Four Daughters, Four Wives, Four Mothers

On Sunday I watched  a series of 3 movies made in 1938, 1939 and 1941 based on a short story by Fannie Hurst who was seen as the Jackie Collins of her day--you know what I mean:  It's no 'War and Peace'  intellectually but it's infinitely more enjoyable.  The screenplay for 'Four Daughters' was adapted by Julius Epstein who, among other things, wrote 'Casablanca' just 3 years later.

The name star of the day was Claude Rains who actually looks older than he did in 'Casablanca', as a music teacher at a local college.  He has 4 musical and beautiful daughters played by 3 real life sisters Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane and a non-sister named Gale Page.  I read there was an actual 4th sister named Leota who was "deemed unsuitable by the studio".  Add in hysterical Aunt Etta and handsome suitors (later husbands and fathers) and it's a delightful and loving family.  Aunt Etta was played by an 81 year old veteran actress (per IMDB) named Mae Robson.   The suitors were a very handsome Felix (Jeffrey Lynn), rich Ben (Frank McHugh, who I remember from 'State Fair'), a florist with hayfever, Ernest (Dick Foran) and a charming doctor named Clinton.(Eddie Albert, one of my favorite actors, in his very first role) and John Garfield as Mickey whose life in this movie almost mirrors his real life according to his bio on IMDB.  John Garfield earned an academy award nomination.

You can probably guess I loved the movies as I AM writing about them!!  Except for the singing, which was the nails on a chalkboard kind, I liked all of the characters very much.  I thought the dialogue was pretty witty, the performances good and all of the fellows handsome and charming enough to catch there eyes.  Not a whole lot of plots and problems to be sure but they  faced suicide, financial ruin, infertility and infidelity but nothing too harsh that love could not cure..  There is one scene where one sister adopts a little girl and then finds out she's pregnant so  her infertile sister just takes over the adoptee but other than that...

I especially like movies set in this era, before the war, when life was much more innocent.  I love the big old houses with the white picket fences and loving families.  And as usual, when I think about, I am amazed to figure out that everyone in the movie is no longer living but will be forever young on film.    None of the real sisters' careers made it out of the 40's but maybe they were billed as a package set or something.  Claude Rains went on.  And Eddie Albert is an actor that I always loved except he should have said "Hell no" to 'Green Acres'

What an enjoyable Sunday morning!!