Julius J. Epstein Movies
Identical twin screenwriters Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein were the sons of a prosperous New York livery stable owner. Both Epsteins attended Penn State, then went off to seek their separate fortunes as journalists. Julius was employed as a press agent when, in 1933, he headed to Hollywood to help out a couple of old college friends who'd sold a story to Warner Bros. but were having trouble finishing the script. He continued to contribute anonymously to other screenwriter's efforts, finally receiving a credit for 1935's Broadway Gondolier.Around that same time, Julius' brother, Philip, arrived in Hollywood to work at RKO; in 1938, the brothers formed a writing team that would flourish until Philip's sudden death in 1952. Before long, it became common Hollywood practice for producers, directors, and writers to cry out, "Get me the Epsteins!" whenever a script became mired down. Among the films that the Epsteins worked on (credited and uncredited) were The Strawberry Blonde (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), The Male Animal (1942), My Foolish Heart (1948), and Forever Female (1952). Their prolific output is all the more remarkable in that they never typed a script, choosing instead to write in longhand. To hear the brothers tell it, they were of equal talent, though an argument can be made that Julius was the better raconteur and Philip was more skilled at bypassing censorship (it was Philip who saved the ending of Arsenic and Old Lace (1942) by purifying the line "I'm a bastard!" into "I'm the son of a sea cook!"), The Epsteins' best-known credit was the award-winning Casablanca. Outside of his work with Philip, Julius wrote or co-wrote four plays (including the popular Chicken Every Sunday), and wrote the scripts for The Tender Trap (1956), Kiss Them for Me (1957), Return From the Ashes (1965), Any Wednesday (1967), and Pete 'N' Tillie (1973), also functioning as producer on several of these films. Philip G. Epstein's credits without his brother include The Bride Walks Out (1936) and The Mad Miss Manton (1938). In 1983, the 74-year-old Julius J. Epstein won the fourth of his Oscar nominations for Reuben, Reuben.
On the eve of 2001 the master of sharp wit and sardonic dialogue was silenced forever. With the death of Julius Epstein on December 30, 2000, Hollywood lost the final remaining contributor to one of films most beloved treasures, Casablanca. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Klezmer music is a fusion of Eastern European folk tunes with jazz and other influences. It was (and is) the preferred celebratory music of Sephardic, or Eastern European Jewry around the world and is now enjoying a new upswing in popularity. In fact, it is popular in places and among groups far beyond its Gypsy/Jewish origins earlier in this century. Not only has it become well enough known so that riffs from it are heard in a song by folk/country musician Emmylou Harris, but it is now quite fashionable in Germany, which is where this documentary was made. The Epstein Brothers form one of the oldest klezmer bands still playing, and their active retirement is the focus of this documentary. In some sense, the history of their musical association is the history of klezmer. They perform in their retirement community in Florida, but they are frequently invited to perform in New York City and Germany. Of course, the film's best highlight is its music. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1966
The star of the Broadway version of Any Wednesday was Sandy Dennis. Headlining the 1966 film version is Jane Fonda, who imbues her character with enough quirkiness to satisfy both herself and the endearingly mannered Ms. Dennis. Fonda plays the dippy mistress of philanderer Jason Robards, who visits his paramour only on Wednesdays (hence the title). Dean Jones costars as the erstwhile swain who messes up Robards' routine by falling in love with Fonda. Screenwriter Julius J. Epstein does a expert job at expanding Muriel Resnick's play for the screen without robbing it of its inherent charm. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
