Perfect Strangers (1950 film)
Perfect Strangers is a 1950 American comedy-drama film directed by Bretaigne Windust.[1][2] The screenplay for the Warner Bros. release by Edith Sommer was based on an adaptation of the 1939 Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur play Ladies and Gentlemen by George Oppenheimer. This 1939 play was based on an earlier Hungarian play, Twelve in a Box written by Lazlo Bush-Fekete.[3]
| Perfect Strangers | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bretaigne Windust |
| Produced by | Jerry Wald |
| Screenplay by | Edith Sommer |
| Based on | adaptation by George Oppenheimer |
| Starring | Ginger Rogers Dennis Morgan |
| Music by | Leigh Harline |
| Cinematography | Peverell Marley |
| Edited by | David Weisbart |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
Terry Scott (Ginger Rogers), who is separated from her husband, and unhappily married David Campbell (Dennis Morgan), the father of two children, meet when they are selected to serve on the jury of the Los Angeles trial of Ernest Craig (Ford Rainey). The defendant is charged with murdering his wife when she refused to grant him a divorce. While sequestered during the lengthy proceedings, Terry and David get to know each other and fall in love. Some dramatic tension is added to the plot by juror Isobel Bradford (Margalo Gillmore), a snobby socialite who tries to sway the panel to vote for the death penalty.
Cast
- Ginger Rogers as Theresa "Terry" Scott
- Dennis Morgan as David Campbell
- Thelma Ritter as Lena Fassler
- Margalo Gillmore as Mrs. Isobel Bradford
- Anthony Ross as Robert "Bob" Fisher
- Howard Freeman as Arthur Timkin
- Alan Reed as Harry Patullo
- Paul Ford as Judge Byron
- Harry Bellaver as Bailiff
- George Chandler as Lester Hubley
- Frank Conlan as John Brokaw
- Charles Meredith as Lyle Pettijohn
- Marjorie Bennett as Mrs. Moore
- Edith Evanson as Mary Travers
- Sumner Getchell as John Simon
Unbilled (in order of appearance)
- Ford Rainey as Ernest Craig
- Whit Bissell as Defense attorney
- Ned Glass as O'Hanlon
- Creighton Hale as Reporter
- Frank Marlowe as Reporter
- Frank Cady as Geologist
- Isabel Withers
- Weldon Heyburn
Critical reception
In his review in The New York Times, Bosley Crowther described the film as "modest entertainment" and "an obviously hacked out affair which turns on a bit of terminal plotting that is flatly mechanical and contrived". According to Crowther, "the limits of plausibility are unmistakably stretched"; "Miss Rogers and Mr. Morgan are pretty dreary throughout the film. However, their fellow jurors are a remarkably entertaining lot, picturesque in theatrical fashion, and the minor salvation of the show."[4]
See also
References
- Variety film review; March 1, 1950, page 6.
- Harrison's Reports film review; March 4, 1950, page 35.
- Lorraine LoBianco. "Perfect Strangers (1950)". Turner Classic Movies.
- New York Times review