretty with its Norman Rockwell like photography, and nostalgic viewers may long for a simpler time with sleigh rides, old fashioned Thanksgivings and Ice Skating on ponds with all your neighbors (no matter what their age) on skates. Day and MacRae, in their last screen appearance together, are as classic a screen couple as Fred and Ginger, Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson and Betty Grable and Dan Dailey, and really should get more credit and appreciation in the historic annals of the movie musical.

Following World War I, and "On Moonlight Bay" (1951), shapely tomboy Doris Day (as Marjorie Winfield) plans to marry returning soldier sweetheart Gordon MacRae (as William "Bill" Sherman), but he gets cold feet. The pair have misadventures and misunderstandings until Ms. Day finds Mr. MacRae back on his feet again. Day's family from the earlier film returns, imaginative little brother Billy Gray (as Wesley), father Leon Ames (as George), mother Rosemary DeCamp (as Alice), and housekeeper Mary Wickes (as Stella) return. Day and MacRae sing a bunch of standards (very well). Piano teacher Russell Arms (as Chester Finley) and French actress Maria Palmer (as Renee La Rue) provide innocent romantic fluff. "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" is an immaculate production; it's sweet and old-fashioned, with music to match.******* By the Light of the Silvery Moon (3/26/53) David Butler ~ Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Billy Gray, Leon Ames