Robert Cummings Movies
American actor Robert Cummings studied for an engineer's degree at several colleges before concentrating his energies at the American School of Dramatic Arts. After returning from a trip to England, he became possessed with the notion that he could best conquer Hollywood if he passed himself off as a British actor, so for a brief uncomfortable period he called himself Blade Stanhope Conway. The best he could get was an extra part in Laurel and Hardy's Sons of the Desert (1933); after that, he renamed himself Brice Hutchens, under which name he played on Broadway with a magic act in Ziegfeld Follies of 1934. As plain old Robert Cummings, the actor made his film debut in Paramount's So Red the Rose (1935), in which he was killed off in the Civil War before the first reel was over. He finally got a meaty hysteria scene as a condemned prisoner in The Accusing Finger (1936) -- but thereafter played almost nothing but comedy at Paramount. Stronger dramatic roles came Cummings' way in Kings Row (1941) and Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942). By the early 1950s, the formerly callow Cummings had matured enough to be convincing as the "other man" in the Hitchcock thriller Dial M for Murder (1954), and in the difficult role of the compassionate Juror Number 8 in the original 1955 TV production of Twelve Angry Men. He also gained valuable off-camera prestige as an officer in the Air Force Reserves (he'd been a licensed pilot since age 17). Still, Cummings' main reputation in this decade rested on two lighthearted TV situation comedies: My Hero, which lasted 39 episodes in 1952, and the more famous Bob Cummings Show, a.k.a. Love That Bob, which ran from 1955 through 1958. Playing glamour photographer Bob Collins in the latter series, Cummings perpetuated public TV reputation as an eternally youthful ladies' man (though the biggest laughs went to supporting actress Ann B. Davis (as Schultzy). Newspaper and magazine articles of the period made much of Cummings' seeming agelessness, which the actor chalked up to careful dieting, plenty of vitamins and exercise. That anyone would find it unusual that a 50-year-old man could retain his looks and sex appeal is astonishing in these days of such over-50 movie idols as Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, but such was the state of press agentry in the Love That Bob days. Two later TV series didn't do so well for Cummings, nor did his performances in such 1960s films as The Carpetbaggers (1963); still, critics would marvel at how well the now sixtyish actor was "holding up." Unfortunately, Cummings fell victim to Parkinson's disease in the 1980s, and the once-virile actor deteriorated rapidly both in mind and body before his death at age 82. In his prime, however, Cummings was one of those rare film actors who managed to retain his fame and popularity even though he made relatively few films of importance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1953
This nonsensical farce stars Robert Cummings as an air force reserve pilot, called back to active duty on the eve of his wedding to Marie Wilson. When he returns, he discovers that Wilson has inherited a million dollars, and plans to be the head of their household. Under the circumstances, Cummings decides not to get married and to re-enlist. The air force subjects poor Cummings to a team of psychiatrists, on the theory that any man who wouldn't want to marry the wealthy and voluptuous Ms. Wilson has to be crazy! Marry Me Again has the look, feel and logic of an animated cartoon, which shouldn't be surprising since the director is former Warner Bros. animator Frank Tashlin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Marie Wilson, (more)
- 1952
Former cartoonist and gag man Frank Tashlin made his directorial debut with 1952's The First Time. The story concerns Joe and Betsey Bennet (Robert Cummings, Barbara Hale) a young married couple anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first child. Once the bundle of joy has arrived, Joe and Betsey experience the flip side of parenthood--the mounting bills, the incessant demands made on their time, and the ceaseless strain on their nerves. The story material is on the thinnish side, but Tashlin keeps things hopping with a few well-placed sight gags, while Bob Cummings and Barbara Hale work very well together. The First Time is pleasant enough, though it would take a few more pictures before Frank Tashlin would let loose with the zany slapstick and on-target social satire which made him the darling of French film critics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Barbara Hale, (more)
- 1951
