H.M. Pulham, Esq (1941).

H.M. Pulham, Esq (1941). Directed by King Vidor and based on a novel by John P. Marquand. Vidor co-wrote the screenplay with his wife, Elizabeth Hill Vidor. Cast: Robert Young, Hedy Lamarr, Ruth Hussey, Charles Coburn, and Van Heflin. There is also an early uncredited appearance by Ava Gardner.

Harry Moulton Pulham Jr. is a middle-aged Boston businessman, who has a wife, Kay, with whom he has settled into a too comfortable marriage, but.. it did not start out that way.

Harry finds himself in charge of organizing a twenty-five-year college reunion, he thinks back to after the end of World War I. His friend Bill King, helps him get a job for a New York City advertising company, where he falls in love with, Marvin Miles. She does not want to be a traditional wife and he cannot imagine living anywhere other than Boston. So they break off their relationship. Harry,  marries a woman with the same ideas about marriage as he has.

Many years later, Marvin, who has also married arranges to meet Harry again where sparks begins to fly and Harry is tempted to have an affair, but they both realize that it would not be a good idea.



Harry, begs his wife to go away with him on a romantic vacation, to rekindle their love. At first, she says "no", but.. will she change her mind and agree to go away with him?

This was Hedy Lamarr's favorite film and she delivered the best dramatic performance of her career. Here she is not the mysterious seductive woman, as in her other films. She is loving and kind, in her role as a career girl who falls in love with her boss. Robert was not the first choice for the role. Both Gary Cooper and James Stewart turned the role down, leading Vidor to offer the role to Robert Young.

Ruth Hussey, was encouraged by a friend to try out for acting roles at the Providence Playhouse. The theater director there turned her down, saying the roles were cast only out of New York City. Later that week she traveled to New York City and on her first day there she signed-up with a talent agent who booked her for a role in a play starting the next day back at the Providence Playhouse.

In New York City she also worked as a model with the world-famous Powers agency. She then landed a role in the film,, Dead End and toured the country in 1937 and at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles where she was spotted by talent scout Billy Grady. MGM signed her to a players contract and she made her film debut in 1937. She quickly became a leading lady in MGM's "B" unit. For a 1940 "A" picture role she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Elizabeth Imbrie, the magazine photographer and girlfriend of Jimmy Stewart's character in the film, The Philadelphia Story.

Hussey also worked with Robert Taylor in, Flight Command (1940), Robert Young in H.M. Pulham, Esq. (1941), Van Heflin in Tennessee Johnson (1942), Ray Milland in The Uninvited (1944) and Alan Ladd in The Great Gatsby (1949). In 1946 she starred on Broadway in State Of The Union the Pulitzer Prize play. In 1960 she co-starred in the film, The Facts of Life with Bob Hope.

The More the Merrier (1943).

The More the Merrier (1943).  Comedy. Cast: Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Charles Coburn, Stanley Clements and Richard Gaines. Directed by George Stevens and written by Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Garson Kanin (uncredited), Frank Ross (who was Jean Arthur's husband at the time), and Robert Russell.

Coburn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, while Arthur was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Other nominations included Best Director, Best Picture, Best Writing, Original Story and Best Writing, Screenplay.

This film was remade in 1966 as Walk, Don't Run, with Cary Grant, Samantha Eggar and Jim Hutton.

The story begins During World War II, when millionaire Benjamin Dingle arrives in Washington, D.C., as an adviser on the housing shortage and finds he he too has nowhere to stay. He looks in the classifieds and finds some one looking for a room mate, who turns out to be a young, Connie Milligan. Dingle has to do some "big talking", to convince her to let him stay, as she prefers to rent to a another girl.

A very cute scene when the two try to work around each other while getting ready for work. When Dingle is about to leave the apartment, he runs into Sergeant Joe Carter, who looking for a place to stay for a couple of days.. Dingle, thinks that Joe might be a good match for Connie and decides to rent him half of his half.



