Tonight I watched the romantic comedy Miss Tatlock's Millions (1948). It's a sweet film featuring Barry Fitzgerald and Monty Woolley. The script is by Charles Brackett (3 Oscars) and the director is Richard Haydn, best known for voicing the Caterpillar in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. The overall quality is what you would hope for from these names except for one thing, the same reason why you've probably never heard of the film.
The plot involves a con where an actor attempts to inherit a fortune by pretending to be a long-lost mentally handicapped son, who unknown to the family burned himself to death two years ago. The script shows an uneducated and unfeeling portrayal of mental illness and the central performance is an embarrassing disaster. I considered if the film was trying to be edgy playing a handicap for laughs, but I believe this was originally created as lighthearted entertainment.
Can a movie be dated? I believe this one shows that it definitely can.