To call The Barefoot Mailman episodic would be understating the issue: the film's story stops and starts so often that it appears to be three half-hour TV episodes strung together. No matter, since the premise is workable and the characters appealing. Though Robert Cummings is top-billed as erudite 19th-century con artist Sylvanus Hartley, the title character, Steven Pierton, is played by Jerome Courtland. The film is set in turn-of-the-century Florida, which was then little more than an elongated swamp. It is the responsibility of Steve Pierton to deliver the mail by foot, covering the distance from Palm Beach to Miami. Attempting to elude the northern authorities, Sylvanus Hartley joins Pierton on his treacherous journey. Their travelling companion is Adie Titus (Terry Moore), a hoydenish young lady who disguises herself as a child to avoid unwanted advances. After saving Adie from the clutches of swamp outlaw Theron (John Russell) and his gang, Hartley goes off on a new tangent, bamboozling the local settlers in a highly suspect land-speculation scheme. When Theron and his fellow crooks lay siege upon Miami, Hartley and Pierton, despite their rivalry over the affections of Adie, team up to save the day. Nothing if not unusual, The Barefoot Mailman is based on a novel by Theodore Pratt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Terry Moore, (more)
- 1950
Lizabeth Scott and Diana Lynn are both effectively cast against type in Paid in Full. Scott plays Jane Langley, the spectacularly self-sacrificial older sister of selfish, reckless Nancy Langley (Lynn). Though she is in love with Bill Prentice (Robert Cummings), Jane gives him up to Nancy. And when Jane accidently causes the death of Nancy's child, she vows to makes amends by the most direct means possible. What follows is within the Production Code guidelines of the era -- but just barely. An unabashed "woman's picture" (that's what they called them back in 1949), Paid in Full doesn't always play well today, since viewers might be tempted to yell "Get real, Lizabeth!" at the screen. Still, it worked beautifully for its original target audience, especially those who'd read the factual Reader's Digest article upon which it was based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
- 1950
Back in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, artist George Petty was famous for his "Petty Girl" illustrations; lovingly detailed renderings of ripe young damsels wearing next to nothing, and sometimes not even that. In The Petty Girl, George Petty is portrayed by Robert Cummings, while Joan Caulfield co-stars as strait-laced college professor Victoria Braymore. The plot contrives to have Petty abandon his nubile creations in favor of avant-garde art, all because he's been told to do so by his new patroness (Audrey Long). Somewhere along the way, Petty and the prim Miss Braymore find themselves in a compromising situation at a Greenwich Village nightclub. Thus it is only a matter of time before Petty goes back to the sort of artwork he does best, and Miss Braymore loosens her inhibitions -- and everything else -- to serve as Petty's latest model. Incredibly, this amusing exercise in old-fashioned male chauvinism was based on a story by novelist Mary McCarthy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Joan Caulfield, (more)
- 1950
When the continual bickering of a married couple threatens to tear them apart, an angel is sent to help them get back together and start making babies in this fantasy. The husband is a busy producer for theatrical shows so the angel disguises himself as a wealthy Westerner looking to invest in a show. He meets the couple at a casino where the angel discovers a special gift for gambling. He is so good that the IRS threatens to intervene and he must be rescued by another angel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clifton Webb, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1949
Though divorced from attorney Robert Cummings, Rosalind Russell continues hoping that she can arrange a reconciliation. This proves difficult due to Cummings' fascination with curvaceous Marie McDonald. Contriving to arouse Cumming's jealousy, Russell pretends to be married to feckless Gig Young. There's complications and misunderstandings aplenty before happy-ending time. Tell It to the Judge is so lightweight that it threatens to float out of sight at times; the stars manage to hold this pleasant meringue together. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosalind Russell, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1949
A pleasant comedy with serious undertones, Free for All stars Robert Cummings as erstwhile inventor Christopher Parker. Hoping to secure a patent on his latest invention--a formula that turns water into gasoline--Parker is flummoxed by yards and yards of governmental and bureaucratic red tape. He also faces formidable opposition in the form of avaricious oil-company executive Blair (Ray Collins). Thankfully, Peterson can occasionally seek comfort in the arms of Alva (Ann Blyth), fortuitously the daughter of sympathetic patent-office employe Mr. Abbott (Percy Kilbride). Within a few years, the heat generated by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee would preclude the on-screen depiction of a villainous oil executive (this particular stereotype would, however, stage a comeback during the energy crises of the 1970s). Outside of its satirical jibes, Free for All scores its biggest laughs when concentrating on the various eccentrics (Percy Helton, Harry Antrim et. al.) dwelling in Mr Abbott's gadget-laden boarding house. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Ann Blyth, (more)