When Connie finds out about Joe, renting the other half of  Dingles room, she becomes angry and orders them both to leave. But is forced to let them both stay because she has already spent their rent money. Joe and Connie are attracted to each other, even though she is engaged to Charles J. Pendergast.  Dingle happens to meet Pendergast at a business luncheon and does not care for him. He decides that Joe would be a better match for Connie.

One day, Dingle gets a hold of Connie's private diary, including her thoughts about Joe. When she finds out, again.. she demands they both leave. Dingle accepts full blame for reading the diary and Connie allows Joe to stay the few more days before he has to leave.

Because of a nosy teenage neighbor, Joe and Connie are taken in for questioning as a suspected spies for the Japanese. When Dingle and Pendergast show up, it comes out that Joe and Connie are living in the same apartment. When they are released, the story reaches a reporter and Dingle advises them to get married to avoid a scandal and then have it annulled later. Will they follow his advice?

I  thought the film, The More the Merrier , was a very endearing movie. How can you go wrong with these three very charming leads.  They have great chemistry as a comic trio. Grady Sutton has a very funny cameo near the end of the film as a waiter.  One of my favorite romantic scenes is when McCrea,  gives a carrying case to Jean Arthur.  Here is another wonderful scene..

Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961), started out doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater. By the age of 17 or 18, he was the theater manager. He later became an actor, making his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with Ivah Wills in 1905. They married in 1906.

After his wife's death in 1937, Coburn moved to Los Angeles, California and began film work. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a retired millionaire in the film, The More the Merrier (1943). He was also nominated for the film, The Devil and Miss Jones(1941) and The Green Years(1946). Other film credits include: Of Human Hearts (1938), The Lady Eve (1941), Kings Row (1942), The Constant Nymph (1943), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Wilson (1944), Impact (1949), The Paradine Case (1947), Everybody Does It (1950), Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and John Paul Jones (1959). He usually played comedic parts, but Kings Row and Wilson were dramatic parts, showing his versatility.

Vivacious lady(1938)

Vivacious Lady (1938). Romantic/ comedy. Cast: Ginger Rogers and James Stewart. Produced and directed by George Stevens. The screenplay was written by P.J. Wolfson and Ernest Pagano and adapted from a short story by I. A. R. Wylie. The music score was by Roy Webb. Cinematography by Robert De Grasse. Supporting cast: Frances Mercer, Beulah Bondi, Franklin Pangborn, and Charles Coburn, as well as an uncredited performance by Hattie McDaniel.

Peter is sent to Manhattan, to pick up his cousin Keith and falls in love with Francey at first sight, while watching her performance at a Night Club. After a one-day courtship, Peter and Francey are married, and return home, where Peter teaches at the university run by his father who is known for being an overbearing man. While Peter decides how to break the news to his father, Francey stays at a women-only hotel. Peter mentions Francey to his father twice, but Mr. Morgan interrupts his son when his mother has a flare-up of her heart condition, which makes telling his news impossible. Peter decides to announce the marriage to his parents at the university's prom. Keith brings Francey to the prom and Francey, develops a friendship with Mrs. Morgan, but gets into a fight with Helen in which Francey accidentally hits Peter's father. Now, how is Peter going to break the news to his father?


This film is a wonderful comedy. One of my favorite scenes is when she gets into a fight with Helen and says: Helen: I'm going to give you a piece of my mind...
Francey: Oh, I couldn't take the last piece!


Fun Facts:

This film is one of five times that Beulah Bondi portrayed James Stewart's mother. The others are: It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington(1939), Of Human Hearts (1938) and once on his television series, "The Jimmy Stewart Show" (1971).

Since Ginger's legs were insured for $500,000 they were strapped with boards and padded for protection during the fight scene. Filming on "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" started soon after this film wrapped, and RKO could not afford to have an injured musical star.