In the Meantime, Darling

Last updated
In the Meantime, Darling
MeantimePoster.JPG
Original poster
Directed by Otto Preminger
Written by Arthur Kober
Michael Uris
Produced byOtto Preminger
Starring Jeanne Crain
Frank Latimore
Mary Nash
Cinematography Joseph MacDonald
Edited by Louis R. Loeffler
Music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • September 22, 1944 (1944-09-22)
Running time
72 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

In the Meantime, Darling is a 1944 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Arthur Kober and Michael Uris focuses on a wealthy war bride (Jeanne Crain) who is forced to adjust to living in spartan conditions in military housing during World War II.

Contents

Plot

Due to limited wartime housing, Army lieutenant Danny Ferguson (Frank Latimore) and fiancée Maggie Preston (Jeanne Crain) must postpone their wedding until a room in the Craig Hotel, where married officers stationed at nearby Camp Fielding live with their wives, becomes available. When their accommodations are ready, Maggie arrives with her wealthy parents Henry and Vera (Eugene Pallette and Mary Nash), who are unhappy about the living conditions their daughter will be forced to endure. Initially Maggie is too happy to care, but once the newlywed is left alone during the day while her husband is on the base, she begins to become disenchanted with her surroundings and the lack of service her privileged background has groomed her to expect.

Unaware of what is expected of her in her new capacity of army wife, Maggie quickly becomes an outcast among the other women. Not helping her situation is an obvious lack of any domestic skills that would allow her to assist in the daily routine at the hotel. Increasingly upset with her situation, she lashes out at hotel manager Mrs. Jerry Armstrong (Jane Randolph). Her mood softens when she learns Jerry's husband was killed in battle overseas and she has remained at the hotel to honor his memory.

Maggie's attitude changes and she befriends some of the other wives, particularly Shirley (Gale Robbins), who is married to Danny's best friend Lt. Red Pianatowski (Stanley Prager). When Danny finds himself the target of snide remarks made by his fellow officers, he discovers Maggie asked her father to use his influence to keep his son-in-law based in the States instead of being shipped overseas. Infuriated by her interference, he angrily storms out of their room, and Maggie prepares to return to her parents in Philadelphia.

When Danny returns with Philip, they discover a book about infant care Maggie had purchased to help her assist the expectant mothers, and he assumes she is pregnant. Rushing to the train station, he begs her to return. That night, at a dance honoring a visiting general, Red tells Shirley that Maggie is expecting a baby. As Maggie tries to tell her husband the truth, he receives word his company is being sent overseas. Danny is disappointed to learn he is not going to be a father after all, but Maggie reassures him she will be anxious to start a family as soon as he returns. After Danny and Red ship out, Maggie and Shirley decide to find jobs in the defense industry and do what they can to support their husbands and the rest of the troops.

Cast

Production

The initial draft of the screenplay, entitled Paris, Tennessee, was completed in July 1943, and 20th Century Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck assigned the project to Archie Mayo. The script underwent numerous revisions and was retitled Army Wife before going into production as I Married a Soldier in December. By then Zanuck agreed to allow Preminger to direct as well as produce the film. [1] It marked the screen debut of Frank Latimore and Gale Robbins and the first time Jeanne Crain would receive top billing. The cast also included future director Blake Edwards in a small, uncredited supporting role. [2]

The screenplay continued to undergo extensive changes as filming progressed, and on February 4, 1944, the Los Angeles Examiner reported the project was in trouble. Joseph Breen, who headed the Production Code Administration, was certain the British Board of Film Censors would object to a scene showing the newlywed couple in bed and recommended Preminger restage it, although the shot remained in both the US and UK releases. It was the first film to show a married couple in bed since the Motion Picture Production Code was established in 1934, a fact that greatly pleased Preminger. [3]

During filming, the director realized Eugene Pallette, cast as Maggie's father, was "an admirer of Hitler [and] was convinced that Germany would win the war." Preminger also discovered the actor was a racist when he refused to sit next to African American cast member Clarence Muse and used a racial slur to refer to him. Infuriated, the director immediately fired Pallette and, although he remains in scenes he already had filmed, the remainder of his role not yet shot was eliminated from the script. [4]

After principal photography was completed, the screenplay underwent more revisions in order to enhance the screen presence of Jeanne Crain. After these additional scenes were filmed in late March 1944, the film's title was changed yet again to In the Meantime, Darling. [2]

The song "How Many Times Do I Have to Tell You," performed by Gale Robbins during the dance sequence, was written by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Preminger</span> American director, producer, actor

Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor.

