Joan Prather in Smile (1975)

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The world of teenage beauty pageants is a swirl of cheesy hucksterism and institutionalized schmaltz on the part of the promoters, contrasted with raw innocent longing among the naïve and ruthless contestants. A cinematic gem from one of the great decades of American filmmaking, Smile (1975) perfectly captures the big-time aspirations of small-town dreamers pursuing a fleeting, fanciful helping of fame and fortune. The cutthroat competition among the girls and the foredoomed projections of the adults would break a hardened viewer's heart, except the imperfect people of Smile are presented with saving graces of compassion, identification, and bitter-sweet humor that elicit--rather than tears--bittersweet grins.