This is a weeper from the start, with only a few moments of comedy placed in so the audience can dry their eyes before the next sentimental barrage.
Penny Serenade (1941)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 15
Fresh: 14
Rotten:1
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: In one of his rare departures from the realm of comedy, Cary Grant stars along with Irene Dunne in this sentimental tale about the marriage of Roger and Julie Adams.Told in flashbacks by Julie as... In one of his rare departures from the realm of comedy, Cary Grant stars along with Irene Dunne in this sentimental tale about the marriage of Roger and Julie Adams.Told in flashbacks by Julie as she considers divorce, the film limns the couple's earlier years, when her reluctant journalist boyfriend finally proposes after being posted in Japan by the newspaper where he works. When Julie joins him after a three-month delay, she announces that she's pregnant, and is greatly concerned by Roger's rash spending habits. Shortly thereafter, their house is destroyed by an earthquake, which also ends Julie's pregancy. The couple returns to San Francisco only to find that Julie will no longer be able to bear children. Hoping to cheer his wife, Roger floats the idea of buying a small-town newspaper, but she remains inconsolable. He goes ahead with his plan to buy the paper, and the twosome rent an apartment above its offices. Meanwhile, their friend Applejack (Edgar Buchanan) begins gently coaxing the couple to adopt a child. Although the film is awash in sentimentality, it remains curiously compelling, which can be attributed to Stevens restrained direction, the skillful interweaving of comic material, and excellent work by the two leads. [More]
Starring: Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Edgar Buchanan, Beulah Bondi
Starring: Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Edgar Buchanan, Beulah Bondi, Ann Doran, Wallis Clark, Walter Soderling, Edmund Elton
Director: George Stevens
Director: George Stevens
Producer: George Stevens
Screenwriter: Morrie Ryskind
Story: Martha Cheavens
Composer: W. Franke Harling
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Reviews for Penny Serenade
George Stevens' direction and the excellence of the stars' playing make the film.
If you are prone to easy weeping, you might even take along a washtub.
If you have any tolerance for soap opera, this is one of the classics.
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