Arsenic and Old Lace is director Frank Capra's spin on the classic Joseph Kesselring stage comedy, which concerns the sweet old Brewster sisters (Josephine Hull, Jean Adair), beloved in their genteel Brooklyn neighborhood for their many charitable acts. One charity which the ladies don't advertise is their ongoing effort to permit lonely bachelors to die with smiles on their faces--by serving said bachelors elderberry wine spiked with arsenic. When the sisters' drama-critic nephew Mortimer (Cary Grant) stumbles onto their secret, he is understandably put out--especially since he has just married the lovely Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane). Given the homicidal tendencies of his aunts, the sinister activities of his escaped-convict older brother Jonathan (Raymond Massey) and the disruptive behavior of younger brother Teddy (John Alexander)--who is convinced that he's really Theodore Roosevelt, and runs around the house yelling "CHAAAAARGGGE"--Mortimer isn't keen on starting a family with his new bride. "Insanity runs in my family," he explains. "It practically gallops." Further complications ensue when the murderous Jonathan Brewster arrives home, with his snivelling accomplice Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre) in tow. When Jonathan learns that his darling aunts have killed twelve men, he is incensed--they're challenging his own record of murders. Though the movie rights for Arsenic and Old Lace were set up so that the film could not be released until 1944, director Capra shot the film quickly and inexpensively in 1941, so that his family could subsist on his $100,000 salary while he was serving in World War II. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, (more)
- 1935
A tuneful taxi driver secretly works to achieve his dream of becoming a radio singer in this musical comedy. One day he gives a radio station secretary a lift. She prattles on about a sponsor's new contest. The sponsor, a prominent cheese company, is looking for a singing gondolier to participate in their newest campaign. Later the secretary and the head cheese go to Venice to look for the real McCoy, unaware that the determined cabbie is already there waiting for them. Sure enough, they are fooled and he is hired. Things go really well until he feels compelled to tell the truth during a major broadcast. Songs include: "Lulu's Back in Town", "The Rose in Her Hair", "Lonely Gondolier", and ""You Can Be Kissed"". ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, (more)
One of the most beloved American films, this captivating wartime adventure of romance and intrigue from director Michael Curtiz defies standard categorization. Simply put, it is the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a world-weary ex-freedom fighter who runs a nightclub in Casablanca during the early part of WWII. Despite pressure from the local authorities, notably the crafty Capt. Renault (Claude Rains), Rick's café has become a haven for refugees looking to purchase illicit letters of transit which will allow them to escape to America. One day, to Rick's great surprise, he is approached by the famed rebel Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and his wife, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick's true love who deserted him when the Nazis invaded Paris. She still wants Victor to escape to America, but now that she's renewed her love for Rick, she wants to stay behind in Casablanca. "You must do the thinking for both of us," she says to Rick. He does, and his plan brings the story to its satisfyingly logical, if not entirely happy, conclusion. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, (more)
- 1948
George Seaton's 1948 comedy Chicken Every Sunday was based on the play by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein as well as the original memoirs of Rosemary Taylor. Set during the turn of the century on the American frontier, Emily Heffernan (eleste Holm) is the practical wife of foolish would-be businessman Jim Heffernan (Dan Dailey). While Emily struggles to keep the household together by renting out rooms to boarders, Jim wastes the family's earnings on get-rich-quick schemes. Told in flashback, Emily recalls her 20-year marriage before filing for divorce. Emily has had enough and wants to leave, but their friends try to get them back together. Also starring Colleen Townsend, Alan Young, and a ten-year-old Natalie Wood. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Dailey, Celeste Holm, (more)
- 1937
German director Joe May brought a decidedly Teutonic ambience to his American film Confession--no surprise, since the film was based on the 1935 German production Mazurka. Kay Francis plays a onetime singer who confesses to the murder of her pianist, Basil Rathbone. In flashback, we learn that Rathbone had been responsible for the breakup of Francis's marriage. Years later, Rathbone came back into her life, this time with the intention of seducing Ms. Francis' grown daughter (Jane Bryan). In a variation of Madame X, Francis was stuck with the dilemma of deflecting Rathbone from his "mission"--and of keeping her true identity secret from her daughter. Prior to Mazurka, the Hans Rameau story upon which Confession was based had been filmed as a silent picture starring Gloria Swanson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, (more)
