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My Own True Love

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My Own True Love
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCompton Bennett
Screenplay byJosef Mischel
Theodore Strauss
Arthur Kober
Based onnovel Make You a Fine Wife by Yolanda Foldes
Produced byVal Lewton
StarringPhyllis Calvert
Melvyn Douglas
Wanda Hendrix
Philip Friend
Binnie Barnes
Alan Napier
CinematographyCharles B. Lang Jr.
Edited byLeRoy Stone
Music byRobert Emmett Dolan
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • February 2, 1949 (1949-02-02)
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

My Own True Love is a 1949 American drama film directed by Compton Bennett and written by Arthur Kober, Josef Mischel and Theodore Strauss. The film stars Phyllis Calvert, Melvyn Douglas, Wanda Hendrix, Philip Friend, Binnie Barnes and Alan Napier. The film was released on February 2, 1949, by Paramount Pictures.[1][2][3]

It is an adaptation of the novel Make You a Fine Wife by Yolanda Foldes. In postwar England, a woman is emotionally torn when her fiancée's son returns from the army and they strike up a potential romance.

Plot

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Shortly after VE Day, widowed Colonel Clive Heath encounters ATS Joan Clews at the barracks where his daughter Sheila, a corporal, is stationed. He has been working in the Army film unit, while he discovers that Joan has spent some time imprisoned by the Germans who caught her in France assisting escaping RAF airmen. Encouraged by his daughter they head out on a date, but his elaborate plans for a dinner in London are cut short by engine failure in his car.

The two bond, but problems arise when Clive's son who had been thought dead at the hands of the Japanese is discovered alive in a Malay village, but missing a leg. His old spark is gone and his father is discouraged, particularly when he shows more interest in Joan who his father has become engaged to. She tries to help him, working out that his attraction to her is a displacement to the Malaysian wife and child he lost when the Japanese captured the village. Father and son are eventually reconciled.

Cast

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Production

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The film was based on the novel Make You a Fine Wife. Paramount, who had already bought Golden Earrings by the same author, bought the screen rights in September 1946.[4] Val Lewton was assigned to produce and Leonore Coffee given the job of writing the script.[5]

Val Lewton had left RKO in 1945 to accept a contract with Paramount Pictures. He developed an adaption of The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens but the studio elected not to make it. Instead he was assigned to Make You a Fine Wife.[6]

In December 1946 Paramount announced they had signed a contract with Phyllis Calvert — then in Los Angeles making her Hollywood debut with Time Out of Mind. She was to make six films, three over two years then one a year after that, starting with Make You a Fine Wife.[7] In February 1947 Paramount announced the film version od Make You a Fine Wife would be called My Own True Love.[8] Calvert returned to England to make a film then came back to Hollywood for the movie.[9]

In April 1947 Compton Bennett signed to direct.[10] By June Wanda Hendrix and Melvyn Douglas were set as co stars; they were the only Americans in the lead cast.[11] Filming started in July. It was shot entirely in Los Angeles.[12]

In September, while the film was still being shot, it was reported that the filmmakers had still not decided who Calvert's character should end up with. "In England we wouldn't worry about it," said Calvert. "It'd be either 'A' or 'U' and make big money."[13]

Filming was difficult, marked by a conflict between Calvert and Val Lewton. At one stage Calvert walked off the set refusing to say a particular line of dialogue. Paramound ended up giving Calvert script approval rather than Lewton. The movie would be the only project Lewton would make at Paramount (which he left in March 1948( although he did develop The Sainted Sisters and Bride of Vengeance.[6]

In October 1947 Calvert returned to London, where she appeared in a production of Peter Pan.[14]

Reception

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Variety called the film "ponderously handled" and "fully 20 minutes too long."[15]

Variety also called the movie "a major disappointment" financially.[16]

References

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  1. ^ Crowther, Bosley (February 3, 1949). "Movie Review - My Own True Love - THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; Phyllis Calvert, Melvyn Douglas Appear in 'My Own True Love' at the Paramount". NYTimes.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  2. ^ "My Own True Love". Afi.com. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
  3. ^ "My Own True Love", Monthly Film Bulletin, London, Vol. 15, Iss. 169 (January 1, 1948): 97.
  4. ^ 2 POST-WAR NOVELS BOUGHT BY STUDIOS: New York Times (9 Sep 1946: 20.
  5. ^ Schallert, Edwin, "Studios Bulging With New Story Acquisitions", Los Angeles Times, September 9, 1946: A2.
  6. ^ a b Siegel, Joel (1973). al Lewton: the reality of terror. p. 87-90.
  7. ^ "PARAMOUNT SIGNS PHYLLIS CALVERT", The New York Times, December 13, 1946: 29.
  8. ^ "BETTY HUTTON GETS 'DREAM GIRL' ROLE", The New York Times, February 20, 1947: 31.
  9. ^ "RANDOM NOTES ABOUT PEOPLE AND PICTURES", The New York Times, April 6, 1947: X5.
  10. ^ "DEBORAH KERR GETS ROLE IN NEW MOVIE", The New York Times, April 18, 1947: 25.
  11. ^ "KAUFMAN TO DIRECT FILM SCENES HERE", The New York Times, June 2, 1947: 30.
  12. ^ Daugherty, Frank, "Letter From Hollywood". Special to The Christian Science Monitor, July 18, 1947: 5.
  13. ^ Johnson, Grady, "PHYLLIS CALVERT -- RED-HEAD WITHOUT TEMPER", The New York Times, September 7, 1947: X3.
  14. ^ "Phyllis Calvert Off To London for New Stage Job", The Washington Post, October 26, 1947: L2.
  15. ^ "My Own True Love". Variety. 8 December 1948. p. 11.
  16. ^ "'Joan' grosses". Variety. 9 March 1949. p. 18.

Bibliography

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  • Edmund G. Bansak. Fearing the Dark: The Val Lewton Career. McFarland, 2003.
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