Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten, and Shirley Temple star in "I'll Be Seeing You"

I’ll Be Seeing You (1944) is an American drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotten, and Shirley Temple. Members of the supporting cast include Spring Byington, Tom Tully, Chill Wills, and John Derek. The cinematography was by Tony Gaudio.

Mary Marshall (Rogers), is on an eight-day furlough from prison to spend the Christmas Holidays with her aunt (Byington), uncle (Tom Tully), and cousin Barbara (Temple). Sergeant Zachary Morgan (Cotton) a victim of shell shock (PTSD) has been granted a ten-day leave from a military hospital to see if he could adjust to everyday life. Mary and Zach meet on the train to Pinehill and both lie about their current circumstances.

Will they find out the truth about each other and will it matter in the end?

William Dieterle (1893 -1972) was a German-born actor and director who emigrated to the United States in 1930. He worked in Hollywood as a director directing such classics as The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), and The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941). Dieterle directed two pictures starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotton: Love Letters (1945) and Portrait of Jennie (1948). Dieterle also directed Charlton Heston in his Hollywood debut Dark City (1950). 

Ginger Rogers (1911 – 1995) was an American actor, singer, and dancer. She made nine films with Fred Astaire which revolutionized movie musicals of the day and made them both superstars. Rogers went on the star in dramatic and comedy films including Kitty Foyle which won her the Academy Award for Best Actress of 1940. She beat out Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story), Joan Fontaine (Rebecca), Bette Davis (The Letter), and Martha Scott (Our Town). During the 1940s, Rogers was a  top box office star and one of the highest-paid movie stars in Hollywood. Her film career slowed in the 1950s but she continued working on the stage and in television. Some other Rogers films include Bachelor Mother (1939), Primrose Path (1940), Tom, Dick and Harry (1941), The Major and the Minor (1942), Lady in the Dark (1944), and Week-End at the Waldorf (1945).

Joseph Cotten and Ginger Rogers meet on the train to Pinehill

Joseph Cotten (1905 - 1994) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actor. Cotten achieved fame on Broadway in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair.  He became famous worldwide after appearing in Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). As one of the most popular leading men of the 1940s, Cotten starred in Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Gaslight (1943), Duel in the Sun (1946), and The Third Man (1949). Cotten alternated between work on stage and film into the late-1950s. Cotten also appeared on television guest-starring on The Name of the Game, Cimarron Strip, and Ironside. Cotten’s last film role was in 1981.

Shirley Temple (1928 – 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat. Temple was Hollywood’s number-one box-office star from 1934 to 1938. As the most famous child star of all time, Temple achieved worldwide fame. Her films are still popular today. Some of Temple’s movies during her child star period include Baby Take a Bow (1934), Bright Eyes (1934), Captain January (1936), Stowaway (1936), Heidi (1937), Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), and The Little Princess (1939). Her popularity as a top star at Twentieth-Century Fox ended with the release of The Blue Bird (1940). The film was Fox’s answer to The Wizard of Oz (1930) but it was a disaster with critics and more importantly with audiences. She had some success as a teen star in films like Since You Went Away (1944) and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947). Temple turned to politics in the 1960s. She was the United States Ambassador to Ghana (1974 – 1976). She was the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States (1976 – 1977) where she was in charge of President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration and inaugural ball. She was appointed the United States Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1989 – 1992) by George H. W. Bush.

I'll Be Seeing You trivia

• Joan Fontaine was originally set to star but had to drop out due to other commitments.
• Joseph Cotten was Hitchcock's first choice for the male lead in Spellbound (1945) but due to his role in this film, Gregory Peck was cast.
• George Cukor was the original director but was replaced by Dieterle.
• Actor Tom Tully who plays Uncle Henry is twenty-two years younger than Spring Byington who plays Aunt Sarah.

To watch the film on YouTube click on the link below.

Discussion questions

1. How does this film match up with other World War II films about veterans suffering from trauma?
2. Do you think the relationship between Cotten and Rogers is believable?
3. What did you think of the film's production?
4. Were you surprised to see Shirley Temple in the role of Barbara?
5. How do you think audiences in 1944 reacted to this film?

To join the discussion on November 7, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to the discussion on Zoom.