A quote from Bertolt Brecht ends this bitter and angry war film by Sam Peckinpah: "Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again." Peckinpah's intense and belligerently non-commercial work, (based on the book by Willi Heinrich), is a World War II tale told from the German perspective, following a platoon of German soldiers in the Russia of 1943, when the German Wehrmacht forces had been decimated and the Germans were retreating along the Russian front. James Coburn is Steiner, a German corporal and recipient of the Iron Cross who feels that he owes his loyalty to his family and fellow soldiers and not to Hitler and the German war machine. But when a new commander, Captain Stransky (Maximillian Schell), takes over the platoon, Steiner and Stransky come into immediate conflict. Stransky is a career soldier, the complete opposite of Steiner, and a man who pledges himself heart and soul to Hitler and the war. But he envies Steiner for having been awarded an Iron Cross and deeply desires one himself. The problem is Stransky is a complete coward and recognizes that the only way he can be awarded an Iron Cross would be to get the bitter Steiner on his side. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, (more)
- 1939
This family drama features the same cast and crew from the highly successful Four Daughters, but it isn't actually a sequel. Whereas the first film was a chronicle of the Lemp family, this one centers on the Masters family. This film is also characterized by a much happier ending than its predecessor. The story begins as a wandering husband finally returns home after a 20 year absence. He is alarmed to discover that his wife is planning to marry a nice stodgy fellow who yearns only to stay in the town of Carmel, California, the story's setting. Though the errant husband is still suave and charming, his two angry daughters reject and do all they can to get him to leave their hometown. But he is not so easily swayed and despite their protests, stays until he charms them into submission. The peace doesn't last long when he sees that one of his four girls is about to marry a younger version of himself. His wife is terribly upset not only by this development, but also by the fact that she must choose between her dull-but devoted fiance and her exciting, irresponsible husband (of whom she was legally freed after he was declared dead). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Garfield, Claude Rains, (more)
Fanny was adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the final chapter of Marcel Pagnol's "Marseilles Trilogy". Pagnol's original, titled Cesar, ends with protagonist Marius returning to the sea, leaving behind his lover Fanny and their son. Expanding upon the original, Fanny picks up the narrative nine years later. Marius (Horst Buchholtz) finally meets his son and is reunited with Fanny (Leslie Caron). She tells him that Panisse (Maurice Chevalier), the elderly suitor who married Fanny to save her from disgrace, is dying. On the verge of shuffling off his mortal coil, Panisse gives Fanny and Marius his blessings, hoping that they'll marry at long last. Charles Boyer co-stars as Cesar, the philosophical gent portrayed in the 1930s film versions of the Pagnol trilogy by the great Raimu. Fanny goes its merry way without any of the songs in the original Broadway score, despite the proven musical talents of Caron and Chevalier. Producer/director Joshua Logan saved himself plenty of embarrassment when he agreed not to release this film as Joshua Logan's Fanny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, (more)
- 1953
Sir James Barrie's whimsical play Rosalind was updated and urbanized as the 1953 film Forever Female. Ginger Rogers plays a veteran Broadway star who has optioned a play written by William Holden. Though on the less sunny side of 40, Rogers expects to play the leading role, that of a 19 year old girl. Producer Paul Douglas--who also happens to be Rogers' husband--insists that Holden alter the age of the main character. Meanwhile, iron-willed ingenue Patricia Crowley, who is far more suited to the part than Rogers, begins her own campaign to win the role. Far more enjoyable than the plot mechanics of Forever Female are the sly showbiz inside jokes, courtesy of screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein. It's also fun to tick off the familiar faces in the supporting cast, including George Reeves as a stuffy suitor, future Mrs. Bing Crosby Katherine Grant as an auditioning actress, and Gunsmoke and Dragnet villain Vic Perrin as an effeminate set designer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ginger Rogers, William Holden, (more)
- 1938
