Just Around the Corner (1938 film)

Last updated
Just Around the Corner
Film Poster for Just Around the Corner.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Irving Cummings
Screenplay by Ethel Hill
J. P. McEvoy
Darrell Ware
Based onLucky Penny by Paul Gerard Smith
Produced by
Starring Shirley Temple
Charles Farrell
Bert Lahr
Bill Robinson
Cinematography Arthur C. Miller
Edited by Walter Thompson
Music by Harold Spina
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • November 11, 1938 (1938-11-11)
Running time
68 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Just Around the Corner is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Irving Cummings, and written by Ethel Hill, Darrell Ware and J. P. McEvoy, based on the novel Lucky Penny by Paul Gerard Smith. The film stars Shirley Temple as young Penny Hale, who must cope with the consequences after her architect father is forced by circumstances to accept a job as a janitor. It was the fourth and last cinematic song and dance pairing of Temple and Bill Robinson.

Contents

Plot

Penny Hale is attending a private girls' school when she is informed that her enrollment has ended and she will be heading home to live with her widowed father, Jeff Hale. She accepts this revelation as good news, unaware that her father, a prominent architect, is in dire financial straits and can no longer afford Penny's tuition. Furthermore, Jeff has lost his penthouse apartment and his car, but he has secured a menial job in the building as its custodian so he and Penny will still have a home: Jeff and Penny now reside in a small basement dwelling. Although Jeff is humbled by this downturn in his career, the always optimistic Penny looks upon this change of life as an adventure. Penny often runs afoul of Waters, an overly officious apartment employee, who tries to keep her out of places in the building she once frequented when her father was wealthy.

Jeff is romantically linked with Lola, the niece of the disagreeable woman who now occupies his old apartment. Lola's uncle, Samuel Henshaw, is a major financier who once employed Jeff to design a major building project, but discontinued it. Penny also befriends Lola's brother Milton, a somewhat pampered and effete boy. Penny assists him in shedding his prim and snobbish appearance, cutting off his prominent curls, in an attempt to make him look more like a "he-man."

A discouraged Jeff explains to Penny that the United States is mired in the Great Depression because Uncle Sam is being pestered by too many people who want his money. He shows her a newspaper cartoon that illustrates this idea. Penny discovers that Samuel Henshaw is referred to as "Uncle Sam" by his niece and nephew and does bear a strong resemblance to the symbolic Uncle Sam in the newspaper cartoon. Penny amusingly believes Samuel Henshaw is actually Uncle Sam. Henshaw considers re-hiring Jeff and assigning him to a project in far-off Borneo to keep him away from Lola.

Shortly thereafter Penny sees Henshaw being accosted by a group of pushy reporters. She helps drive them away with a few well-placed kicks to their shins. Penny tells Henshaw she sympathizes with him because of all the people who are trying to siphon money from "Uncle Sam." The irascible Henshaw takes a liking to Penny. She eventually decides to stage a benefit for Henshaw, charging a nickel apiece for a show that features a song-and-dance performance by her and Corporal Jones, the apartment building's doorman. This action impresses Samuel Henshaw so much that he announces the building project that he had earlier abandoned will be restarted with Jeff in charge. Jeff and Lola plan to be married.

Cast

Production

The relationship between the Temples and Fox head Darryl F. Zanuck took an irreparable turn during production. Temple's mother Gertrude, unhappy with the script and cast, scheduled a strained meeting with Zanuck to express her frustrations. Dissatisfied with his response, she went to studio chairman Joseph Schenck, who supported Zanuck and refused to take the matter up with him. Direct communication eventually broke down, signaling the beginning of a chain of events that eventually led to Temple's parents opting out of her contract in 1940. [1]

Zanuck brought in Charles Farrell for what was hoped to be a comeback role. Director Irving Cummings tracked down Farrell at a racquetball club, catching him completely by surprise with the offer. The comeback attempt never materialized, however, as his career would be over by the end of the decade. [2] Temple's dog Ching-Ching II was brought in as an extra for $5. When the script called for her to bathe him in one scene, Temple managed to negotiate an extra $2.50. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Laverne & Shirley</i> American television sitcom (1976–1983)

Laverne & Shirley is an American sitcom television series that ran for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley starred Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, two friends and roommates who work as bottle-cappers in the fictitious Shotz Brewery in late 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From the sixth season onwards, the series' setting changed to mid-1960s Burbank, California. Michael McKean and David Lander co-starred as their friends and neighbors Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman, respectively; along with Eddie Mekka as Carmine Ragusa, Phil Foster as Laverne's father Frank DeFazio, and Betty Garrett as the girls' landlady Edna Babish.