Also known as Reign of Terror, The Black Book is a bold effort by director Anthony Mann to film a French Revolution epic on a "B" detective picture budget. Robert Cummings stars as Charles D'Aubigny, who has been engaged by a group of political moderates to retrieve a little black book from Revolutionary leader Robespierre (Richard Basehart). The book allegedly contains evidence that Robespierre has been acting in his own interest rather than on behalf of the new government. D'Aubigny is compelled to deal with the tangible threat of Robespierre's chief henchman (Charles McGraw) as well as his uncertainty concerning the loyalties of those working with him. The Black Book is retrieved, but not before Robespierre has self-destructed on his own. The cheapness of The Black Book works in its favor, especially its overuse of shadows; while this photographic device was intended to disguise the seediness of the sets, it accurately conveys a "dark" period in French history that here is literally as well as figuratively dark. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Arlene Dahl, (more)
- 1948
The Accused is a mystery melodrama with a predictable plot involving blackmail, attempted rape and murder. Loretta Young stars as Wilma Tuttle, a prim and proper college professor who unwittingly arouses the libido of student Bill Perry (Douglas Dick). When Perry tries to rape Wilma under cover of darkness, she beats him to death with a tire iron. Appalled by her own rash behavior, she tries to cover up her crime by making it seem as though Perry was killed while diving into the sea from a precipitous cliff. But as she follows the police investigation of Perry's death, Wilma realizes that she'll never be able to escape the prison of her own conscience -- especially when she falls in love with Warren Ford (Robert Cummings), the dead boy's guardian. Wendell Corey delivers the film's best performance as a quietly efficient homicide lieutenant who suspects that Wilma knows more than she's letting on. The Accused was adapted by Ketti Frings from the novel by June Truesdell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Loretta Young, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1948
Sexual harassment can work both ways as can be seen in this romantic comedy when ad man endeavors to maneuver out of a relationship with his girlfriend. This is difficult as she controls a major account for his company and refuses to renew it unless he continues to go out with her. The frustrated fellow then begins having neurotic fits until, at last, he is taken off her account. For his new assignment, he must promote a psychiatrist's latest book. They meet and he is captivated by the lovely doctor. The nervous fellow then becomes her patient, and before long they both fall in love. Unfortunately, the other woman has not given up. His troubles are far from over when he later discovers that the shrink doesn't really love him--she is only using him for a case study. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hedy Lamarr, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1948
This noir mystery thriller was produced by Mary Pickford and her husband Buddy Rogers, and directed by Douglas Sirk. Claudette Colbert stars as Alison Courtland, a wealthy New York socialite who awakens on a Boston-bound train with no memory of how she got there. A kindly older woman, Mrs. Tomlinson (Queenie Smith) helps Alison call her husband Richard (Don Ameche), who informs her that she disappeared after threatening his life. While traveling back to New York, Alison meets Bruce Elcott (Robert Cummings), who is immediately smitten with her. Upon her return, Richard urges Alison to consult a psychiatrist, Charles Vernay (George Coulouris), but the man's bizarre, abusive manner nearly drives Alison mad. Alison's condition, Vernay, and even the helpful Mrs. Tomlinson are all part of an elaborate scheme on the part of Richard and his mistress, Daphne (Hazel Brooks) to get drive Alison to suicide and collect her fortune. A concerned Bruce visits Vernay, who is really a photographer, and begins piecing the scheme together. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1947
It is said that Henry James' The Aspern Papers were inspired by the romance between Lord Byron and his mistress Claire Claremont, who in her dotage jealously guarded the poems written by Byron in her honor. In the film version of James' novel, The Lost Moment, the Clairemont character, renamed Juliana, is a blind, 105-year-old recluse, played with an abundance of age makeup by Agnes Moorehead (whose amazing cosmetic makeover was the subject of several magazine articles back in 1947). The plot of the film concentrates on the efforts by a publisher named Lewis (Robert Cummings) to obtain the "lost" poems written by a legendary literary figure to the centenarian Juliana. The old lady is fiercely protected by her near-psychotic niece Tina (Susan Hayward), who nonetheless agrees to help Lewis get his hands on the precious documents. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the Venetian mansion where Juliana resides harbors a horrible secret, one that bodes ill for the troubled Tina and everyone with whom she comes in contact. Watching in bewildered silence is Father Rinaldo (Eduardo Cianelli), the film's "voice of conscience". Together with The Heiress, The Lost Moment is one of the few successful attempts to transfer the elusive prose of Henry James to the screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward, (more)
