Tom, Dick and Harry

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Movie
German title Tom, Dick and Harry
Original title Tom, Dick and Harry
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 86 minutes
Rod
Director Garson Kanin
script Paul Jarrico
production Robert Sisk
for RKO Pictures Inc.
music Roy Webb
Gene Rose
camera Merritt B. Gerstad
cut John Sturges
occupation

Tom, Dick and Harry is a 1941 American film. Directed by Garson Kanin , it stars Ginger Rogers , George Murphy , Alan Marshal and Burgess Meredith . The original script on which the film is based and nominated for an Oscar is also by Paul Jarrico , as is the original story about a young woman standing between three men.

action

Janie, who works in a telephone switchboard , is as good as engaged to car salesman Tom. The young woman is caught up again and again by her daydreams , in which she dreams the dream of many young girls, to meet a rich dream prince and to be happy with him for all time. Tom is ambitious, but Janie doubts that he will ever make it to the millionaire or the president of America as she also dreamed. Nevertheless, she agrees to Tom's proposal of marriage, albeit half-heartedly.

The next day, Janie has Dick Hamilton on the line, the son of the richest family in town, who wants to be connected to his New York friend Brenda Whitney. The short conversation with him gives her hope again, perhaps to marry a millionaire after all. When on the way home the well-known Hamilton car suddenly brakes next to her, Janie sees this as a sign and gets in. You make an appointment for the evening. To Janie's disappointment, it turns out that she was not invited by Dick, but by the auto mechanic Harry, who was only supposed to bring Dick's car back from a vehicle inspection . Contrary to expectations, the evening with bowling and speeches is very nice and ends with a declaration of love and a proposal from Harry. As he kisses her, Janie hears bells ringing.

After Janie told Harry about her connection to Tom, the latter, curious, went to Tom at his workplace. When Harry asks for a test drive, Tom says that you could invite his girlfriend to do so. When they stop in front of Jamie's house and she gets into the car, Tom looks rather puzzled. The little edifying journey ends on the so-called love island, where Tom simply leaves the young couple behind. As luck would have it, they both met Dick Hamilton, of all people, who took them back to town. Although he barely has a look at Janie, she starts dreaming again.

When Janie is supposed to connect Dick with his girlfriend again on the next day, she plays a bit of fate and cleverly breaks the connection at the moment when each of the two has to assume that the other has simply hung up. In fact, Janie manages to get Dick to invite her to Chicago . After spending a lively night of alcohol and dancing together, Janie got her third marriage proposal within a short time.

Good advice is valuable now. Tom is more than personable, Janie is drawn to Harry in a special way and Dick, who is a millionaire after all. In Janie's dreams, marriage with all three would be the perfect solution. The next day at breakfast, Janie announces to her family that she will marry Dick. After the young couple has already made preparations for a future life and Harry asks Janie for a last kiss goodbye, she hears bells ring again when he kissed. On the spur of the moment, she climbs onto Harry's scooter and drives off with him.

Production and Background

Filming began in mid-February and lasted until May 19, 1941. On June 13, 1941, the film then opened in American cinemas . In the Federal Republic of Germany was Tom, Dick and Harry in October 1945th

In the opening credits of the film, the names Ginger Rogers, George Murphy, Alan Marshal and Burgess Meredith as well as Robert Sisk and Paul Jarrico are presented in the wrong order of the letters, which only gradually come together again in the correct spelling. The film magazine Hollywood Reporter saw it as an indication of two postponements of the start of production, once because of problems with the script and then because of Rogers' illness. Originally, James Ellison was supposed to play the role of Dick. Alan Marshal was loaned to MGM by David O. Selznick and George Murphy . According to a news item in the New York Times , the film was the last Ginger Rogers directed exclusively for RKO Pictures . It was also her first film after she won an Oscar for Best Actress for the drama Miss Kitty . According to Variety , the film was also their last work for RKO for the producer and director of this film. Sisk moved to Paramount Pictures and Kanin joined the army . 1957 RKO filmed this story by Mitchell Leisen under the title The Girl Most Likely (German title Kess und kokett ) again. Jane Powell and Cliff Robertson played the leading roles. Ginger Rogers and George Murphy also appeared in their roles on the Lux Radio Theater broadcast on September 8, 1941.

criticism

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote in his review that Ginger Rogers, playing the role of Janie with a perfect combination of skepticism and recklessness , Paul Jarrico's original script gave her the opportunity to act both brash and snappy and gave her through the Dream sequences Opportunity to present yourself both in pin-up scenes and in the glamor of a screwball comedy. Crowther also focused on Phil Silver's performance in his third screen appearance, which added to the mood of the film outside of the dream sequences in his role as a persistent ice cream seller. There are a few moments when the film seems a bit strained and the fantasy sequences are once or twice too brittle, but like most pleasant dreams that are temporary, like a dream, the film is a lot of fun.

Variety spoke of a cleverly threaded story that consisted of a series of spontaneous episodes and offered a surprising ending. The story of Paul Jarrico is a cleverly constructed version of a modern Cinderella story with brisk dialogues.

The lexicon of international films spoke of an “excellently staged comedy puzzle about dreams of living and cinema.” The remake Kess und kokett (1957, directed by Mitchell Leisen) had shown “less ingenuity”.

Awards

In 1942 Paul Jarrico was nominated for an Oscar for the author of the original story in the category "Best Original Screenplay" . However, the award went to Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles and the drama Citizen Kane .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Tom, Dick and Harry (1941) Original Print Information from TCM - Turner Classic Movies
  2. a b Tom, Dick and Harry at zweiausendeins.de. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  3. Tom, Dick and Harry (1941) Notes at TCM - Turner Classic Movies
  4. Bosley Crowther: Tom, Dick and Harry In: The New York Times, July 18, 1941 (English). Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  5. Tom, Dick and Harry In: Variety, December 31, 1940 (English). Retrieved January 12, 2014.