<i>101 Dalmatians II: Patchs London Adventure</i> 2003 American animated direct-to-video musical adventure comedy drama film

101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure is a 2003 American animated direct-to-video adventure comedy film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Walt Disney Pictures, with distribution by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. It serves as the sequel to Disney's 1961 animated feature film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. It was directed by Jim Kammerud and Brian Smith, with them also writing the screenplay from a story by Kammerud, Dan Root, Garrett K. Schiff, Smith and Temple Mathews and produced by Carolyn Bates and Leslie Hough. It was released on VHS and DVD on January 21, 2003, and features the voices of Bobby Lockwood, Barry Bostwick, Martin Short, Jason Alexander, Susanne Blakeslee, Kath Soucie, Jeff Bennett, and Jim Cummings. Critical reception was positive, with the film garnering DVDX awards for best animated feature, best director, best editing, and best musical score. Disney re-released the film on September 16, 2008.

<i>The Little Princess</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by Walter Lang, William A. Seiter

The Little Princess is a 1939 American drama film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Ethel Hill and Walter Ferris is loosely based on the 1905 novel A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The film was the first Shirley Temple movie to be filmed completely in Technicolor. It was also her last major success as a child star. This film was the third of three in which Shirley Temple and Cesar Romero appeared together, second was Wee Willie Winkie (1937) and Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937).

<i>The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer</i> 1947 film by Dore Schary, Irving Reis

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer is a 1947 American screwball romantic comedy-drama film directed by Irving Reis and written by Sidney Sheldon. The film stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Shirley Temple in a story about a teenager's crush on an older man.

<i>Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm</i> (1938 film) 1938 film by Allan Dwan

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Allan Dwan, and written by Don Ettlinger, Karl Tunberg, Ben Markson and William M. Conselman, the third adaptation of Kate Douglas Wiggin's 1903 novel of the same name.

<i>Street Scene</i> (film) 1931 American pre-Code drama film by King Vidor

Street Scene is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by King Vidor. With a screenplay by Elmer Rice adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, Street Scene takes place on a New York City street from one evening until the following afternoon. Except for one scene which takes place inside a taxi, Vidor shot the entire film on a single set depicting half a city block of house fronts.

<i>Me, Natalie</i> 1969 film by Fred Coe

Me, Natalie is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe about a homely young woman from Brooklyn who moves to Greenwich Village and finds romance with an aspiring painter. The screenplay by A. Martin Zweiback is based on an original story by Stanley Shapiro. Patty Duke, who starred in the title role, won a Golden Globe Award for her performance. The film also starred James Farentino, Salome Jens, Elsa Lanchester, Martin Balsam and Nancy Marchand. It marked Al Pacino's film debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Gillingwater</span> American actor (1870–1939)

Claude Benton Gillingwater was an American stage and screen actor. He first appeared on the stage then in more than 90 films between 1918 and 1939, including the Academy Award-nominated A Tale of Two Cities (1935) and Conquest (1937). He appeared in several films starring Shirley Temple, beginning with Poor Little Rich Girl (1936).

<i>Stowaway</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by William A. Seiter

Stowaway is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by William A. Seiter. The screenplay by William M. Conselman, Nat Perrin, and Arthur Sheekman is based on a story by Samuel G. Engel. The film is about a young orphan called "Ching Ching" who meets wealthy playboy Tommy Randall in Shanghai and then accidentally stows away on the ocean liner he is travelling on. The film was hugely successful, and is available on videocassette and DVD.