- 1947
Also released as Montana Mike, Heaven Only Knows is an offbeat western with fantasy overtones. Hard-bitten gambling boss Brian Donlevy rules his frontier community with brawn and bullets. To his dismay, Donlevy discovers that he has a guardian angel (Robert Cummings), who shows up in the guise of an Eastern tenderfoot. The angel has been sent from Above to save Donlevy's soul, and to that end encourages the one-time villain to squire a minister's daughter (Jorja Curtwright) rather than his usual dance-hall girls. Donlevy is also given tips on winning against his enemies without resorting to gunplay. The gambler finally redeems himself with Heaven by rescuing the angel from a lynch mob (how can you lynch an angel?) Heaven Only Knows deserves an "E" for Effort for bringing a fresh twist to the venerable western genre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Brian Donlevy, (more)
Originally slated for release through Monogram Pictures, The Chase was ultimately distributed by United Artists. Adapted by Philip Yordan from Cornell Woolrich's The Black Path of Fear (a perennial of the radio series Suspense), the film stars Robert Cummings as Chuck, shell-shocked ex-GI. Tormented by bizarre dreams, Chuck is drawn into the orbit of racketeer Roman (Steve Cochran). Hired as Roman's chauffeur, Chuck deals as best he can with his boss' faithless wife Lorna (Michele Morgan) and sinister henchman Gino (Peter Lorre). Persuaded by Lorna to help her escape the brutish Roman, Chuck agrees, only to end up accused of a murder he didn't commit. Thus begins the chase of the title, with Chuck eluding not only the authorities but also the stiletto-wielding Gino. Just when it seems that Chuck has cleared himself and all's right with the world, the story takes an unexpected turn, thrusting the hero back into a nightmarish maelstrom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, (more)
- 1946
Charmless films like The Bride Wore Boots helped to kill the postwar revival of the "screwball comedy" genre almost before it began. Here's the deal: Breeding-farm owner Sally (Barbara Stanwyck) loves horses. Novelist Jeff (Robert Cummings) hates horses, but loves Sally. Jeff and Sally marry, only to break up over their equestrian differences. They spend the rest of the film trying to get back together again, despite such hurdles as flirtatious Southern belle Mary Lou Medford (Diana Lynn) and charming "other man" Lance Gale (Patric Knowles). Is it any surprise that the film ends with a Big Race, and that horse-hating Jeff is astride the winning steed? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1945
"You can live a long time in three days -- sometimes when you're in a tight spot, you can live a year in ten seconds." US Army Air Force Major Bob Collins (Robert Cummings), Captain "Shakespeare" Anders (Don Defore), and Lt. "Handsome" Janoshek (Charles Drake) are three happy-go-lucky combat pilots, decorated heroes who are on a tour promoting War Bonds. Their public relations representative from the Treasury Department, Ivy Hotchkiss (Lizabeth Scott), finds at first that can't do much more than tag along, picking up after them and observing their carousing, especially Collins, who seems to have a wide array of female acquaintances in every city they visit. Indeed, although she says little about it, their carousing is out-of-proportion to their circumstances -- yes, their current mission involves a lot of cramped traveling cross-country. shaking hands, endless speechifying, and even more endless listening to tributes to the heroism of the air corps, all of which gets boring and tiring very fast; but these men act like they're burning the candle at both ends, almost manic in their pursuit of women and laughs, and just as devoted to the three of them enjoying anything they do together, past the point of pilots' usual comraderie. They go so far as to sneak out ahead of one extremely important rally, but eventually Ivy gets them to straighten up and fly right, at least when they're supposed to, and the trio -- who has taken a liking to her for being such as good sport -- agrees to behave, at least when they're supposed to be meeting the public. After a few more misunderstandings, some of them comical, she actually gets to like the trio; the four of them become friends, and Ivy starts getting especially close to Bob, despite his womanizing ways -- but whenever she asks Handsome and Shakespeare about Bob's story, they get very close-mouthed and vague. She doesn't think too much of it, enjoying the time she's having with them, until the truth is accidentally dumped in her lap by a well-meaning medical officer (Rhys Williams) -- that Bob, for all of his freewheeling, happy-go-lucky outlook on life and love, is terminally ill. She suddenly understands their behavior and the true depth of the friendship that Handsome and Shakespeare share with him -- she's also nearly shattered, but she dares not let Bob know that she knows, for fear of destroying what little time he has left. The trio at last becomes a true foursome, bound together around Bob and Ivy. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Cummings, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
