''Our Very Own'' is a 1950 American drama film directed by David Miller. The screenplay by F. Hugh Herbert focuses on a teenage girl who learns she was adopted as an infant. Ann Blyth,

Farley Granger Farley Earle Granger Jr. (July 1, 1925 – March 27, 2011) was an American actor, best known for his two collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock: ''Rope'' in 1948 and '' Strangers on a Train'' in 1951. Granger was first noticed in a small ...

, and

Jane Wyatt Jane Waddington Wyatt ( ; August 12, 1910 – October 20, 2006) was an American actress. She starred in a number of Hollywood films, such as Frank Capra's ''Lost Horizon'', but is likely best known for her role as the housewife and mother Marga ...

star in the film.

Plot

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

teenager Gail Macaulay is going steady with deliveryman Chuck, a relationship that sparks jealousy in her younger sister Joan. When Joan needs her birth certificate in order to obtain summer employment, her mother Lois tells her to look in a box in her dresser, where the girl discovers Gail's adoption papers. That evening, at Gail's 18th birthday party, Joan flirts with Chuck, and when her angry sister confronts her, Joan reveals the truth about her background. The following morning, Lois tells Gail her biological father was killed in an accident before she was born, but her mother, Gert Lynch, is alive. Gail persuades Lois to have their lawyer arrange a meeting with her birth mother, but Lois decides to visit Gert in her

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

home first. Gert is thrilled to see photographs of Gail, but is loath to let her second husband Jim know she has a child, so Lois arranges a meeting the following evening, when Jim will be out. After Gail and her friend Zaza depart for Gert's home, Lois receives a panicked phone call from the woman telling her Jim canceled his plans and is staying home to play cards with friends. Gert waits for the girls outside her house, but before they arrive Jim asks her to prepare refreshments. When Gail enters the house, Gert introduces her as the daughter of an old friend. Gert quietly explains the situation to Gail and apologizes for the mixup. Gail returns to the car and tells Zaza the reunion went well, then asks if she can spend the night at her house. Chuck, who had arrived at the Macaulay home just before Gail left for the ill-fated reunion with Gert, has spent the worried night with Gail's parents after having the situation explained to him. When Gail fails to return home, Gail's parents begin to worry and Chuck goes to Zaza's house and reproaches Gail for hurting the people who raised her and loved her as their own. This idea of family as "the people who are there for you" is reinforced when Gail learns that Zaza's father will not be attending their high school graduation ceremony, having chosen to attend an out-of-town party instead. At the graduation ceremony, Gail imbues her senior class Vice President speech about citizenship with a loving message about the true meaning of family, to the delight of her parents, sisters, and Chuck.

Cast

* Ann Blyth ..... Gail Macaulay *

..... Chuck *

..... Lois Macaulay * Donald Cook ..... Fred Macaulay * Ann Dvorak ..... Gert Lynch * Joan Evans ..... Joan Macaulay *

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

..... Penny Macaulay *

Phyllis Kirk Phyllis Kirk (born Phyllis Kirkgaard; September 18, 1927 October 19, 2006) was an American actress. Early life Kirk was born in Syracuse, New York, although some sources state her birthplace as Plainfield, New Jersey. She contracted polio as ...

..... Zaza * Jessie Grayson ..... Violet *

Martin Milner Martin Sam Milner (December 28, 1931 – September 6, 2015) was an American actor and radio host. He is best known for his performances on two television series: '' Route 66'', which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and ''Adam-12'', which a ...

..... Bert *

Ray Teal Ray Elgin Teal (January 12, 1902 – April 2, 1976) was an American actor.The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Teal's birth date as January 12, 1908. His most famous role was as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the televis ...

..... Jim Lynch

Production

With this film, producer

Samuel Goldwyn Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor an ...

wanted to return to the simple family values portrayed in the Andy Hardy films

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

had released a decade earlier.

thought the script was "pointless and meandering", but as a Goldwyn contract player, he faced suspension if he refused to make the film. He thought director David Miller was "a perfectly nice man", but "no help to anybody". Granger later went to Paris and then London, where he rang up a substantial bill at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August ...

. When Goldwyn implored him to return to the States to help promote the film, Granger agreed to give ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' an interview and then fly to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to appear at the premiere there if the studio settled his hotel bill, and Goldwyn reluctantly agreed.

, on loan from

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, was disappointed to find herself cast as an advice-dispensing mother after having played a succession of sophisticated roles opposite

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

, and Gregory Peck. She had little regard for the role until a few years later, when she was cast in the successful television series ''

Father Knows Best ''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by ...

'' as a direct result of her performance in ''Our Very Own''.

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' observed, "What is there so disturbing about the knowledge of being an adopted child? This picture doesn't tell you. All that it arbitrarily does is assume that the knowledge would be upsetting and then proceeds from there — proceeds to tug at the heartstrings with close-ups and weeping violins and Ann Dvorak sniffling profusely as a regretful woman who abandoned her infant child. And then, after this has been worked over for a sufficiently heartrending while, the picture hops back to teen-age clowning and a belief that all's right with the world. No, thank you, Mr. Goldwyn. There is more to the problem than this. Adoption deserves clarification with something better than farcical laughs and corny sobs."

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Sound ( Gordon E. Sawyer), but lost to ''

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit ...

''.

Comic book adaption

* Eastern Color Movie Love #5 (October 1950)

References

External links

* {{Samuel Goldwyn 1950 films 1950 drama films American drama films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Films scored by Victor Young Films about adoption Films set in Los Angeles Samuel Goldwyn Productions films Films adapted into comics Films directed by David Miller 1950s American films