Screening of "Stage Door" at Daystar Center August 11

Stage Door (1937)

Where: Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street, Room 102

When: August 11, 2018

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Hosted by Stephen Reginald

Stage Door (1937) is a comedy/drama about aspiring actresses trying to make it big on Broadway. The actresses all live in the same theatrical boarding house, which is the setting for some of the wittiest dialogue ever put on film. The all-star cast includes Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Andrea Leeds, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, and Ann Miller. This is the movie where Hepburn actually says, “the calla lilies are in bloom again.”

Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, and Katharine Hepburn

Directed by the great Gregory La Cava (My Man Godfrey 1936) who manages to get magnificent performances from all the players. One of the great movies from the 1930s.

Backstory: In 1937, Katharine Hepburn’s career was in decline. She had starred in several back-to-back box office failures. On the on the other hand, Ginger Roger’s career was exploding. Having become a superstar as Fred Astaire’s premier dancing partner, she had begun to branch out in dramatic and comedy roles on her own. Hepburn’s role was initially diminished to that of a supporting player with Rogers being the main star. Hepburn complained to the bosses at RKO and director La Cava and she eventually got her part increased and shared equal billing with Rogers on screen and in publicity materials. After the release of Bringing Up Baby (1938), which was another box office flop, Hepburn was out at RKO and off the screen for two years until her triumph in The Philadelphia Story (1940).

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion

Twice a month we screen classic films and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill’s The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts “Chicago Film Club,” a monthly movie event held in the South Loop, for the past two years. Reginald has also taught several adult education film classes at Facets Film School, Chicago.

2017 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival (#TCMFF) Recap: The Second Day

Hollywood, Friday April 7
Friday was the first full day of the festival. Screenings start as early as 9 a.m. and there are usually several good movies to choose from. My early morning choices were, Rafter Romance (1933), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Cry, The Beloved Country (1951), Beyond the Mouse the 1930s Cartoons of UB Iwerks, and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). It wasn’t that long ago that I saw The Maltese Falcon on the big screen at a Fathom/TCM event. I didn’t want to commit to It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, a long, long, long, long movie, but I did want to keep with the comedy theme of the festival, so it was Rafter Romance over Cry, The Beloved Country.

Norman Foster, Ginger Rogers, George Sidney, and Laura Hope Crews

I never saw Rafter Romance before so I thought I’d give this pre-Code comedy a try. It starred Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster, who was married to Claudette Colbert (1928 –1935). The plot revolved around two people sharing the same apartment, but never actually meeting because one works during the day and one works during the evening. This improbable premise worked remarkably well and I was happy to go along for the ride. Rogers and Foster were very appealing as the leads and the supporting cast was terrific. Laura Hope Crews was hilarious as a rich patron who wanted to be Foster’s mistress. Foster, an artist, wants nothing to do with Crews. Crews, whose character is fond of alcohol, steals every scene she’s in. The cast also includes a young (ish) Robert Benchley as Rogers’s boss who is constantly asking her out on dates, only to have her refuse his advances. I found the movie absolutely delightful and was glad I choose it as my first movie of the day. Before the film, there was a brief discussion on how Rafter Romance was out of circulation for decades due to licensing and rights issues. TCM acquired the rights to the film in 2006 and “created restored prints with the help of the Library of Congress and Brigham Young University.”

Rafter Romance was screened in the Egyptian Theatre and so was my next choice, One Hour with You (1932). It was competing with Born Yesterday (1950), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), and Beat the Devil (1953). One Hour with You was another movie I had never seen before. This pre-Code musical starred Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, and Genevieve Tobin. The Ernst Lubitsch musical comedy centers around Chevalier and MacDonald as a happily married couple whose bliss is compromised when Chevalier is seduced by MacDonald’s best friend (Tobin). The film follows Chevalier as he struggles with his love for his wife and his attraction to Tobin. In the hands of Lubitsch and Chevalier, these struggles are incredibly comical. Chevalier breaks the fourth wall, as he constantly speaks (and sings) directly to the audience. Adding to the comedy mix are Roland Young and Charles Ruggles, but it’s Chevalier that makes this musical farce work. He’s charming, naive, sophisticated, and hysterical all at the same time. One Hour with You was another enjoyable movie experience for me. “But oh that Mitzie!”