Fannie Hurst's Sister Act was the source for this money-making Warners weeper. The four daughters of the title are played by the Lane Sisters--Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola--and by Gale Page. All are musical prodigies, and all are daughters of master-musician Claude Rains. To help make ends meet, Rains rents several rooms of his home to boarders--most of whom, thanks to the dictates of the plot, seem to be marriageable men. We're supposed to care the most about the mutual attraction the daughters feel towards handsome Jeffrey Lynn, but the film really belongs to John Garfield, making his movie debut (no, he wasn't in 1933's Footlight Parade) as an embittered piano genius. Garfield has us in the palm of his scruffy hand the moment he begins philosophizing about "the fates:" "So they flipped a coin...heads he's poor, tails he's rich....they flipped a coin--with two heads." Aware that he can bring only unhappiness to Priscilla Lane, the daughter who cares most for him, Garfield obligingly drives into a heavy snowstorm and is killed in an auto accident (but it's not staged as a suicide, lest the Hays Office spank). John Garfield made so powerful an impression in Four Daughters that Warners was compelled to write him into the sequel Four Wives, first as a flashback and then as (implicitly) a ghost. Another film, Daughters Courageous, was hastily constructed using the same cast, but with different character names so as to accommodate a happier denouement for Garfield and Lane. Four Daughters was remade in 1954 as Young at Heart, with Frank Sinatra and Doris Day in the John Garfield and Priscilla Lane roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, May Robson, (more)
- 1939
In this drama, the sequel to Four Daughters, the daughters are now adults. Three of the sisters rally together to find a new love for the fourth sister whose husband recently committed suicide. The widowed woman then discovers that she is pregnant with her deceased husband's child and this causes her to refuse a marriage proposal. At the same time, another sister learns that she is barren, one sister adopts and then finds herself carrying twins, and a different sister gets married. All are very happy except for the pregnant widow who bears her child prematurely. The baby is saved by a blood transfusion from her recently rejected suitor, and the grateful mother promptly elopes with the gallant chap. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, (more)
- 1978
This four-hour TV movie is one more of novelist Harold Robbins' "guess who everyone is supposed to really be?" wallowfests (with nary a Jolly Roger in sight). The "pirate" is Baydr (Franco Nero), an anti-Semitic Lebanese oil sheik, who, unbeknownst to himself, is actually an Israel-born Jew fathered by Ben Ezra (Eli Wallach). Baydr marries a haughty American WASP, Jordana (Anne Archer as a blonde), whom he meets at JFK's 1960 presidential campaign, and fathers a son by her. Meanwhile, Leila (Olivia Hussey), one of Baydr's two daughters from a prior marriage, trains to become a PLO terrorist and plots to kidnap Jordana and her son by Baydr. The modern viewer is luckier than those poor TV fans of 1978 who had to sit through two nights of this nonsense: the currently available syndicated version of Harold Robbins' The Pirate (retitled simply The Pirate) runs a mere 150 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1941
Ann Sheridan and her then-husband George Brent did their expected box-office duty in the Warner Bros. comedy Honeymoon for Three. Brent plays confirmed-bachelor novelist Kenneth Bixby, who wards off marriage-minded females by pretending to be married to his secretary Anne Rogers (Sheridan). Complications begin piling up when Bixby is arduously pursued by his old flame Julie (Ona Massen), now wed to provincial stuffed-shirt Harvey Wilson (Charles Ruggles). The supporting cast includes such Warners "regulars" as star-to-be Jane Wyman and future producer William T. Orr (who happened to be Jack Warner's son-in-law), not to mention Walter Catlett as a funny waiter. Honeymoon for Three was based on the venerable stage play by George Haight and Alan Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Sheridan, George Brent, (more)
Recently widowed Dr. Nichols (Walter Matthau) finds himself ill at ease in re-entering the singles scene. Then he meets Ann Atkinson (Glenda Jackson), a patient recuperating from a jaw operation. Freshly divorced from a philandering spouse, Jackson is as reluctant to inaugurate a lasting commitment as Walter--but inaugurate they do, in a hilarious scene wherein Jackson and Walter try to emulate those romantic couples in 1930s movies who were forced by the censors to keep one foot on the floor while lying in bed. It is Jackson who encourages Matthau to stand up for his ideals during a lawsuit involving senile head physician Dr. Willoughby (Art Carney, who is unbearably funny at times). Richard Benjamin rounds off the cast of polished farceurs who add so much sparkle to House Calls. The film was later adapted into a TV sitcom starring Wayne Rogers in the Matthau role, Lynn Redgrave (and later Sharon Gless) in the Jackson counterpart, and David Wayne as a less aphasiatic version of the Carney character. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, (more)
