''I Surrender Dear'' is a 1948 American musical film directed by

Arthur Dreifuss Arthur Dreifuss (sometimes credited as Dreyfuss; March 25, 1908 – December 31, 1993)Gloria Jean Gloria Jean (born Gloria Jean Schoonover; April 14, 1926 – August 31, 2018) was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub app ...

. It was the first of two films the singer made for producer

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman's specialty was producing low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financi ...

Plot

Radio stations across America are signing big-name disc jockeys like Dave Garroway, Jack Eigen, and Peter Potter to entertain listeners with running chatter while playing the latest pop-music records. Los Angeles radio station KXIW has a problem: its own record spinner Russ Nelson plays sedate classical music. Meanwhile, Nelson's daughter Patty auditions for a job as a singer, under the alias "Patty Hart." She is hired by bandleader Al Tyler and goes on tour with the orchestra. The KXIW management signs Tyler as a disc jockey, replacing Nelson. Patty leaves Tyler abruptly and joins her father on the air as a vocalist. The "Patty and Russ" program catches on during Nelson's last days at the station, so much so that the sponsors want to forget Tyler and keep Patty and Russ. Tyler is angered by Patty's sudden defection and the station's change of heart, but Tyler's assistant Tommy Tompkins pulls some strings behind the scenes to iron out the difficulties. The Tyler orchestra goes on the air as scheduled, with Patty singing and Russ announcing.

Cast

Gloria Jean Gloria Jean (born Gloria Jean Schoonover; April 14, 1926 – August 31, 2018) was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub app ...

as Patty Nelson, also known as Patty Hart * David Street as Al Tyler * Don McGuire as Tommy Tompkins * Alice Tyrrell as Trudy Clements *

Robert Emmett Keane Robert Emmett Keane (March 4, 1883 – July 2, 1981) was an American actor of both the stage and screen. Biography Keane began on stage in the 1910s, his first Broadway appearance being in the production of '' The Passing Show of 1914''. He con ...

as Russ Nelson *

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 Mrs. Nelson *Douglas Wood as R. H. Collins *

Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of four ...

as George Rogers *The Novelites as nightclub trio * Jack Eigen as himself *

Dave Garroway David Cunningham Garroway (July 13, 1913 – July 21, 1982) was an American Celebrity, television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's ''Today (American TV program), Today'' from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style ...

as himself * Peter Potter as himself

Production

''I Surrender Dear'' was originally the title of what became ''

Glamour Girl Glamour photography is a genre of photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensiti ...

'' (1948). The title was reused here. Producer Sam Katzman budgeted the film at $140,000.

Reception

The film turned out nicely, and no one was more surprised than the star, Gloria Jean: "The biggest audience reaction, more so than anything I can ever remember — laugh if you like — was ''I Surrender Dear''... People were all enthusiastic, everybody went crazy. Then when they saw me, they cheered and applauded... They never had that reaction with my other movies. ''I Surrender Dear'' gave me a new lease on life." Katzman reused the ''I Surrender Dear'' formula, repeating many of the script situations and some of the staging, for his very successful Columbia musical ''

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was reco ...

'' (1956). ''I Surrender Dear'' was meant to be followed by a film called ''Sweetheart of the Blues'', which became '' Manhattan Angel''. When producer Katzman's ''

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

'' became a blockbuster in 1948, Columbia insisted that Katzman should make more action pictures, so Columbia's Gloria Jean series stopped after only two films. Director Arthur Dreifuss and Gloria Jean continued the musical series for other studios.Edwin Schallert. "Power, Andrews Rivals; Gloria Jean in New Deal." ''Los Angeles Times'', 19 July 1948, p. 15.

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{Sam Katzman 1948 films American musical drama films Columbia Pictures films 1940s musical drama films American black-and-white films 1948 drama films Films directed by Arthur Dreifuss 1940s American films Films produced by Sam Katzman