''But Not for Me'' is a 1959 Paramount Pictures

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

starring

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

and

Carroll Baker Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...

. It is based on the 1934 play '' Accent on Youth'' written by

Samson Raphaelson Samson Raphaelson (March 30, 1894 – July 16, 1983) was a leading American playwright, screenwriter and fiction writer. While working as an advertising executive in New York, he wrote a short story based on the early life of Al Jolson, called ' ...

Plot

Russ Ward is a Broadway producer with a 30-year record of success who has been out of town. On returning to New York, everybody wants a piece of him: ex-wife Kathryn Ward, hard-drinking playwright Jeremiah "Mac" MacDonald, magazine reporter Roy Morton, business manager Miles Atwood, and lawyer Charles Montgomery, one after another. The main topic of discussion is ''Give Me Your Hand'', the new play Russ is producing. The reporter hears it's in trouble, but Russ says that's untrue. It will be ready for its Boston tryout right on schedule, he vows. Kathryn keeps reminding him of his age, which Russ likes to lie about. Russ tells loyal young secretary and student actress Ellie Brown it is likely time to retire because the new show is a mess. He and writer Mac have a story about a middle-aged man romancing a 22-year-old woman, and just can't seem to make it work. Ellie is in love with Russ, so much so she proposes marriage to him. That gives him an idea. What if the play had the young woman pursuing the man? That way he wouldn't seem such a lecher. A delighted Mac rewrites it, and everyone involved works on it at the Long Island mansion where the former actress Kathryn lives, partly thanks to her alimony from Russ. A rich backer named Bacos wants in, but Atwood says his money isn't needed because an anonymous angel is financing the whole show. Ellie reads the woman's part, and strikes everybody as perfect for it. Gordon Reynolds, an up-and-coming young actor in Ellie's acting class, gets the male lead, and promptly falls for Ellie, but she's being led on by Russ, who doesn't discourage her love for him. The show's so-so in Boston, and a few of them panic, but Russ insists it'll be a hit on Broadway, and, sure enough, he's right. Now, he needs to let down Ellie gently, and next thing he knows, she and Gordon have gotten married. Ellie returns exasperated because Gordon wants to give up theater and move to Montana. She strips and leaps into Russ's bed so Gordon can catch her there and demand an annulment. Everybody gets every misunderstanding sorted out. The newly-weds decide to compromise, and Russ, who finally has figured out that Kathryn was the anonymous angel who financed the show, is ready to give their relationship a second act.

Cast

... Russell "Russ" Ward *

... Ellie Brown / Borden *

Lilli Palmer Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Glob ...

... Kathryn Ward *

Lee J. Cobb Lee J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby; December 8, 1911February 11, 1976) was an American actor, known both for film roles and his work on the Broadway stage. He often played arrogant, intimidating and abrasive characters, but he also acted as respectabl ...

... Jeremiah MacDonald *

Barry Coe Barry S. Coe (born Barry Clark Heacock; November 26, 1934 – July 16, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in film and on television from 1956–1978. Many of his movie parts were minor, but he co-starred in one series, titled '' Follow the ...

... Gordon Reynolds *

Thomas Gomez Thomas Gomez (July 10, 1905 – June 18, 1971) was an American actor. Life and career Born Sabino Tomás Gómez, Jr., in New York City, Gomez began his acting career in theater in 1923, studying under actor Walter Hampden in a production of Cy ...

... Demetrios Bacos * Charles Lane ... Atwood * Wendell Holmes ... Montgomery *

Tom Duggan Thomas Duggan Goss (August 20, 1915 – May 28, 1969) was an NBC and ABC radio and television commentator in Chicago and Los Angeles and a crusader against Chicago mob involvement in boxing and politics. Early years Duggan was born as Tho ...

... Roy Morton

Previous versions

The 1935 movie ''Accent on Youth'' starred

Herbert Marshall Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall (23 May 1890 – 22 January 1966) was an English stage, screen and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the Uni ...

and Sylvia Sidney. The 1950 film version was a musical entitled ''

Mr. Music ''Mr. Music'' is a 1950 film starring Bing Crosby and Nancy Olson, directed by Richard Haydn, and released by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the play '' Accent on Youth'' written by Samson Raphaelson. Filming took place from October to Dece ...

'', starring Bing Crosby and Nancy Olson.

Novelization

A worthwhile novelization of the screenplay was written by American writer Edward S. Aarons (1916-1975) under the mild pseudonym Edward Ronns, published in a mass market, tie-in paperback edition by

Pyramid Books Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to ...

(cover price 35¢) with a release date of September, 1959 and copyright assigned to Paramount Pictures Corporation. (Aarons is best known for his prolific "Assignment" espionage series, featuring agent Sam Durell.)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:But Not For Me (film) 1959 films American comedy films American films based on plays 1950s English-language films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Walter Lang Films scored by Leith Stevens 1959 comedy films Films produced by William Perlberg Films produced by George Seaton 1950s American films