Listen, Darling
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| Listen, Darling | |
|---|---|
| [[Image:|200px|]] Listen, Darling |
|
| Directed by | Edwin L. Marin |
| Produced by | Jack Cummings |
| Written by | Katherine Brush, Elaine Ryan, Anne Morrison Chapin, Noel Langley |
| Starring | Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew, Mary Astor, Walter Pidgeon |
| Music by | William Axt |
| Cinematography | Charles Lawton Jr., Lester White |
| Editing by | Blache Sewell |
| Release date(s) | 1938 |
| Running time | 75 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Contents |
[edit] Plot
To stop Pinkie's mother Dottie from marrying a man they know she does not love, Pinkie and her friend Buzz kidnap her in the family trailer to live a life on the open road without worries about how to make ends meet. They then get the idea to find a husband for her whom both she and Pinkie would like.[1]
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Judy Garland | 'Pinkie' Wingate |
| Freddie Bartholomew | Herbert Buzz Mitchell |
| Mary Asotr | Mrs. Dorothy 'Dottie' Wingate |
| Walter Pidgeon | Richard Thurlow |
| Alan Hale | J.J. Slatetry |
| Scotty Beckett | Billie Wingate |
| Barnett Parker | Abercrombie |
| Gene Lockhart | Mr. Arthur Drubbs |
| Charley Grapewin | Uncle Joe Higgins |
[edit] Notes
This was Judy's sixth feature film and the first in which she received top billing.
Mary Astor said of Judy, "...sheer joy: young, vital, warm, affectionate and exuberant. A real kid whose sense of humor was so genuine and strong that production would be suspended when she got the giggles. 'There goes Judy!' would be the cry! And we just had to wait until she got over it."
"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," recorded at several lengths and tempos, including a hot swing version, was cut to a gentle chorus and a half in the final print. According to legend, this was the song that Judy chose to perform for L.B. Mayer at her MGM audition. The song became a Judy Garland standard, nearly as closely associated with her as "Over the Rainbow." She recorded it numerous times over the span of her career, and it was a standard part of her concert repertoire.
By the time Listen, Darling was released, Judy was busy at work on The Wizard of Oz. Listen, Darling was a box office success, and Judy was given star status at MGM, along with her own dressing trailer.[2]
[edit] Memorable Qoutes
Buzz: "Who said anything about town? We're out on the open road now. Boy, we can meet anyone out here - up to the President of the United States!" Pinkie: "Oh, what good would that do? He's married."
Thurlow: "Do beavers have stripes on their tails?" Billie: "Striped ones do!"
Pinkie: "It doesn't cost much to live in a trailer, and we could travel for months and months and eat hamburgers."
Pinkie: "You know, I thought she did, but then when she cried I didn't know. But if that is why, she must like him even more than I thought." Buzz: "What are you talking about?"
[edit] Critical Responses
By Frank Nugent, The New York Times, November 24, 1938:[4]
"An extremely pleasant - winsome would be a better word - picture about two youngsters who kidnap a matrimonially eligible widow, lock her in a trailer, and start touring the countryside in search of a suitable husband ... Freddie Bartholomew and Judy Garland - with little Scotty Beckett's unconscious assistance - conduct their matrimonial tour with charming unworldliness, despite the surface sophistication of their enterprise...
The comedy has been nicely turned out by Mary Astor, Walter Pidgeon, Alan Hale, Gene Lockhart and Charley Grapewin, among the adults, and by all three youngsters. Besides being a charming little miss, Judy Garland has a fresh young voice which she uses happily on "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart," "On a Bumpy Road to Love," and "Ten Pins in the Sky" ... It is really a natural, pleasant and sensible little film."
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030368/plotsummary Plot Summary Listed on the IMDB, written by Leon Wolters
- ^ http://www.jgdb.com/darling.htm Listen, Darling page located on the Judy Garland Database, written by Jim Johnson
- ^ http://www.jgdb.com/darling.htm Qoutes borrowed from the JGDB yet again, from Jim Johnson
- ^ http://www.jgdb.com/darling.htm Critical Response once again borrowed from the JGDB, by Jim Johnson
