You might also like
See More
Where to watch
Rate And Review
-
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.
What did you think of the movie? (optional)
How did you buy your ticket?
-
Fandango
-
AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew
-
Cinemark Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Regal Coming Soon
We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.
-
Theater box office or somewhere else
Penny Serenade Photos
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
-
Writer: Martha Cheavens, Morrie Ryskind
-
Release Date (Theaters): original
-
Release Date (Streaming):
-
Runtime:
-
Distributor: Columbia Pictures, Reel Media International [us], Republic Pictures
-
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
-
Sound Mix: Mono
-
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)
Cast & Crew
Critic Reviews for Penny Serenade
Audience Reviews for Penny Serenade
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Verified