The Farmer Takes a Wife (1953)
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The Farmer Takes a Wife is a musicalized remake of the 1935 film of the same name. Betty Grable and Dale Robertson star in the roles originally essayed by Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonda. Set in the early 19th century, the plot details the trials and tribulations of those hardy souls who settled along the Erie Canal. Grable plays Molly Larkin, the girlfriend of rough-and-tumble canal-boat captain Jotham Klore (John Carroll). Much to Klore's dismay, she hires mild-mannered farmer Daniel Harrow (Robertson) to work on the boat. Molly and Daniel fall in love and marry, but there's many a heartbreak and letdown before a happy ending can be reached. Though not in any way a "typical" Betty Grable musical, Farmer Takes a Wife was misleadingly advertised as such: one promotional still showed a grinning Grable anachronistically garbed in tight jeans and a bare-midriff blouse! Both versions of The Farmer Takes a Wife were adapted from the stage play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- Betty Grable - Molly Larkin
- Thelma Ritter - Lucy Cashdollar
- Eddie Foy, Jr. - Fortune Friendly
- Kathleen Crowley - Susanna
- Noreen Michaels - Amy
- William Pullen - John
- Lee Turnbull - Andy
- Joanne Jordan - Boatwife
- Mel Pogue - Abner Green
- Fred Graham - McCracken
- John Butler - Drunk
- Fred Aldrich
- Don Garrett - Cab Driver
- May Wynn - Eva
- Ralph Sanford - Quack
- Brad Mora - Boy
- Emile G. Meyer
- Donald Kerr - Jacob
- Kermit Maynard
- Bobby Hyatt
- Dale Robertson - Daniel Harrow
- John Carroll - Jotham Klore
- Charlotte Austin - Pearl Dodd
- Merry Anders - Hannah
- Ruth Hall - Abbie
- Mort Mills - Floyd
- Howard Negley - Gov. Fish
- Gene Roth - Ethan McCarthy
- Gwen Verdon - Abigail
- Jack Stoney - Gilhooley
- Gordon Nelson - Race official
- Jack Harris - Militia Officer
- John Close
- Max Wagner
- Lee Phelps - Bartender
- Ralph Montgomery - Boater
- Ed Hinton - Boater
- Paul Kruger
- Ted Jordan - Driver
- Director(s):
- Henry Levin
- Writer(s):
- Sally Benson, Walter Bullock, Joseph Fields
- Producer(s):
- Frank P. Rosenberg
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