- 1943
A princess finds love with a regular American Joe in this patriotic romantic comedy. A European diplomat (Charles Coburn) is named an ambassador to the U.S., and when he relocates to Washington D.C., he's accompanied by his niece, Princess Maria (Olivia de Havilland). Maria's uncle hopes that she'll meet an eligible American bachelor during her visit, since potential husbands are in short supply at home. Maria tires of her uncle's attempts at matchmaking, and when he suggests that she take a side trip to San Francisco, she leaps at the chance. However, Maria has a fear of flying, and when she's given tranquilizers to settle her nerves, she passes out in mid-flight. Maria is down for the count when bad weather forces the flight to return to Washington, and pilot Eddie O'Rourke (Robert Cummings) volunteers to put her up for the night. When Maria comes to, she's struck by Eddie's decency and charm, and it's love at first sight for them. However, Maria's uncle was hoping for someone higher up the social ladder than a pilot, and the lovebirds have an uphill battle getting him to consent to their wedding. No one seems sure if it's actually President Franklin D. Roosevelt appearing in the film's final scenes or just an impersonator, but apparently FDR's dog Fala did actually play himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1943
In the tradition of his earlier Carnival in Flanders and Tales of Manhattan, director Julien Duvivier's Flesh and Fantasy is a "pormanteau" film, consisting of several short stories. Linking the three tales unfolded herein are clubmen Doakes (Robert Benchley) and Davis (David Hoffman), who carry on a spirited debate about Destiny. In the first story, homely Henrietta (Betty Field) is made beautiful through the love of handsome Mardi Gras reveller Michael (Robert Cummings)-and the help of an enigmatic mask-maker (Edgar Barrier). The second story, based on Oscar Wilde's "Lord Arthur Saville's Crime", concerns a fortune teller named Septimus Podgers (Thomas Mitchell) who predicts that socialite Marshall Tyler (Edward G. Robinson) will commit a murder. In the final tale, psychic high wire artist Paul Gaspar (Charles Boyer) dreams that he will meet his doom during the performance of his act-and then falls in love with Joan Stanley (Barbara Stanwyck), who looks exactly like the girl who appeared in that dream. A fourth story, detailing the doomed romance between a fugitive from justice (Alan Curtis) and a blind girl (Gloria Jean), was cut from Flesh and Fantasy, then expanded and released separately as Destiny (1944). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward G. Robinson, Charles Boyer, (more)
- 1943
The 80-star cast of Forever and a Day would certainly not have been feasible had not most of the actors and production people turned over their salaries to British war relief -- a point driven home during the lengthy opening credits by an unseen narrator. The true star of the film is a stately old manor house in London, built in 1804 by a British admiral (C. Aubrey Smith) and blitzed in 1940 by one Adolf Hitler. Through the portals of this house pass a vast array of Britons, from high-born to low. The earliest scenes involve gay blade Lt. William Trimble (Ray Milland), wronged country-girl Susan (Anna Neagle), and wicked landowner Ambrose Pomfret (Claude Rains). We move on to a comic interlude involving dotty Mr. Simpson (Reginald Owen), eternally drunken butler Bellamy (Charles Laughton), and cockney plumbers Mr. Dabb (Cedric Hardwicke) and Wilkins (Buster Keaton). Maidservant Jenny (Ida Lupino) takes over the plot during the Boer War era, while the World War I sequence finds the house converted into a way-station for soldiers (including Robert Cummings) and anxious families (including Roland Young and Gladys Cooper). Finally we arrive in 1940, with American Gates Pomfret (Kent Smith) and lady-of-the-house Lesley Trimble (Ruth Warrick) surveying the bombed-out manor, and exulting over the fact that the portrait of the home's founder, Adm. Eustace Trimble (Smith), has remained intact -- symbolic proof of England's durability in its darkest hours. The huge cast includes Dame May Whitty, Edward Everett Horton, Wendy Barrie, Merle Oberon, Nigel Bruce, Richard Haydn, Donald Crisp, and a host of others -- some appearing in sizeable roles, others (like Arthur Treacher and Patric Knowles) willingly accepting one-scene bits, simply to participate in the undertaking. Seven directors and 21 writers were also swept up in the project. Forever and a Day was supposed to have been withdrawn from circulation after the war and its prints destroyed so that no one could profit from what was supposed to have been an act of industry charity. Happily for future generations, prints have survived and are now safely preserved. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, (more)
