The Farmer Takes a Wife is a 1934 play by Frank B. Elser and Marc Connelly based on the 1929 novel Rome Haul by Walter D. Edmonds. It was well-received upon its opening night on Broadway on October 30, 1934, at the 46th Street Theatre. The production was directed by Marc Connelly, used set designs by Donald Oenslager, and starred Henry Fonda as Dan Harrow and June Walker as Molly Larkins.
The play spawned two film adaptations. The first, a 1935 comedy film, was directed by Victor Fleming, starred Janet Gaynor, and marked the Hollywood debut of Henry Fonda. Dan Harrow (Henry Fonda) works along the Erie Canal during the mid-19th century to raise money to buy a farm. While working, he meets Molly Larkins, a beautiful canal boat cook (Janet Gaynor). Although Harrow wants to marry Larkins, she's apprehensive about leaving the exciting canal life for one of a farmer's wife.
A 1953 musical remake used a score by Harold Arlen and Cyril J. Mockridge. The picture was directed by Henry Levin and starred Betty Grable, Dale Robertson, Eddie Foy, Jr., and Thelma Ritter.
Janet Gaynor was an American film, stage, and television actress.
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor who had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. Fonda cultivated a strong, appealing screen image in several films now considered to be classics.
State Fair (1933) is an American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Henry King and starring Janet Gaynor, Will Rogers, and Lew Ayres. The picture tells the story of a farm family's multi-day visit to the Iowa State Fair, where the parents seek to win prizes in agricultural and cooking competitions, and their teenage daughter and son each find unexpected romance. Based on the bestselling 1932 novel by Phil Stong, this was the first of three film versions of the novel released to theaters, the others being the movie musicals State Fair (1945) starring Jeanne Crain and Dana Andrews, and State Fair (1962) starring Ann-Margret and Pat Boone.
7th Heaven is a 1927 American silent romantic drama directed by Frank Borzage, and starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The film is based upon the 1922 play Seventh Heaven, by Austin Strong and was adapted for the screen by Benjamin Glazer. 7th Heaven was initially released as a standard silent film in May 1927. On September 10, 1927, Fox Film Corporation re-released the film with a synchronized Movietone soundtrack with a musical score and sound effects.
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known for his gentlemanly, sophisticate roles, with supporting roles by the 1950s. His acting crossed many genres including pre-Code romantic leads to noir layered roles and many World War I films. He appeared as a guest star in episodes of several golden age television series, including The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour while continuing to act and produce in the theater and movies throughout the 1960s.
Mitzi Gaynor is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her notable films include There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), The Birds and the Bees (1956), and South Pacific, the 1958 motion picture adaptation of the stage musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. She is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
The Green Pastures is a play written in 1930 by Marc Connelly adapted from Ol' Man Adam an' His Chillun (1928), a collection of stories written by Roark Bradford. The play was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1930. It had the first all-black Broadway cast. The play and the film adaptation were generally well received and hailed by white drama and film critics. African-American intellectuals, cultural critics, and audiences were more critical of white author Connelly's claim to be presenting an authentic view of black religious thought.
Firecreek is a 1968 American Western film directed by Vincent McEveety and starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda in his second role as an antagonist that year alongside Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. The film is similar to High Noon in that it features an entire town of cowards refusing to help a peace officer against outlaws. Stewart plays an unlikely hero, forced into action when his conscience will not permit evil to continue. The supporting cast features Inger Stevens, Dean Jagger, Ed Begley, Jay C. Flippen, Jack Elam and John Qualen.
Lucky Star is a 1929 American romantic drama silent film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, and directed by Frank Borzage. The plot involves the impact of World War I upon a farm girl (Gaynor) and a returning soldier (Farrell).
The Male Animal is a 1942 American comedy-drama film produced by Warner Bros., starring Henry Fonda, Olivia de Havilland and Joan Leslie.
Paddy the Next Best Thing is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter and Walter Connolly. The screenplay was written by Edwin J. Burke, based on the 1912 novel Paddy the Next Best Thing by Gertrude Page and its later stage adaptation, which had previously been made into a 1923 British silent film of the same title. The film reteamed Gaynor and Baxter who had starred together in the 1931 hit Daddy Long Legs.
One More Spring is a 1935 American comedy drama film about three people, played by Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter, and Walter Woolf King, living together in a tool room at Central Park as an alternative to being homeless. The film was written by Edwin J. Burke from the Robert Nathan novel of the same name and directed by Henry King.
Carolina is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Henry King, with a screenplay by Reginald Berkley based on the 1931 play The House of Connelly by Paul Green, and starring Janet Gaynor, Lionel Barrymore, and Robert Young. The supporting cast features Stepin Fetchit and Shirley Temple in a romanticized story about a post-Civil War family in the fading Southern United States, who is regaining its former prestige.
Tess of the Storm Country is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by directed by Alfred Santell and starring Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, and Dudley Digges. It was released by Fox Film Corporation. It is based on the novel of the same name by Grace Miller White and its adaptation for the stage by Rupert Hughes.
So Red the Rose is a 1935 American drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Margaret Sullavan, Walter Connolly, and Randolph Scott. The Civil War-era romance is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Stark Young.
My Blue Heaven is a 1950 American drama musical film directed by Henry Koster and starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey.
The Farmer Takes a Wife is a 1953 Technicolor musical comedy film starring Betty Grable and Dale Robertson. The picture is a remake of the 1935 film of the same name which starred Janet Gaynor and Henry Fonda. Grable and Dale Robertson first appeared together in the movie Call Me Mister (1951).
The House of Connelly is a 1931 Broadway two-act drama written by Paul Green, produced by the Group Theatre in association with The Theatre Guild and staged by Lee Strasberg and Cheryl Crawford. It ran for 91 performances from September 28, 1931 to November 14, 1931 at the Martin Beck Theatre and then from November 16, 1931 to January 2, 1932 at the Mansfield Theatre. It was the inaugural production of the Group Theatre.
David Newell was primarily known as an American character actor, whose acting career spanned from the very beginning of the sound film era through the middle of the 1950s. He made his film debut in a featured role in The Hole in the Wall, a 1929 film starring Edward G. Robinson and Claudette Colbert.
The Farmer Takes a Wife is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Victor Fleming, written by Edwin J. Burke, and starring Janet Gaynor, Henry Fonda and Charles Bickford. It is based on the 1934 Broadway play The Farmer Takes a Wife by Marc Connelly and Frank B. Elser, with Fonda reprising his stage role as the farmer. The film was released on August 2, 1935, by 20th Century-Fox.