Penny Serenade 1941

Penny Serenade

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

75%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 5,213

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Penny Serenade Photos

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Movie Info

Since marrying Roger Adams (Cary Grant), Julie (Irene Dunne) has wanted to start a family. An accident while she's visiting Japan causes a miscarriage and makes Julie incapable of having children. After they adopt a little girl, Trina (Eva Lee Kuney), Roger's small newspaper folds, and the couple has to fight in court to keep her. Even though they succeed, another tragedy strikes out of nowhere. The Adams' marriage looks headed for divorce, unless something brings them close again.

Genre:

drama
Original Language:

English
Director:

George Stevens
Producer:

George Stevens
Release Date (Streaming):

Nov 27, 2013
Runtime:

1h 58m
Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation
Sound Mix:

Mono
Aspect Ratio:

Flat (1.37:1)

Cast & Crew

Irene Dunne
Julie Gardiner Adams

Cary Grant
Roger Adams

Beulah Bondi
Miss Oliver

Edgar Buchanan
Applejack Carney

Ann Doran
Dotty "Dot"

Eva Lee Kuney
Trina (Age 6)

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Penny Serenade

All Critics (17) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (1)

George Stevens' direction and the excellence of the stars' playing make the film.

November 13, 2007 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic
This is a classic 'women's picture' in every sense.

June 24, 2006 | Full Review…

Time Out
Top Critic
If you are prone to easy weeping, you might even take along a washtub.

March 25, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…

Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic
If you have any tolerance for soap opera, this is one of the classics.

January 1, 2000 | Full Review…

Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic
Its objectives are excellently realized, and it stands as a visual refutation of the industry's axiom that movies must move.

October 31, 2019 | Full Review…

John Kinloch
California Eagle
The film has in its plot a note of originality and touches the of paternal feeling with delicacy. [Full review in Spanish]

September 18, 2019 | Full Review…

Elena de la Torre
Cine-Mundial
George Stevens' sentimental melodrama is extremely well acted by Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, who received for his part of a depressed father the first of his two Oscar nominations.

April 29, 2012 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
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.

November 13, 2007 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

TV Guide
...entertaining enough to warrant a mild recommendation...

January 26, 2007 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
A women's weepie picture.

August 18, 2005 | Rating: B | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Lesser seen Cary Grant, but very compelling.

October 16, 2004 | Rating: 5/5

Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan
Quote not available.

October 10, 2004 | Rating: 4/5

Matt Bailey
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

View All Critic Reviews (17)

Audience Reviews for Penny Serenade

Feb 04, 2014

A weeper. It is interesting to see Cary Grant in very uncomfortable situations. It veers too much into the soap opera realm but is nonetheless a good afternoon film.

John B Super Reviewer
Apr 10, 2013

Love, marriage, and parenthood, all the bittersweet magnificence of life is on display in "Penny Serenade", a sentimental little film from 1941. Cary Grant and Irene Dunne star as the lovers who, as the movie opens, seem doomed to separate. As she's packing to leave her husband, she finds a box of old records and begins to listen to them. Each record is tied to a specific place and time in her mind, unlocking memories that show a relationship unfold as the movie progresses. The song she was playing at the record store where she worked when they first met or the song that reminded her of the time they spent living in Japan, each is a poignant little chapter in the lives of these two people. But why is she leaving her husband? The answer reveals itself slowly and tragically. It's said that the human body is simply a vehicle for genes needing to replicate (Agent Scully, X-Files, season 4, episode 2), so the suggestion is that a body unable to reproduce might lose its purpose. If I can find any fault in "Penny Serenade", it's that the ending is wrapped up a little too neatly and perhaps a little too callously. There are some things in life you can't just kiss and make better. There are some losses that can't be cooled with an ice cream cone on the ride home. Dunne and Grant both deliver career-highlight performances (Grant was in fact, nominated for an Oscar), and maybe the ending was an audience appeasement. After all, when we've invested so much emotion into the characters, it would be cruel not to give some light at the end of the tunnel.

Devon B Super Reviewer
Sep 05, 2010

This is a very sentimental, sappy, but realistic drama of a young couple. It's good, but I'm not a big fan of the film, although I loved Grant in it.

Aj V Super Reviewer
Jun 23, 2010

Such a sad-y! My biggest problem with this film was the time passage in records. Cutting back to Irene Dunne and all she did was change records, circle into "a few years" later deal and it got old. There are better ways to tell passage of time. That aside, Cary Grant's cracking voice in the courtroom teared me up. The man is such an acting god.

Jennifer D Super Reviewer