Ben Mankiewicz and Peter Bogdanovich

After those two comedies, I took a break from the movies to go to Club TCM for “A Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich.” Like Martin Scorsese, Bogdanovich is a director and film historian in his own right. He’s interviewed some of the greatest directors from Hollywood’s Golden Age, including John Ford and Howard Hawks. He’s a terrific storyteller and does great impersonations of Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, and Orson Welles. He was at his best when he was recounting stories of those Hollywood legends. He also discussed his film career and spoke about how he got started as a director. Bogdanovich wrote an article on film for Esquire magazine that caught the attention of producer/director Roger Corman. He ended up working with Corman on the film Targets (1968) starring Boris Karloff. He also spoke about his early directorial successes: The Last Picture Show (1971), What’s Up Doc? (1972), and Paper Moon (1973). I think I could listened to his stories for days on end; he was that entertaining.

Next up was a movie epic that I had never seen from beginning to end: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). It was shown at the Chinese Theatre in a restored digital presentation. The movie did not disappoint. The production was impressive, as were the performances of William Holden, Jack Hawkins, and Alec Guinness who won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as the by-the-book British colonel in a Japanese POW camp. This was director David Lean’s first big budget movie. It was a critical as well as an international box office success. I’m glad I finally got to see this film in its entirety. It more than lived up to its reputation. Alex Trebek introduced the film with some interesting trivia about the director and casts alleged womanizing!? Not sure how that added to the film’s enjoyment, but it was an interesting aside.

Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney in Laura

I was back at the Egyptian for the nitrate screening of Laura (1944). Laura is one of my favorite movies and Dana Andrews is my favorite movie star, so I was excited to see this classic on the big screen. After all the hype surrounding the nitrate screenings, I found this print lacking. It was dirty in spots, the focus was in and out, and worst of all, the film skipped and important dialogue was missed. If you’ve seen Laura, you know that the film is filled with great, witty dialogue. You don’t want to miss any of it. Parts of the film looked good, but overall, I was disappointed. Still, it was great to see Andrews, Gene Tierney (another favorite), Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, and Judith Anderson on the big screen. I wish we had been prepared for what to expect from this screening. If we were given a heads up as to its deficiencies and if they had pointed out the scenes that were sharp and worth noticing, I would have felt better about the overall experience. When you have a theatre like the Egyptian packed with films noir fans, you can expect some snipping—and there was quite a bit of it—about what we saw on the screen.

Even though I ended the evening on a bit of a sour note with Laura, I would have to declare the entire day a successful one. I got to see all the films I wanted to see and had a great time experiencing them with a live audience in true movie palaces.

Saturday brought more tough choices. Decisions, decisions!

Free screening of classic film “Flying Down to Rio” at Second Presbyterian Church

There will be a free screening of the classic film Flying Down to Rio (1933) at Second Presbyterian Church, 1936 South Michigan Avenue, Friday, February 17, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. The film features Long time church member Etta Moten Barnett (1901 –2004).

Etta Moten Barnett was an American actress and singer. She performed on stage in a revival of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, which became a signature role. On film she appeared in Pre-Code classics Ladies They Talk About (1933) starring Barbara Stanwyck and Gold Diggers of 1933 where she sang the classic “My Forgotten Man” with the film’s star Joan Blondell. In addition to appearing in films, her singing voice was dubbed for African American actress Theresa Harris in the film Professional Sweetheart starring Ginger Rogers (1933).

Flying Down to Rio features Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in their first film together, although Dolores del Rio and Gene Raymond are top-billed. Moten Barnett sings “The Carioca” while Rogers and Astaire performs the dance of the same name.

Etta Moten Barnett

Besides her connection to Second Presbyterian Church, Moten Barnett was active in the National Council of Negro Women, the Chicago Lyric Opera, Field and DuSable Museums, and the South Side Community Center.

Barnett Moten died of pancreatic cancer in 2004 at the age of 102.

The screening of this film is A Black History Month Event presented in celebration of the 175th Anniversary of Second Presbyterian Church. Free popcorn and soft drinks will be served at the movie screening.

A Tale of Two Chauffeurs: “Fifth Avenue Girl” and “Downton Abbey”

One of the great screwball comedies of 1939 was Gregory La Cava’s Fifth Avenue Girl starring Ginger Rogers. La Cava directed the better-known classics My Man Godfrey (1936) and Stage Door (1937). But as I’ve said before, 1939 was such an amazing year for classic films, it’s hard to keep track of them all. And like many other great films released that year, it’s been mostly forgotten.