Aircraft plant worker Robert Cummings is accused of sabotaging his factory and causing the death of a co-worker. Actually, Cummings is the fall guy for a clever ring of Nazi spies, headed by above-suspicion American philanthropist Otto Kruger. Our hero goes on a cross-country chase after genuine saboteur Norman Lloyd, all the while pursued himself by the police. Along the way, he acquires a reluctant "travelling companion" in the form of Priscilla Lane, who at first despises Cummings and intends to turn him over to the authorities at the first opportunity, but who gradually comes to realize that the boy is innocent. Alfred Hitchcock intended Saboteur to be the American equivalent to his British The 39 Steps, employing such details as the solid-citizen villain, the handcuffed hero, the unwilling blonde heroine, and any number of stopovers with a variety of offbeat characters (a travelling "freak" show, a compassionate blind man, a grizzled old prospector who turns out to be one of the spies, etc.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Priscilla Lane, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1942
Universal and producer/director Henry Koster had plans to make Diana Barrymore, the daughter of John Barrymore, into another Deanna Durbin with Between Us Girls, an ambitious sub-screwball comedy that undoubtedly owed some aspects of its existence to The Major And The Minor (in addition to anticipating elements of the Van Johnson/June Allyson vehicle Too Young To Kiss). Barrymore plays Caroline Bishop, an ambitious and gifted young actress and the daughter of actress Christine Bishop (Kay Francis). On a visit home, she discovers that her mother is involved in a serious romance -- which could lead to her re-marrying -- with businessman Steven Forbes (John Boles), but that he is under the impression that Christine is at least a decade younger than her actual age. When Forbes announces his intention to meet Christine's "young" daughter -- whom he presumes is on a visit home from boarding school -- in order to help her mother, Carrie pretends to be a 12-year-old; but she also meets his friend Jimmy Blake (Robert Cummings), who takes a paternal interest in the seemingly badly adjusted child, whom he believes is being neglected emotionally. This impression is only reinforced when Carrie must invent an alcoholic "aunt" to explain a picture in the Bishop home. The problem is that she genuinely starts to fall in love with Jimmy -- but by the time she recognizes this dilemma, it's too late to sort out the masquerade without admitting to dishonesty all around. And how will Carrie juggle her two "roles" within the family, and her own life as a theater actress with a production of Rain (in which she is to play Sadie Thompson) coming up? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diana Barrymore, Robert Cummings, (more)
- 1941
The Devil and Miss Jones is a social comedy with left-wing undertones. John P. Merrick (Charles Coburn), the world's richest man, gets word that someone is trying to unionize a department store that he owns. To thwart this blatant act of democracy, Merrick changes his name and takes a menial job at the store, the better to catch the union activists without detection. Once he himself is subjected to the humiliating treatment afforded his employees, Merrick starts to wise up -- and soften up. As things develop, it is Merrick himself who spearheads the union movement after discovering how duplicitous his hand-picked executives can be. The film also introduces Jean Arthur and Robert Cummings as fellow employees who fall in love before fadeout time. Keeping with the film's insistence upon equal treatment for everyone, Merrick himself is permitted a romance in the person of Elizabeth Ellis (Spring Byington). The Devil and Miss Jones was written by Norman Krasna and directed by Sam Wood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Arthur, Charles Coburn, (more)
The first of several remakes of 1938's Three Blind Mice, the Technicolor musical Moon Over Miami stars Betty Grable and Carole Landis as Kay and Susan Latimer, two Texas carhops who journey to Florida in search of a rich husband. The plan is to have Kay pose as a millionairess, while Barbara and the girls' Aunt Susan (Charlotte Greenwood) pretend to be Kay's domestic staff. The two most likely matrimonial candidates are Miami playboys Phil O'Neil (Don Ameche) and Jeffrey Bolton (Robert Cummings), but when Kay finds out Phil is broke, she reluctantly throws him over for Jeff. Happily, romance wins out over greed, and Kay is reunited with Phil-not that Jeff ends up empty-handed (guess who he gets?). The musical highlights include the hit tune "You Started Something" and an energetic dance specialty by the Condos Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Ameche, Betty Grable, (more)
