''Daughters Courageous'' is a 1939 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

starring

John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952) was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of ...

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British and American actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Supp ...

Jeffrey Lynn Jeffrey Lynn (born Ragnar Godfrey Lind; – November 24, 1995) was an American stage-screen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time. T ...

and featuring the

Lane Sisters The Lane Sisters were a family of American singers and actresses. The sisters were Leota Lane (October 25, 1903 – July 25, 1963), Lola Lane (May 21, 1906 – June 22, 1981), Rosemary Lane (actress), Rosemary Lane (April 4, 1913 – November ...

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lol ...

Rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

and

Priscilla Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from Latin '' Prisca'', derived from ''priscus''. There is a theory that this biblical character was the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. The name first appears in the New Testament either ...

. Based on the play ''Fly Away Home'' by Dorothy Bennett and Irving White, the film was directed by

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...

. It was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

on June 23, 1939.

Plot

Charismatic Jim Masters returns home to

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

, after a globe-roaming 20-year absence to find that his wife, Nancy, is about to marry Sam Sloane, a dull pillar of the local community. The four Masters daughters are also upset that their irresponsible father has re-entered their lives after so long away. Meanwhile, the youngest, Buff, has grown cold on her playwright boyfriend and is drawn to malcontent Gabriel Lopez, whose irrepressible wanderlust reminds Jim Masters of himself. Both women must choose between passion and stability.

Cast

as Gabriel Lopez *

as Jim Masters *

as Johnny Heming *

Fay Bainter Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Jezebel'' (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Early life Bainter was ...

as Nancy Masters *

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English people, English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best S ...

as Sam Sloane *

May Robson Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born America-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19th ...

as Penny *

Frank McHugh Francis Curry McHugh (May 23, 1898 – September 11, 1981) was an American stage, radio, film and television actor. Early years Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, of Irish descent, McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents, Edward A ...

as George *

Dick Foran John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor and singer, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. He appeared in dozens of movies of every ...

as Eddie Moore * Priscilla Lane as Buff Masters * Rosemary Lane as Tinka Masters *

Lola Lane Lola Lane (born Dorothy Mullican; May 21, 1906 – June 22, 1981) was an American actress and one of the Lane Sisters with her sisters Leota, Rosemary, and Priscilla Lane. She appeared on Broadway and in films from the 1920s to 1940s. Early y ...

as Linda Masters * Gale Page as Cora Masters *

George Humbert George Humbert (born Umberto Gianni; July 29, 1880 – May 8, 1963) was an Italian-born American actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1918 and the 1950s. He emigrated to the United States as a steerage passenger on board the Italian ...

as Manuel Lopez *

Berton Churchill Berton Churchill (December 9, 1876 – October 10, 1940) was a Canadian stage and film actor. Early years Churchill was born in Toronto, Ontario. After his family moved to New York City, he graduated from high school there, studied law at nigh ...

as Judge Henry Hornsby

Production

''Daughters Courageous'' was made as a stand-alone film, and its characters do not appear in any other film. However, it has much in common with the "Four Daughters" film series of that era, with the same director, largely the same cast (including the Lane sisters) and many similarities in subject matter. The series consists of 1938's '' Four Daughters'', the 1939 film ''

Four Wives ''Four Wives'' is a 1939 American drama film starring the Lane Sisters ( Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane) and Gale Page. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz and is based on the story "Sister Act" by Fannie Hurst. The supporting c ...

'', and 1941's ''

Four Mothers ''Four Mothers'' is a 1941 American drama film and sequel to '' Four Daughters'' (1938) and '' Four Wives'' (1939). The film stars Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, May Robson and featuring the Lane Sisters: Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane and Lola ...

''.

Reception

Frank S. Nugent Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer. He wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called the film " a thoroughly pleasant entertainment—howbeit reminiscent—with a thoroughly pleasant cast to grace it." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Few of the situations can stand up under too close scrutiny, but the flavor of the film as a whole is entertaining, amusing, and occasionally emotional." ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City–based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publish ...

'' called it "Good entertainment ... Although it is not as impressive as 'Four Daughters,' it nevertheless holds one's attention well, since one is in sympathy with all the characters." ''

Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informati ...

'' called it "A production with a high voltage of sentimental of romantic appeal" with a "super-duper" cast. John Mosher of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' wrote that Garfield added "a touch of color or adventuresome liveliness" to help along the story, but found "a quantity of bungalow patter that wears one down at times" and "a slight dullness" to the picture.

Home media

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

released the film on DVD on August 1, 2011. The film was also released by Warner Archive in the "Four Daughters Movie Series Collection".

References

External links

* * * {{Michael Curtiz 1939 films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Michael Curtiz American films based on plays American sequel films Warner Bros. films Films produced by Henry Blanke Films produced by Hal B. Wallis Films scored by Max Steiner Films with screenplays by Julius J. Epstein Films with screenplays by Philip G. Epstein 1939 romantic drama films 1930s American films English-language romantic drama films