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IMDb > Four Daughters (1938)

Four Daughters (1938) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.2/10   502 votes
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Down 10% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Writers:
Fannie Hurst (novel) and
Lenore J. Coffee (writer)
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Contact:
View company contact information for Four Daughters on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
9 August 1938 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Music | Romance more
Plot:
Musician Adam Lemp and his four equally musical daughters, Emma, Ann, Kay, and Thea, live happily together... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars. more
NewsDesk:
Soderbergh Refuses To Choose His Favorite
 (From WENN. 15 February 2001)

User Comments:
Fresh family drama introduced a new star . . . more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
90 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Australia:PG (TV rating) | Australia:G | Finland:S

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Remade as a musical, Young at Heart (1954) with Frank Sinatra and Doris Day. more
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...
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Movie Connections:
Version of Young at Heart (1954) more
Soundtrack:
Bridal Chorus more

FAQ

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21 out of 31 people found the following comment useful:-
Fresh family drama introduced a new star . . ., 8 March 2004
Author: tjonasgreen from New York, N.Y.

It isn't hard to see why frequent moviegoers in 1938, wise to the formulas of most movies, would have found FOUR DAUGHTERS a fresh and surprising picture. The story of four musical sisters and their romantic problems begins as conventionally as any Deanna Durbin musical but quickly evolves into an absorbing romantic melodrama.

Director Michael Curtiz keeps all four actresses bubbling sweetly and predictably, but when Jeffrey Lynn enters the picture trouble begins. Though one sister is engaged and another nearly so, all four in some way become smitten by this young musician. Then the script tops itself (and electrified audiences) by introducing a further complication named John Garfield. Cynical, depressive, darkly attractive and clearly a New York 'ethnic' type, Garfield is in every way the opposite of tall, handsome, WASPy Jeffrey Lynn, who in any other picture would probably have made more of an impression. Though friends, the men vie for Priscilla Lane, whose unaffected acting style creates a nice tension with both actors. Believing it best for her sister, Priscilla marries the wrong man, at once confounding and satisfying audience expectations. Halfway through this film you are apt to wonder what will happen next and how events will play out, which is not what you expect from the sunny opening.

Garfield's success overshadowed every other good thing about this film. Clearly Warners' thought they had a successor to Jimmy Cagney. In fact they had the forerunner of Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Montgomery Clift, Brando and James Dean, though Garfield was warmer and more likable than any of those.

This movie was remade in 1955 as a Technicolor musical called YOUNG AT HEART starring Doris Day and Frank Sinatra. Though not a bad idea in theory, the original is a better film.

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DVD now available directly from Warner Home Video! simonhowson
Four Daughters; Four Wives; and Four Mothers Question SabineHolterman
Don't forget the remake stevehazlett-1
Why is so hard to find this movie? catbrat101
quote help turpentinechaser87
DID HE COMMIT SUCIDE patriotswade
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