The bug of nineteenth century Americana has bitten Twentieth Century Fox, but the result is no "Oklahoma!'.' nor even a "Meet Me In St. Louis." For despite its many virtues, including Jerome Kern's last songs and Jeanne Crain, "Centennial Summer" is anchored to mediocrity by its script and by lack of imagination in its whole production.

The story was compounded by a methematician, not written by a writer. This Hollywood Einstein has taken a man, his wife, and their two daughters, equated them with a young obstetrician, a Frenchman, and a worldly aunt, and triumphantly made it all come out even. The Frenchman and the obstetrician account for the two daughters, while the husband and wife remain idyllicly united, despite some complications with the worldly aunt, who cops the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the only character in the picture who doesn't remind the audience at least one that "this is 1876!" "Centennial Summer's" ingenuity is surpassed only by its dullness.

Connoisseurs of good tunes, however, and members of the Jeanne Crain cult, will find ample compensation for the vagaries of the story as well as for the uninteresting technicolor, the bad dialogue, and Corned Wilde's French accent. "All Through The Day" and "In Love In Vain" Eave been popular for weeks now, and better yet is "Cinderella Sue," a number which Avon Lang makes worth the venerated price of admission. As for Miss Crain, she is as unaffected and pleasant as she is easy on the eyes, despite the uninspired company of such experienced Fox low standard bearers as Wilde and Linda Darnell.