<i>Baby Take a Bow</i> 1934 American comedy-drama film directed by Harry Lachman

Baby Take a Bow is a 1934 American comedy-drama film directed by Harry Lachman and is one of the earliest Hays code Hollywood films. The screenplay by Philip Klein and Edward E. Paramore Jr. is based on the 1926 play Square Crooks by James P. Judge. Shirley Temple plays the child of an ex-convict trying to make a better life for himself and his family. The film was a commercial success and is critically regarded as pleasant and sentimental. A musical number features Dunn and Temple.

<i>Now and Forever</i> (1934 film) 1934 film by Henry Hathaway

Now and Forever is a 1934 American drama film directed by Henry Hathaway. The screenplay by Vincent Lawrence and Sylvia Thalberg was based on the story "Honor Bright" by Jack Kirkland and Melville Baker. The film stars Gary Cooper, Carole Lombard, and Shirley Temple in a story about a small-time swindler going straight for his child's sake. Temple sang "The World Owes Me a Living". The film was critically well received. Temple adored Cooper, who nicknamed her 'Wigglebritches'. This is the only film in which Lombard and Temple appeared together.

<i>Junior Miss</i> (film) 1945 film by George Seaton

Junior Miss is a 1945 American comedy film starring Peggy Ann Garner as a teenager who meddles in people's love lives.

<i>Poor Little Rich Girl</i> (1936 film) 1936 US musical film directed by Irving Cummings

Poor Little Rich Girl, advertised as The Poor Little Rich Girl, is a 1936 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Shirley Temple, Alice Faye and Jack Haley. The screenplay by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman, and Harry Tugend was based on stories by Eleanor Gates and Ralph Spence, and the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name. The film focuses on a child (Temple) neglected by her rich and busy father. She meets two vaudeville performers and becomes a radio singing star. The film received a lukewarm critical reception from The New York Times.

<i>The Looney Tunes Show</i> 2011 American animated series and sitcom

The Looney Tunes Show is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and aired on Cartoon Network for two seasons from May 3, 2011, to November 2, 2013. The series differed from others featuring characters from the Looney Tunes, by focusing on stories conformed around a sitcom format involving the characters of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, as they live a surburban life together within a neighbourhood of fellow cartoon neighbours, dealing with various issues in their own way. Both the characters from the Looney Tunes, as well as the Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon shorts, were given a 21st century update, with episodes also including a musical short; the first series also included computer-animated shorts involving new antics between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

<i>Susannah of the Mounties</i> (film) 1939 film by William A. Seiter, Walter Lang

Susannah of the Mounties is a 1939 American Western film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Shirley Temple, Randolph Scott, and Margaret Lockwood. Based on the 1936 novel Susannah of the Mounties by Muriel Denison, the film is about an orphaned survivor of an Indian attack in the Canadian West who is taken in by a Mountie and his girlfriend. Following additional Indian attacks, the Mountie is saved from the stake by the young girl's intervention with the Indian chief.

"Home Economics" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American comedy television series Community. It aired in the United States on NBC on November 5, 2009. The episode revolves around Jeff's living situation now that he no longer has the money he earned as a big-shot lawyer and the emotional aftermath of Britta and Vaughn's breakup. It garnered 5.45 million viewers on its premiere and received positive critical reception.

"Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community, and the 43rd episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on NBC on March 17, 2011. The episode focuses on Shirley's pregnancy, while Abed and Troy make friends with a student from the Balkans.

"Studies in Modern Movement" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American sitcom Community. It was originally broadcast on November 10, 2011, on NBC.

"Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Community, which originally aired on March 7, 2013 on NBC. Set at Thanksgiving, the episode shows Jeff meeting his father for the first time while other members of the group attend Shirley's Thanksgiving dinner with her family, in a parody of The Shawshank Redemption. The former storyline received mixed critical reception, whilst the latter was mostly criticized. The episode was watched by an estimated 3.29 million viewers upon its premiere.

References

  1. ↑ Shirley Temple Black. Child Star: An Autobiography. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1988. pp 221-222.
  2. ↑ Black, p 220.
  3. ↑ Black, p 219.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.