Political drivers
What I find interesting about Fifth Avenue Girl is a similar plot point that seems to have been “borrowed” by the writers of Downton Abbey. The second season of the high-rated British TV drama featured the romance between Lady Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) and Downton chauffeur, Tom Branson (Allen Leech). Branson, is an Irish Republican, very political and interested in among other things, rights for women and freedom for Ireland. He objects to the class hierarchy he sees and experiences at Downton. But he’s drawn to Sybil and encourages her burgeoning independence, especially when it comes to her political views. Branson has socialist tendencies, which play out in the course of the series.

The Chauffer is a socialist!

“The nocturnal meanderings of the upper class do not interest me!”

In Fifth Avenue Girl, Rogers finds herself in the home of a wealthy New York City industrialist, Alfred Borden (Walter Connolly) who has a socialist chauffeur named Mike (James Ellison). Mike is constantly complaining about the inequities between the rich folk he works for and the servant class.

Upstairs and Downstairs
Instead of the chauffeur pursuing the industrialist’s daughter in Fifth Avenue Girl, Katherine Borden (Kathryn Adams) pursues the chauffeur. She doesn’t quite agree or understand all of his political philosophy, but finds him irresistible nonetheless. The rich daughter falling for a servant is hardly a new plot point. But what I found fascinating was the similarities between Mike, the chauffeur in Fifth Avenue Girl and Tom, the chauffeur on Downton.

“I’m a socialist, not a revolutionary and I won't always be a chauffeur.”

On the backs of the poor
Mike criticizes Mr. Borden and all he stands for. Tom is a little less harsh, although he thinks Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham and all his class has built their lives on the backs of the poor and less fortunate.

Both characters highlight the inequities in life, one (Mike) in a humorous way, the other (Tom) in a more serious manner.

What do you think, classic movie fans? Did Julian Fellowes see Fifth Avenue Girl? Do you think it may have influenced the story line of Downton Abbey?



Backstory on Fifth Avenue Girl : La Cava directed Ginger Rogers in three consecutive films: Stage Door, Fifth Avenue Girl, and Primrose Path (1940).

Howard Hawks and "His Girl Friday"

Howard Hawks is one of the greatest American movie directors of all time. Adept at all film genres, Hawks excelled at fast-paced screwball comedies like Twentieth Century, Bringing up Baby, and His Girl Friday.

His Girl Friday was a reworking of the Ben Hecht Charles MacArthur classic The Front Page. By making Hildy Johnson a woman and the ex-wife of editor Walter Burns, Hawks thought the dialogue was funnier and added a dimension that The Front Page lacked. This was a pretty risky decision at the time, since The Front Page was considered a classic not to be messed with.

Hawks's risk paid off and the casting of Cary Grant as Walter Burns and Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson was inspired. In Grant's capable hands, Walter Burns is a more complex character than he was in the original. In The Front Page, Burns is a total cad. He wants to lure Hildy back to the newspaper business for completely selfish motives. In His Girl Friday, Walter wants Hildy back at the paper because she's a great reporter, but also because he's still in love with her. Russell's Hildy is the perfect Hawksian heroine: self-assured, smart, and independent. It's hard to believe that Russell was the eighth choice to play Hildy Johnson. Jean Arthur, Katherine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Irene Dunne, Margaret Sullivan, and Ginger Rogers all turned the role down. Hawks wanted Carole Lombard, who he directed to stardom in Twentieth Century, but she was too expensive, working as an independent actress. Joan Crawford was even considered for the role.

Russell was so put off by being eighth on the list (ninth if you count Crawford) that the first time she met Hawks, she showed up with wet hair. She soon discovered that Hawks wanted her to succeed in the role and after a few rough patches early in the shooting, she quickly gained confidence, going toe-to-toe with the more experienced Grant (His Girl Friday was his third film with Hawks).

As the story goes, Hildy quits the paper to marry dependable, but dull, insurance salesman Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Tired of being a "newspaperman," Hildy says she wants a normal life of domesticity, but Walter suspects she's fooling herself, so he plots to lure her back to the paper and into his arms.

Hawks was never one for depicting domestic married life on the screen, preferring to portray the chase and the buildup to marriage, and no one  showcased the chase better than Hawks. Since Hawks admired smart, funny women, his heroines are never given short shrift on film. From camera angles to screen time, Grant and Russell are treated equally. One of the reasons Hawks's films still seem so fresh and contemporary is due to his strong female characterizations.

Howard Hawks directed some of the greatest films of all time and His Girl Friday is one of his best.

His Girl Friday opened at Radio City Music Hall on January 11, 1940.