''Reunion'' is a 1936 film produced by

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 Disn ...

and directed by

Norman Taurog Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Skippy'' (1931). He i ...

Plot

Newspapers around the world proclaim the birth of the 3,000th baby in Moosetown, Canada, who was delivered by Dr. John Luke, known for delivering the famous Wyatt quintuplets. To honor the doctor on his retirement and to publicize their town, the Moosetown Chamber of Commerce decides to hold a reunion of all the babies delivered by the doctor. Some of those babies have since become famous. The first baby he delivered, Phillip Crandall, is now a governor. One other is the motion picture star, Janet Fair. Phillip and his wife are childless. Phillip is against adoption because he fears that his opponent in the upcoming election would suggest that the adopted baby was his from the past. He decides to go to the reunion to renew his friendship with Dr. Luke, whom he hasn't seen since a fishing trip twelve years earlier. When Janet, who is down on her luck, learns from her agent that she has the lead in a New York show, she decides to accept the invitation to the reunion for the publicity she hopes it will bring. In Atlanta, the quintuplets' father (Asa Wyatt) is upset when his rival (Constable Jim Ogden) excitedly brags that his wife is due any minute to give birth to six babies because two fortune-tellers have told him so. When Jim's wife gives birth to one baby, Jim is disappointed at first, but as he plays with his new baby daughter he tells her that he'd rather have her than six or sixty babies. After Dr. Luke's nephew Tony arrives from Tennessee to take Dr. Luke's position, Tony receives a call from a woman in Toronto. This upsets nurse Mary McKenzie, Tony's sweetheart. Many of the thousands who come to the reunion throng around Janet, who is pleased to see her old friend, bachelor Charlie Renard. Phillip is attracted to an orphan named Rusty, who Dr. Luke says was born eleven years ago to a woman who died of a broken heart. The mention of the woman's name greatly affects Phillip. Dr. Richard Sheridan and his wife Gloria then arrive from Toronto, and Gloria (the woman who called Tony) tells him that she plans to divorce Dick. Dick is a workaholic whom she no longer loves. When Dr. Luke (surmising the affair between Tony and Gloria) berates his son, Tony admits that he doesn't love Gloria. Although Dr. Luke pleads with him to end the affair, Tony refuses, feeling that he owes it to Gloria to carry on. When Dr. Luke tries to convince Gloria that Tony doesn't love her, but that he loves Mary, she becomes indignant. Dr. Luke then convinces her to freshen up in a bedroom and arranges for Mary to meet Tony in an adjoining room. When Dr. Luke makes Tony admit that an older woman has made a fool of him, Gloria overhears and leaves in an agitated state. Although Tony confesses that he loves Mary, she says she cannot love anyone who could turn his affections off and on at will. At the reunion gathering, Dr. Luke instructs Rusty to repeatedly make a gesture identical to one that Phillip makes. Won over by the boy, Phillip asks Dr. Luke about adoption formalities. When a telegram arrives from Janet's agent stating that the deal for the role in the New York play is off because the producer wants a younger woman, Janet, who is shaken, goes inside. The gathered then watch as the quintuplets arrive, each in a pony-drawn carriage, and play in a fenced-in enclosure. Dick tells Dr. Luke that he and Gloria, after a long talk, have decided to go abroad for a second honeymoon. Gloria shakes Dr. Luke's hand. Dr. Luke then learns that Janet has shot herself. Tony takes charge of the operation with Mary as his assistant. After the operation, Tony tells Charlie that Janet will survive if she has anything to live for. Charlie calls her by her real name, Mamie. Then he kisses her face, and she takes his hand. Tony and Mary reconcile. Dr. Luke's long time nurse, Katherine Kennedy, mildly rebukes him for falsely making Phillip believe that he is Rusty's father.

Cast

Jean Hersholt Jean Pierre Carl Buron (12 July 1886 – 2 June 1956), known professionally as Jean Hersholt, was a Danish-American actor. He is best known for starring on the radio series '' Dr. Christian'' (1937–1954) and in the film '' Heidi'' (1937).Obitu ...

as Dr. John Luke * Rochelle Hudson as Mary MacKenzie *

Helen Vinson Helen Vinson (born Helen Rulfs, September 17, 1907 – October 7, 1999) was an American film actress who appeared in 40 films between 1932 and 1945. Early life Vinson was born in Beaumont, Texas, the daughter of oil man Edward Rulfs. She de ...

as Gloria Sheridan * Slim Summerville as Jim Ogdan * Robert Kent as Tony Luke *

John Qualen John Qualen (born Johan Mandt Kvalen, December 8, 1899 – September 12, 1987) was an American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Early years Qualen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son ...

as Asa Wyatt *

Dorothy Peterson Bergetta "Dorothy" Peterson (25 December 1897 - 3 October 1979) was an American actress. She began her acting career on Broadway before appearing in more than eighty Hollywood films. Early years Peterson was born in Hector, Minnesota, the dau ...

as Katherine Kennedy *

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

as Philip Crandell *

J. Edward Bromberg Joseph Edward Bromberg (born Josef Bromberger, December 25, 1903 – December 6, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American character actor in motion picture and stage productions dating mostly from the 1930s and 1940s. Knowledge of his past as a membe ...

as Charles Renard * Sara Haden as Ellie *

George Chandler George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the televi ...

as Jake

Notes

The working title of this film was ''They Always Come Back''. Actress

Maude Eburne Maude Eburne (born Maud Eburne Riggs, November 10, 1875 – October 15, 1960) was a Canadian character actress of stage and screen, known for playing eccentric roles. Early years Eburne was born the daughter of John and Mary Riggs, in Bront ...

's surname is incorrectly spelled ''Eburn'' in the onscreen credits. This was the second film featuring the Dionne Quintuplets. Their first film, '' The Country Doctor'', a fictional account of their birth, was released earlier in 1936. The screen credits note that "Scenes of the Dionne Quintuplets were photographed at Callander, Ontario under the technical supervision of Dr. Allan R. Dafoe." Dr. Dafoe was the Canadian doctor who delivered the quintuplets on May 28, 1934. According to the pressbook for the film, a company of eighty people from Twentieth Century-Fox arrived in Callander and began filming on August 17, 1936. The quintuplets, who were two years and three months at the time, were filmed for twenty-six days, except Sundays, for one hour a day and were paid $83,000. A special blue filter for the lights, which cameraman Daniel Clark developed for ''The Country Doctor'' was also used in this film.

Helen Jerome Eddy Helen Jerome Eddy (February 25, 1897 – January 27, 1990) was a motion picture actress from New York City. She was noted as a character actress who played genteel heroines in films such as ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1917). Early years Edd ...

was listed as a cast member in a ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' production chart, but her participation in the final film has not been confirmed.

References

{{Darryl F. Zanuck 20th Century Fox films Dionne quintuplets Films directed by Norman Taurog Films with screenplays by Sonya Levien American comedy films 1936 comedy films 1936 films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films