- 1935
Though Busby Berkeley is the director of I Live for Love, there isn't a dancer or dance number anywhere to be seen. Dolores Del Rio stars as hot-tempered South American stage favorite Donna Alvarez, who is brought to America to headline a Broadway show. The film details the backstage romance between Donna and her handsome co-star Roger Kerry (played by Everett Marshall, an opera star who'd last been seen on-screen in 1930's Dixiana). They fight, make up, fight again, make up again, and fight and make up again. And that's all, folks. The film's singular highlight is the barbershop-quartet lampoon "A Man Must Shave". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, Guy Kibbee, (more)
- 1935
Per its title, this merry Warner Bros. musical was filmed on location in the resort community of Agua Caliente. Pat O'Brien plays magazine editor Larry MacArthur, whose scathingly negative review of tempestuous dancer La Espanita (Dolores Del Rio) has incurred the lady's considerable wrath. Through a fluke, MacArthur finds himself in Caliente, where he begins ardently pursuing the lovely Rita Gomez, not realizing -- at least at first -- that Rita and La Espanita are one in the same. Intending to humiliate MacArthur, Rita relents when she realizes she's fallen for him as well. Of the supporting players, only Edward Everett Horton is given any worthwhile material, and he makes the most of it. The Busby Berkeley dance numbers are okay, but the film's musical highlight is Wini Shaw's rendition of "The Lady in Red", followed by Judy Canova's semi-parody version of the same tune. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolores Del Rio, Pat O'Brien, (more)
Luther Davis' racy wartime comedy Kiss Them for Me was expurgated a bit for the 1957 film version. Cary Grant, Ray Walston and Larry Blyden portray three navy war heroes who've been booked on a morale-building "vacation" in San Francisco. Eluding their ulcerated public relations officer (Werner Klemperer), the trio arranges a wild party with plenty of pretty girls. Cary Grant is paired with knockout Suzy Parker, an icy socialite who eventually thaws under his charms. Also on hand is Jayne Mansfield, playing a "good time girl" whose profession was a bit more explicit in the original play; the role was originated by Judy Holliday, who brought a wistfulness to the character that Ms. Mansfield couldn't quite manage. TV sitcom fans will get a kick out of the supporting cast of Kiss Them For Me: Ray Walston, later star of My Favorite Martian plays a libertine navy officer; Werner Klemperer, shorn of the accent he'd use as Colonel Klink in Hogan's Heroes, is hilarious as the flustered p.r. man; and Richard Deacon (Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show) pops up unbilled as a dour businessman who can't understand the war-hero mystique. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cary Grant, Suzy Parker, (more)
- 1962
A mother who wants only the best for her challenged daughter faces a number of new and unexpected dilemmas in this romantic drama. Margaret Johnson (Olivia de Havilland) is a wealthy woman taking a tour of Europe with her 26-year-old daughter Clara (Yvette Mimieux). Clara is blonde, beautiful, and charming, but beneath the surface lurks a serious problem -- as a result of a head injury she suffered as a child, Clara is mildly retarded and has the mental capacity of a ten-year-old. While Margaret's husband Noel (Barry Sullivan) has long contended that Clara should be institutionalized, Margaret refuses to hear of it, and she sees to it that her daughter lives as normal a life as possible. While in Italy, Margaret and Clara meet a handsome young man named Fabrizio Naccarelli (George Hamilton), the son of a prosperous local, Signor Naccarelli (Rossano Brazzi). Fabrizio is immediately smitten with Clara, and she seems equally fond of him; since Frabrizio has a spotty command of English and isn't especially perceptive to begin with, he doesn't notice anything unusual about her. Before long, Fabrizio asks Margaret for Clara's hand in marriage; while this would be a big step toward the "normal" life that Margaret has long dreamed of for her daughter, she's not sure if Clara is capable of handling the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood, and she is equally uncertain if she should reveal the nature of Clara's condition to the Naccarellis, even though she knows that it would be terribly unfair for Fabrizio to marry Clara without knowing the truth. Light in the Piazza was beautifully shot on location in Italy by award-winning cinematographer Otto Heller. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Rossano Brazzi, (more)
- 1935
