''Because of Him'' is a 1946 American
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...
film directed by
Richard Wallace and starring
Deanna Durbin
Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With t ...
,
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...
and
Franchot Tone
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...
.
Plot
Kim Walker (
Deanna Durbin
Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With t ...
) is an ambitious waitress who dreams of being on the stage. She tricks respected stage actor John Sheridan (
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...
) into signing a
letter of introduction. Thanks to the forged letter, Kim then wins the role of Sheridan's co-star in his next play, much to the disgust of the writer Paul Taylor (
Franchot Tone
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...
).
Cast
*
Deanna Durbin
Edna Mae Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born actress and singer, who moved to the USA with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s. With t ...
as Kim Walker
*
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...
as John Sheridan
*
Franchot Tone
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...
as Paul Taylor
*
Helen Broderick
Helen Broderick (August 11, 1891 – September 25, 1959) was an American actress known for her comic roles, especially as a wisecracking sidekick.
Career
Broderick began on Broadway as a chorus girl in the ''Follies of 1907'', the first ...
as Nora
*
Stanley Ridges
Stanley Charles Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was an English-born, American actor who made more than 100 appearances in theatre and movies from 1917 to 1951.
After his American film debut in ''Success'' (1923), he appeared in films s ...
as Charles Gilbert
*
Donald Meek
Thomas Donald Meek (14 July 1878 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish-American actor. He first performed publicly at the age of eight and began appearing on Broadway in 1903.
Meek is perhaps best known for his roles in the films '' You Can't ...
as Martin
*
Regina Wallace
Regina Wallace (September 1, 1886 – February 13, 1978) was an American film and theatre actress.
Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Wallace began her career in 1913, performing in New York, where she appeared in the Broadway play ''A Good Little De ...
as Head Nurse
*
Charles Halton
Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films.
Life and career
Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...
as Mr. Dunlap
*
Douglas Wood as Samual Hapgood
Production
In February 1945 Universal announced that Deanna Durbin and Charles Laughton, who had previously appeared together in ''
It Started with Eve'', would be reunited in ''Catherine the Last'', "a contemporary comedy-drama with music". It would be filmed before ''Merry Merry Marriage'' recently announced for Dubin. In May Richard Wallace signed to direct.
Franchot Tone, who had appeared opposite Durbin twice before, was signed in August 1945, when the title was changed to ''Because of Him''. Filming started August 15, 1945.
Durbin had married the producer
Felix Jackson
Felix Jackson (born Felix Joachimson; June 5, 1902 – December 7, 1992) was a German-born American screenwriter and film producer.
Biography
Jackson was born in Hamburg. He was a city editor in Germany at 21, then a dramatic and music critic, ...
in June 1945 and at the time of filming, she was pregnant with her first child.
Reception
The ''New York Times'' called it "an utterly pointless fable".
Durbin and Jackson later said "We thought that picture came closest to the so-called old-style Durbin story. Yet the New York critics gave us very bad notices. We don't know why."
[BY WAY OF REPORT: Brief Encounter With Deanna Durbin- New York Times 21 Apr 1946: 51.]
References
External links
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1946 romantic comedy films
1946 films
American romantic comedy films
American black-and-white films
Films scored by Miklós Rózsa
Films directed by Richard Wallace
1940s American films
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