And it's Lee Patrick and bratty Tommy Bupp as the aunt and cousin of San Francisco wharf child Bobby Breen. The adopted son of fisherman Leo Carrillo, Breen is unaware that Patrick's late sister and Carrillo adopted him. At first, everything seems nice with the arrival of Ms. Patrick and well-dressed Bupp, but it is soon revealed that the lovely sister-in-law is not the kindly broke widow she comes off initially. It's soon clear to housekeeper Rosina Galli that Patrick intends to take over. But nephew Bupp too isn't keen on being the poor relation, so he breaks the news very nastily to Breen that he's an orphan. That causes Breen to run away with a beloved pet, giving the unrealized possibility of the question being asked, "Have you seen a boy with a seal"? This melodramatic drama with songs (sung by the high pitched Breen) is overly sweet in spots, and it is easy to see why Breen is not as well remembered, even with a voice higher than Deanna Durbin's. Carillo is fine as the dad, and Patrick is really good as the manipulative aunt with passive/aggressive behavior. Rosina Galli and Henry Armetta add Italian humour to Carillo's pals, and Bupp plays the nastiest child on screen since Jane Withers. Slicker the Seal is cute too, but I can't find evidence proving he was the seal used as a stamp by the Marxx Brothers or used to push Eddie Anderson off a pier in "Topper Returns".
Review of Fisherman's Wharf
