The Mating of Millie

Last updated
The Mating of Millie
Poster of the movie The Mating of Millie.jpg
Australian film poster
Directed by Henry Levin
Screenplay byLouella MacFarlane
St. Clair McKelway
Story by Adele Comandini
Produced by Casey Robinson
Starring Glenn Ford
Evelyn Keyes
Ron Randell
Cinematography Joseph Walker
Edited by Richard Fantl
Music by Werner R. Heymann
Color process Black and white
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • March 8, 1948 (1948-03-08)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Mating of Millie is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes and Ron Randell. It was produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Contents

Plot

Millie McGonigle is riding a bus home from work when the frustrated driver, Doug Andrews, stops the vehicle and quits. As the assistant personnel director of a large department store, Millie is impressed by his independence and hands him her business card.

The next day, Millie learns that Tommy Bassett, a young boy she knows and likes very much, has lost his mother in a traffic accident. With his father already killed in World War II, Tommy is sent to a foundling home. An orphan herself, Millie quickly decides to adopt him, but learns from Ralph Galloway, the head of orphan's home, that she must be married to adopt the boy. Desperate, she invents a fiancé on the spot (conveniently away in Alaska), but Ralph insists on interviewing her phantom boyfriend within 60 days.

When Doug shows up looking for a job, Millie considers him very suitable husband material (as does the rest of her all-female staff) and accepts an invitation to a date. However, Doug senses that there is something odd going on and gets her to confess what she is trying to do. Doug lets her know that he is a confirmed bachelor; however, he is willing to help the no-nonsense businesswoman land a spouse.

Doug's lessons prove highly effective. Both the staid, respectable Ralph and the much more dashing Phil Gowan, Millie's neighbor, fall in love with her. By this time though, Millie has lost her heart to Doug.

After Doug, an aspiring writer, learns that his book is going to be published, he quits his job at the department store and prepares to go to New York to work with the publisher. Then a couple takes an interest in adopting Tommy. Ralph informs a distraught Millie that her 60 days are up, gets her to admit there is no fiancé, and asks her to marry him. Instead, she accepts Phil's proposal. When she informs Doug, he advises her never to tell her future husband why she is marrying him, because "A man likes to think he's loved for himself alone."

Millie finds she cannot go through with the marriage. She makes an agonizing choice; she decides to chase after Doug rather than keep on fighting for Tommy. When she goes to see Tommy for the last time, Ralph informs her that the boy had been taken an hour before. Heartbroken, she returns to her lonely apartment, only to find Doug there. She kisses him repeatedly, confessing that she loves him even more than Tommy. He is unmoved, brusquely ordering her to go wipe the smudged lipstick from her face. When she does, she finds Tommy sleeping on her bed, while Doug stands behind her with a smile on his face.

Cast

Production

In June 1946, Columbia bought a story The Mating of Millie McGonigle from Adele Commandini for $50,000. [1]

The following month Columbia announced it would promote story editor Frances Manson to produce - it was rare for women to produce officially at the time, but Columbia had a huge success with Virginia Van Upp in Gilda. [2] In April 1947 Henry Levin was assigned to direct. [3] By June it was announced that Casey Robinson would produce and Evelyn Keyes and Glenn Ford would star. [4] The film was the fifth time Keyes and Ford worked together. Keyes remarked that Ford appeared discontent during production, acting unusually withdrawn and aloof. [5] It was an early role for Australian actor Ron Randell. [6]

Filming started June 1947.

Related Research Articles

<i>Interrupted Melody</i> 1955 film by Curtis Bernhardt

Interrupted Melody is a 1955 American musical biopic film starring Eleanor Parker, Glenn Ford, Roger Moore, and Cecil Kellaway. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt, it was filmed in CinemaScope and Eastman Color, and produced for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by Jack Cummings. With a screenplay by Lawrence, Sonya Levien, and William Ludwig, the operatic sequences were staged by Vladimir Rosing, and Eileen Farrell provided the singing voice for Parker. It tells the story of Australian soprano Marjorie Lawrence's rise to fame as an opera singer and her subsequent triumph over polio with her husband's help

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evelyn Keyes</span> American actress

Evelyn Louise Keyes was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Ford</span> Canadian actor (1916–2006)

Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford, known as Glenn Ford, was a Canadian-American actor. He was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and had a career that lasted more than 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Randell</span> Australian actor (1918–2005)

Ronald Egan Randell was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).

<i>Johnny OClock</i> 1947 film by Robert Rossen

Johnny O'Clock is a 1947 American film noir crime film directed by Robert Rossen and starring Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb and Ellen Drew. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures.

<i>The Loves of Carmen</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Charles Vidor

The Loves of Carmen is a 1948 American adventure drama romance film directed by Charles Vidor. The film stars Rita Hayworth as the gypsy Carmen and Glenn Ford as her doomed lover Don José.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willard Parker</span> American actor

Willard Parker was an American film and television actor. He starred in the TV series Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955–1958).