In the wake of Shirley Temple, every Hollywood studio scrambled to find a child star who might possibility match Temple's selling power. Warner Bros.' candidate was South Africa-born Sybil Jason, who starred in several of the studio's short subjects and was headlined in a handful of features like Little Big Shot. Here she is cast as Gloria Gibbs, whose daddy is knocked off by gangsters early in the picture. Left in the care of confidence tricksters Steve Craig (Robert Armstrong) and Mortimer Thompson (Edward Everett Horton), it doesn't take long for Gloria to twist her surrogate "parents" around her little finger. With the help of Steve, Mortimer and lunch-counter waitress Jean (Glenda Farrell), our heroine not only puts the finger on the gang responsible for her father's demise, but collects a huge reward as a result. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sybil Jason, Glenda Farrell, (more)
- 1935
In this drama, an amateur pilot is driven to living life in the fast lane after he pilots that plane that crashed and killed his parents and his sister. He goes on to marry. He and his new wife live in terrible conditions until he suddenly inherits $8,000 which he uses to buy a plane and start up a commuter service. Unfortunately, he finds himself again in debt. His disgusted wife leaves, but when he is hurt in a car crash, she eventually returns. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kay Francis, George Brent, (more)
From a novel of the same name by "Elizabeth", the film begins in 1914, with Bette Davis cast as vain, flighty society woman Fanny Trellis. Informed by Jewish-American financier Job Skeffington (Claude Rains) that her brother Trippy (Richard Waring) has stolen money to pay his gambling debts, Fanny marries Job, securing his promise that he won't prosecute her thieving sibling. Angered by Fanny's agreeing to this loveless union, Trippy runs off to join the army, and is killed during World War I. Fanny holds Skeffington responsible for her brother's death, and demands a divorce with a generous cash settlement. Despite Job's oft-repeated belief that "a woman is only beautiful when she is loved," Fanny uses her coquettish beauty to flit indiscriminately from man to man. While on a sailing trip with her latest beau, Fanny comes down with diphtheria. The disease destroys her facial beauty, and before long the shallow Fanny is left completely alone. Her self-centered efforts to reunite all of her old boyfriends for a party is a failure due to her pathetic middle-aged efforts to be kittenish, and the grotesqueness of the mounds of facial makeup she apples. Meanwhile, Skeffington, who has resettled in Europe with his daughter, is captured by the Nazis and placed in a concentration camp. He manages to escape, returning to the US totally blind and utterly penniless. A chastened Fanny comes back to her husband, promising to care for him for the rest of his life. Most TV prints of Mr. Skeffington run 127 minutes; the videocassette and cable TV versions have been restored to the original length. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Claude Rains, (more)
- 1949
Producer Samuel Goldwyn dishes up sentiment by the bowlful with My Foolish Heart. Susan Hayward is (somewhat unconvincingly) cast as a wide-eyed girl from Idaho who meets bon vivant Dana Andrews at a Manhattan party. Their brief affair results in a pregnancy, but since Andrews has been killed in the war, Hayward marries a man she doesn't love to give her child a name. The experience turns the girl into an embittered alcoholic, but she sees the light before she can cause grief for her baby. Based on a story by J. D. Salinger (the only one of this reclusive author's stories ever translated to film), My Foolish Heart strains credulity to the breaking point, but was popular enough to yield a hit title song, which is still a standard on "easy listening" FM radio stations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Andrews, Susan Hayward, (more)
- 1940
S.N. Behrman's hit Broadway show about a guy who writes hit Broadway shows comes to the screen in this comedy. Gaylord Esterbrook (James Stewart) is a reporter from Minnesota who writes a play about life in New York City -- a place he's never visited. To his surprise, a Big Apple producer wants to stage Gaylord's show and asks him to come to New York immediately. While Gaylord hardly seems like a Big City sophisticate, his regular-guy charm makes a big impression on leading lady Linda (Rosalind Russell), who is tired of jaded braggarts like her director, Morgan (Allyn Joslyn). Gaylord and Linda get married, and he becomes one of the most successful playwrights in town, but his new popularity goes to his head, and Linda wonders what happened to the man she married. However, Gaylord's career takes a turn for the worse when he meets Amanda (Genevieve Tobin), a snooty high society type who convinces him that he ought to be writing the Great American Tragedy instead of crowd-pleasing comedies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, (more)
