Irene Dunne & Cary Grant in George Stevens' "Penny Serenade (1941) - feat. Edgar Buchanan

Описание: The film charts the meeting, courtship, and marriage of Julie Gardiner (Irene Dunne) and newspaper reporter Roger Adams (Cary Grant) through the playing of popular songs that mark the passing years. After a whirlwind New Year’s Eve romance, they impulsively marry and spend their wedding night in Roger’s train compartment while traveling to San Francisco. Their early happiness is marked by optimism and ambition, with Roger dreaming of journalistic success and Julie eager to build a stable home.

Soon after, a pregnant Julie rejoins Roger in Tokyo, where he has taken a foreign correspondent assignment. Their future seems bright until the catastrophic 1923 earthquake strikes, killing thousands and shattering their personal hopes when Julie loses their unborn child. Deeply shaken, the couple return to California, where Julie becomes withdrawn and despondent, and Roger struggles to reach her emotionally while trying to rebuild their lives.
Settling in the fictional California town of Rosalia, Roger fights to keep a small newspaper afloat while Julie keeps house and prepares a nursery they are no longer sure they will need.

Their loyal friend Applejack Carney (Edgar Buchanan) gently encourages them to adopt, believing a child will give their lives new direction. At an adoption agency, Miss Oliver (Beulah Bondi) initially offers them a two-year-old boy, then calls back to say a five-week-old baby girl is available instead. Though Roger hoped for a son, he quickly bonds with the infant, and the couple care for her during the required one-year probation period.

By the end of that year, Roger has lost the newspaper, and the law forbids adoption without steady income. Appearing before a judge, Roger delivers a passionate plea, insisting love and commitment matter more than money. The judge agrees, awarding custody, and Roger returns home to Julie with their daughter.

Years later, Roger and Julie proudly watch their child, Trina, take part in a Christmas pageant as an “echo.” The following Christmas, Julie writes to Miss Oliver that Trina has died suddenly from illness. The loss devastates Roger, plunging him into depression, and Julie prepares to leave, believing he no longer needs her. At the train station, a phone call from Miss Oliver announces that a two-year-old boy has become available for adoption. Julie and Roger embrace, ready to rebuild their marriage and begin again.

A 1941 American black & white pre-Code melodrama film produced & directed by George Stevens, screenplay by Morrie Ryskind, based on "Penny Serenade" (1940 McCall's story) by Martha Cheavens, cinematography by Joseph Walker, starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant,
Beulah Bondi, Edgar Buchanan, Ann Doran, Eva Lee Kuney, Leonard Willey, Wallis Clark, Walter Soderling. Released by Columbia Pictures.

At the time, California child labor laws restricted the time an infant could be present on a film set. To double the amount of time he could film the character of Trina Stevens hired identical twin girls for Trina at each age. The baby was played by Judith and Dianna Fleetwood, and the one-year-old by Joan and Jane Biffle.

Soundtrack music:
You Were Meant for Me (1929) - Music by Nacio Herb Brown, Lyrics by Arthur Freed
The Japanese Sandman (1920) - Music by Richard A. Whiting, Lyrics by Ray Egan
Just a Memory - Written by Lew Brown, Ray Henderson and Buddy G. DeSylva
The Missouri Waltz (1917) - Music by John Valentine Eppel, Lyrics by J.R. Shannon, arranged by Frederick Knight Logan
I'm Tickled Pink with a Blue Eyed Baby (1930) - Music by Pete Wendling, Lyrics by Charles O'Flynn
The Moon Was Yellow (1934) - Music by Fred E. Ahlert, Lyrics by Edgar Leslie
Auld Lang Syne (1788) Traditional, Lyrics by Robert Burns
Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride) (1850) from "Lohengrin", Written by Richard Wagner
The Wedding March (1842) - Written by Felix Mendelssohn
Charleston (1923) - Music by James P. Johnson, Lyrics by Cecil Mack
My Blue Heaven (1924) - Music by Walter Donaldson, Lyrics by George Whiting
Happy Birthday to You (1893) - Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill
Silent Night, Holy Night (1816) - Music by Franz Xaver Gruber, Lyrics by Joseph Mohr
Poor Butterfly (1916) - Music by Raymond Hubbell, Lyrics by John Golden
These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) (1934) - Music by Harry Link, Lyrics by Eric Maschwitz (as Holt Marvell) and Jack Strachey
Three O'Clock in the Morning (1922) - Music by Julián Robledo, Lyrics by Dolly Morse
Ain't We Got Fun? (1921) - Music by Richard A. Whiting, Lyrics by Ray Egan and Gus Kahn
The Prisoner's Song (1924) - Written by Guy Massey
To a Wild Rose (1896) - Music by Edward MacDowell

One of director Stevens' most accomplished pictures. Although best known at the time for comedies, musicals and light adventures, Stevens and his writer Morrie Ryskind, "My Man Godfrey" (1936), had something different in mind for their stars. A bittersweet look at the kind of domestic problems often glossed over in Hollywood pictures.