<i>The Girl Most Likely</i> 1957 film by Mitchell Leisen

The Girl Most Likely is a 1958 American musical comedy film about a young woman who becomes engaged to three men at the same time. The film, a remake of Tom, Dick and Harry (1941), was directed by Mitchell Leisen, and stars Jane Powell, Cliff Robertson, and Keith Andes. The choreography is by Gower Champion.

<i>Millie</i> (film) 1931 film

Millie is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon from a screenplay by Charles Kenyon and Ralph Morgan, based on a novel of the same name by Donald Henderson Clarke. The film was an independent production by Charles R. Rogers, distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, after their acquisition of Pathé Exchange. It stars Helen Twelvetrees in one of her best roles, with a supporting cast that includes Lilyan Tashman, James Hall, Joan Blondell, John Halliday and Anita Louise.

<i>Womans World</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by Jean Negulesco

Woman's World is a 1954 American CinemaScope and print by Technicolor drama film about corporate America directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Clifton Webb, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Lauren Bacall, Fred MacMurray, Arlene Dahl and Cornel Wilde. The screenplay concerns three men who compete for the top job at a large company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Hunter</span> American actress (1920–2012)

Virginia Hunter was an American model and actress. She appeared in over 20 films during the 1940s.

<i>Until They Sail</i> 1957 film by Robert Wise

Until They Sail is a 1957 American black-and-white CinemaScope drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Paul Newman, Piper Laurie and Sandra Dee. The screenplay by Robert Anderson, based on a story by James A. Michener included in his 1951 anthology Return to Paradise, focuses on four New Zealand sisters and their relationships with U.S. Marines during World War II.

<i>Thrill of a Romance</i> 1945 film by Richard Thorpe

Thrill of a Romance is an American Technicolor romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by Tommy Dorsey & his Orchestra and opera singer Lauritz Melchior. The film was directed by Richard Thorpe and written by Richard Connell and Gladys Lehman.

<i>The Desperadoes</i> 1943 film by Charles Vidor

The Desperadoes is a 1943 American Western film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Randolph Scott, Claire Trevor, Glenn Ford, Evelyn Keyes and Edgar Buchanan. Based on a story by Max Brand, the film is about a wanted outlaw who arrives in town to rob a bank that has already been held up. His past and his friendship with the sheriff land them both in trouble. The Desperadoes was the first Columbia Pictures production to be released in Technicolor.

<i>The Lady in Question</i> 1940 film by Charles Vidor

The Lady in Question is a 1940 American comedy-drama romance film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Brian Aherne, Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. It is a remake of the 1937 French film Gribouille.

<i>The Brigand</i> (film) 1952 film

The Brigand is a 1952 American adventure romance film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Anthony Dexter, Jody Lawrance and Anthony Quinn.

<i>Beyond Mombasa</i> 1956 film by George Marshall

Beyond Mombasa is a 1956 Technicolor adventure film directed by George Marshall and starring Cornel Wilde, Donna Reed and Leo Genn. It was set in Kenya and shot on location there and at the Elstree Studios near London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Elliot Scott.

<i>Lorna Doone</i> (1951 film) 1951 film

Lorna Doone is a 1951 American adventure film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Barbara Hale and Richard Greene. It is an adaptation of the 1869 novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore, set in the English West Country during the 17th century.

<i>The Mississippi Gambler</i> (1953 film) 1953 film

The Mississippi Gambler is a 1953 American Western film directed by Rudolph Maté and starring Tyrone Power. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound Recording. This film was the third Universal Studios film to bear this title—though with a different plot each time, the others being The Mississippi Gambler (1929) and Mississippi Gambler (1942).

<i>The Lone Wolf and His Lady</i> 1949 film by John Hoffman

The Lone Wolf and His Lady is a 1949 American mystery film directed by John Hoffman and starring Ron Randell, June Vincent and Alan Mowbray. It is the 15th and final Lone Wolf film produced by Columbia Pictures, and was written by Edward Dein and Michael Stuart Boylan.

References

  1. ↑ LYONS, JUSTMAN FORM FILM GROUP: New York Times 21 June 1946: 19.
  2. ↑ Divine Sarah War On; Femme Producer Set Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 6 July 1946: A5.
  3. ↑ U-I SELECTS CAST FOR 'BLACK BART':. New York Times 17 April 1947: 35.
  4. ↑ DRAMA AND FILM: Ford Gay Blade Hero; Alpiniste Film-Wanted Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 12 June 1947: A3
  5. ↑ Ford, Peter (2011-05-12). Glenn Ford: A Life. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 93. ISBN   978-0-299-28153-3.
  6. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (August 10, 2019). "Unsung Aussie Actors – Ron Randell: A Top Twenty". Filmink.
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.