<i>Laura</i> (1944 film) 1944 American film noir directed by Otto Preminger

Laura is a 1944 American film noir produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, and Clifton Webb along with Vincent Price and Judith Anderson. The screenplay by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Betty Reinhardt is based on the 1943 novel Laura by Vera Caspary. Laura received five nominations for the Academy Awards, including for Best Director, winning for Best Black and White Cinematography.

<i>A Letter to Three Wives</i> 1949 film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

A Letter to Three Wives is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them, but not saying which one. It stars Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Paul Douglas, Kirk Douglas, and Jeffrey Lynn. Thelma Ritter as "Sadie" and Celeste Holm are both uncredited.

<i>Leave Her to Heaven</i> 1945 film by John M. Stahl

Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American psychological thriller film noir melodrama directed by John M. Stahl and starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. It follows a socialite who marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her. It is based on the 1944 novel of the same name by Ben Ames Williams, adapted by screenwriter Jo Swerling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanne Crain</span> American actress (1925–2003)

Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in Pinky (1949). She also starred in the films In the Meantime, Darling (1944), State Fair (1945), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Centennial Summer (1946), Margie (1946), Apartment for Peggy (1948), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), People Will Talk (1951), Man Without a Star (1955), Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955), The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), and The Joker Is Wild (1957).

<i>Pinky</i> (film) 1949 film directed by Elia Kazan

Pinky is a 1949 American drama film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay was adapted by Philip Dunne and Dudley Nichols based on Cid Ricketts Sumner's 1946 novel Quality. It stars Jeanne Crain as the title character, a young light-skinned black woman who passes for white. It also stars Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters and William Lundigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Darnell</span> American actress (1923–1965)

Linda Darnell was an American actress. Darnell progressed from modeling as a child to acting in theater and film. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big-budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s. She co-starred with Tyrone Power in adventure films, and established a main character career after her role in Forever Amber (1947). She won critical acclaim for her work in Unfaithfully Yours (1948) and A Letter to Three Wives (1949).

<i>Shock</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by Alfred L. Werker

Shock is a 1946 American film noir directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Vincent Price, Lynn Bari and Frank Latimore.

<i>People Will Talk</i> 1951 film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

People Will Talk is a 1951 American romantic comedy/drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck from a screenplay by Mankiewicz, based on the German play by Curt Goetz, which was made into a movie in Germany. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, it stars Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain, with supporting performances by Hume Cronyn, Finlay Currie, Walter Slezak and Sidney Blackmer.

<i>Fallen Angel</i> (1945 film) 1945 film by Otto Preminger

Fallen Angel is a 1945 American film noir directed by Otto Preminger, with cinematography by Joseph LaShelle, who had also worked with Preminger on Laura a year before. The film features Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell and Charles Bickford. Fallen Angel was Faye's last film as a major Hollywood star, and she did not appear in another film until State Fair (1962).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cara Williams</span> American actress (1925–2021)

Cara Williams was an American film and television actress. She was best known for her role as Billy's Mother in The Defiant Ones (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and for her role as Gladys Porter on the 1960–62 CBS television series Pete and Gladys, for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy. At the time of her death, Williams was one of the last surviving actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugene Pallette</span> American actor (1889–1954)

Eugene William Pallette was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946.

<i>Margin for Error</i> 1943 film by Otto Preminger

Margin for Error is a 1943 American drama film directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Lillie Hayward and Samuel Fuller is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Clare Boothe Luce.

<i>Centennial Summer</i> 1946 film

Centennial Summer is a 1946 American musical film directed by Otto Preminger. Starring Jeanne Crain and Cornel Wilde, the film is based on a novel by Albert E. Idell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Latimore</span> American actor

Franklin Latimore was an American actor.

<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>The Fan</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by Otto Preminger

The Fan is a 1949 American drama film directed by Otto Preminger, starring Jeanne Crain, Madeleine Carroll, George Sanders, and Richard Greene. The screenplay by Dorothy Parker, Walter Reisch, and Ross Evans is based on the 1892 play Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde. The play had been filmed several times before, with a 1916 silent film, a later adaptation by Ernst Lubitsch in 1925 as well as versions in Spanish and Chinese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gale Robbins</span> American actress and singer (1921–1980)

Gale Robbins was an American actress and singer.

<i>The Shocking Miss Pilgrim</i> 1947 film by George Seaton

The Shocking Miss Pilgrim is a 1947 American musical comedy film in Technicolor written and directed by George Seaton and starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doris Merrick</span> American actress and model (1919–2019)

Doris Roberta Merrick was an American film actress and model.

References

  1. Fujiwara, Chris, The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger. New York: Macmillan Publishers 2009. ISBN   0-86547-995-X, p. 32
  2. 1 2 The World and Its Double, p. 33
  3. The World and Its Double, pp. 33-34
  4. The World and Its Double, p. 34