| Penny Serenade | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | George Stevens |
| Produced by | George Stevens |
| Written by | Martha Cheavens Morrie Ryskind |
| Starring | Irene Dunne Cary Grant Beulah Bondi Edgar Buchanan |
| Music by | W. Franke Harling |
| Cinematography | Joseph Walker |
| Editing by | Otto Meyer |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 24 April 1941 |
| Running time | 119 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
Penny Serenade is a 1941 film melodrama starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi, and Edgar Buchanan. It was directed by George Stevens and written by Martha Cheavens and Morrie Ryskind. It depicts the story of a loving couple who must overcome adversity to keep their marriage and raise a child. Grant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.
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While listening to a recording of "Penny Serenade," Julie Gardiner Adams (Irene Dunne) begins reflecting on her past. Roger (Cary Grant) and Julie Adams suffer a tragedy when she miscarries in an earthquake during their trip to Japan. They are told that she cannot have children. They request to adopt a two-year old boy, but ultimately adopt a much younger girl. They struggle to make ends meet and to retain their parental rights when Roger loses his job. When the little girl dies suddenly, the emotional strain threatens to destroy their marriage. Songs mark episodes in the action from records from their collection—the title refers to a song of the same name. In the end, they are offered the opportunity to adopt a little boy who matches their original request, miraculously saving their marriage.[1]
The part of Trina was played by two pairs of identical twins at different ages.[2]
Time said "Grant and Dunne cannot overcome the ten-little-fingers-and-ten-little-toes plot. Written by scripter Morrie Ryskind, produced and directed by George Stevens (Alice Adams), it is too often a moving picture which does not move. Skillful direction saves it from turning maudlin."[2] Bosley Crowther, in a somewhat ambivalent review, concludes "some very credible acting on the part of Mr. Grant and Miss Dunne is responsible in the main for the infectious quality of the film. Edgar Buchanan, too, gives an excellent performance as a good-old-Charlie friend, and Beulah Bondi is sensible as an orphanage matron. Heart-warming is the word for both of them. As a matter of fact, the whole picture deliberately cozies up to the heart. Noel Coward once drily observed how extraordinarily potent cheap music is. That is certainly true of Penny Serenade.[3]
Grant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, losing at the 14th Academy Awards to Gary Cooper's portrayal of Sergeant York.
On the film review website Rotten Tomatoes, Penny Serenade receives a "Fresh" rating with 93% (15 of 16) of its T-meter critics reviewed the film positively.[4]
Penny Serenade was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the November 16, 1941 broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater, starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne in their original roles. It was also presented as an hour-long drama on Lux Radio Theater, first on April 27, 1942 with Robert Taylor and Barbara Stanwyck, then on May 8, 1944 with Joseph Cotten and Irene Dunne. Dunne again starred in July 1953 on CBS Radio's General Electric Theater.[5]
A television adaptation for Lux Video Theatre, starring Phyllis Thaxter, was broadcast in January 1955 on NBC.[6]
The film was released by Columbia Pictures, with George Stevens' production firm owning the copyright. In 1968, the film went into the public domain.[7]
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