My Dear Secretary

Last updated

My Dear Secretary
My Dear Secretary.jpg
Poster of the film
Directed byCharles Martin
Written byCharles Martin
Produced by Leo C. Popkin
Starring Laraine Day
Kirk Douglas
Keenan Wynn
Helen Walker
Cinematography Joseph F. Biroc
Edited by Arthur H. Nadel
Music by Heinz Roemheld
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • 5 November 1948 (1948-11-05) [1]
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

My Dear Secretary is a 1948 American comedy film written and directed by Charles Martin (1910-1983) and starring Laraine Day, Kirk Douglas, Keenan Wynn, and Helen Walker. The supporting cast features Rudy Valee, Alan Mowbray and Irene Ryan.

Contents

Plot

Successful novelist and playboy Owen Waterbury (Kirk Douglas) hires aspiring writer Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord (Laraine Day) as his secretary; a dream come true for Steve who admires Owen and his work. Steve soon finds out that the egomaniacal Owen has gone through a series of secretaries who have left when they are fed up with his behaviour. He is constantly in debt and cannot begin to write a contracted novel that will pay his bills including a lucrative advance by his publisher. Steve and Owen end up marrying, and Steve perseveres until the novel, based on the events of Steve's life and that mentions a character based on his publisher shown in an unflattering light, is refused publication.

Owen claims he cannot have a wife and a secretary so fires his wife and goes back to his old ways, hiring an admiring and attractive female to be his secretary. In the meantime Steve takes Owen's rejected manuscript to her former companion, Charles Harris (Rudy Vallee), who is a major publisher. Harris, who now employs Elsie (Helen Walker), Owen's former secretary before Steve, also agrees to read Steve's manuscript.

Harris finds Owen's manuscript interesting but ordinary, but believes Steve's manuscript to be not only worthy of publication but a serious candidate for literary prizes. Steve initially refuses publication due to hurting Owen's fragile ego but soon changes her mind because of the philandering. Steve goes on to be a best-selling author, causing Owen extreme annoyance. She hires an attractive male secretary, after which Owen snaps and insists that he will be her secretary. Steve narrates a book based on their life to Owen. They end up getting back together.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk Douglas</span> American actor (1916–2020)

Kirk Douglas was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Douglas soon developed into a leading box-office star throughout the 1950s, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war films. During his career, he appeared in more than 90 films and was known for his explosive acting style. He was named by the American Film Institute the 17th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudy Vallée</span> American singer, actor, and entertainer (1901–1986)

Hubert Prior Vallée, known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and entertainer. He was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York City to national popularity as a "crooner".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1929 in music</span> Overview of the events of 1929 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1929.

<i>Theodora Goes Wild</i> 1936 film by Richard Boleslawski

Theodora Goes Wild is a 1936 American screwball comedy film that tells the story of the residents in a small town who are incensed by a risqué novel, unaware that the book was written under a pseudonym by a member of the town's leading family. It stars Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas and was directed by Richard Boleslawski. The film was written by Mary McCarthy and Sidney Buchman. Dunne was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role and the movie was also nominated for the Best Film Editing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Nelson</span> American film and television director

Ralph Nelson was an American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor. He was best known for directing Lilies of the Field (1963), Father Goose (1964), and Charly (1968), films which won Academy Awards.

<i>The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit</i> 1956 American film directed by Nunnally Johnson

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is a 1956 American drama film starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones, with Fredric March, Lee J. Cobb, Keenan Wynn and Marisa Pavan in support. Based on the 1955 novel by Sloan Wilson, it was written and directed by Nunnally Johnson, and focuses on Tom Rath, a young World War II veteran trying to balance the pressures of his marriage to an ambitious wife and growing family with the demands of a career while dealing with ongoing after-effects of his war service and a new high-stress job.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keenan Wynn</span> American actor (1916–1986)

Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in most of his film and television roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Johnson</span> American actor (1916–2008)

Charles Van Dell Johnson was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II.

<i>The Hollywood Palace</i> American television variety series

The Hollywood Palace is an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace for its first few weeks, it began as a midseason replacement for The Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show, which lasted only three months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laraine Day</span> American actress (1920–2007)

Laraine Day was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film stars, including Robert Mitchum, Lana Turner, Cary Grant, Ronald Reagan, Kirk Douglas, and John Wayne. As well as her numerous film and television roles, she acted on stage, conducted her own radio and television shows, and wrote two books. Because of her marriage to Leo Durocher and her involvement with his baseball career, she was known as the "First Lady of Baseball". Her best-known films include Foreign Correspondent; My Son, My Son; Journey for Margaret; Mr. Lucky; The Locket; and the Dr. Kildare series.

The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by British poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. In 2023, the seven winners were: Michael Askew; Dominic Hand; Cynthia Miller; Gboyega Odubanjo; Kandance Siobhan Walker; Phoebe Walker; and Milena Williamson.

<i>The Great Man</i> 1956 film

The Great Man is a 1956 American film noir drama film directed by and starring José Ferrer. The screenplay was written by Ferrer and Al Morgan, Morgan's novel of the same name the source material. It was loosely based on the controversial career of Arthur Godfrey, a beloved TV and radio host whose image had been tarnished by a number of cast firings and Godfrey's contentious battles with the press.

<i>Screen Directors Playhouse</i> American radio and television anthology series

Screen Directors Playhouse is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcast adaptations of films, with original directors of the films sometimes involved in the productions, although their participation was usually limited to introducing the radio adaptations and taking a brief "curtain call" with the cast and host at the end of the program. During the 1955–56 season, the series was seen on television, focusing on original teleplays and several adaptations of famous short stories.

Hollywood Without Make-Up is a 1963 American film produced by Ken Murray and directed by Rudy Behlmer, Loring d'Usseau and Ken Murray (uncredited).

<i>Desperate Search</i> 1952 film by Joseph H. Lewis

Desperate Search is a 1952 American adventure film directed by Joseph H. Lewis from a novel by Arthur Mayse. It stars Howard Keel, Jane Greer, Patricia Medina and Keenan Wynn in a drama revolving around two lost children in the Canadian north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosamonde Safier</span> American musician (1912-1992)

Rosamonde Elsie Safier (1912–1992), mariée Marks, was a Tin Pan Alley composer, whose songs were promoted by Rudy Vallée and George Gershwin. Her most prominently performed songs, also arranged for band, were "Blue Lady", "Swing Low Sweet Harriet", and "Because I’ve Known Love." Musical collaborators included William Howard Schuman and Lenore Oppenheimer mariée Hershey.

Isabel's Choice is a 1981 American made-for-television drama film directed by Guy Green, starring Jean Stapleton, Richard Kiley, Peter Coyote and Betsy Palmer. It was broadcast on CBS as The CBS Wednesday Night Movie on December 16, 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo C. Popkin</span> American film director and produce

Leo C. Popkin (1914–2011) was a film director and producer in the United States. His brother Harry M. Popkin was the executive producer of Million Dollar Productions, a partnership that included Ralph Cooper.

References

  1. Internet Movie Database, "My Dear Secretary (1948) Release Info", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040626/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt#akas