Four Daughters (1938)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Fannie Hurst (novel) and
Lenore J. Coffee (writer)

Release Date:

9 August 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Plot:

Musician Adam Lemp and his four equally musical daughters, Emma, Ann, Kay, and Thea, live happily together...

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | Composer | Widower | Blizzard | Melodrama

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars.

Cast

Priscilla Lane	...	Ann Lemp
Rosemary Lane	...	Kay Lemp
Lola Lane	...	Thea Lemp
Gale Page	...	Emma Lemp
Claude Rains	...	Adam Lemp
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Felix Deitz
John Garfield	...	Mickey Borden
Dick Foran	...	Ernest Talbot
Frank McHugh	...	Ben Crowley
May Robson	...	Aunt Etta
Vera Lewis	...	Mrs. Ridgefield
Donald Kerr	...	Earl
Tom Dugan	...	Jake
Eddie Acuff	...	Sam
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joe Cunningham	...	Waiter
Wilfred Lucas	...	Doctor

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

John Garfield's first film and an Oscar nomination.

Quotes:

Mickey Borden: I wouldn't win first prize if I were the only entry in the contest.
Ann Lemp: Mathematically speaking, I think you'd stand a fine chance.
Mickey Borden: You think they'd let me win?
Ann Lemp: Who?
Mickey Borden: They.
Ann Lemp: Who?
Mickey Borden: The fates, the destinies, whoever they are that decide what we do or don't get.
Ann Lemp: What do you mean?
Mickey Borden: They've been at me now nearly a quarter of a century. No let-up. First they said, "Let him do without parents. He'll get along." Then they decided, "He doesn't need any education. That's for sissies." Then right at the beginning, they tossed a coin. "Heads he's poor, tails he's rich." So they tossed a coin...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Angels with Dirty Faces: Whaddya Hear? Whaddya Say? (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Serenade

Garfield classic

It's not hard to see why this powerful introduction to the public of one of the iconic film stars was so sensational. Not unlike Brando in Streetcar, except that the material is quite sentimental and makes Garfield's performance seem even that much edgier and magnetic. Not that this is a Life With Father With Angry Young Man, the script is intelligent and the conflicts believable. Priscilla Lane is wonderfully naturalistic as the youngest daughter with 2 men in love with her, including Garfield's Mickey Borden. And as always, Claude Rains' performance as the widower father and May Robson's as the live-in Aunt Etta, are fine and provide a lot of humor. The movie does have both a light and a heavy touch, intermingled deftly. Probably deserving of the Oscar nominations it received for 1938, but not of two sequels...