The Great Gildersleeve (1942)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Jack Townley (screenplay) and
Julien Josephson (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 January 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

"GILDY'S" A SCREEN STAR NOW! One Of Radio's Biggest Laugh Shows On the Screen For The FIRST TIME!

Plot:

Gildersleeve, a small town bachelor, has slapstick troubles with a husband-hunting woman and two helpful kids.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Nephew | Niece | Sleeping Bag | Cat

Cast

Harold Peary	...	Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve
Jane Darwell	...	Aunt Emma Forrester
Nancy Gates	...	Marjorie Forrester
Charles Arnt	...	Judge Horace Hooker
Freddie Mercer	...	LeRoy Forrester
Thurston Hall	...	Governor John Stafford
Lillian Randolph	...	Birdie Lee Calkins
Mary Field	...	Amelia Hooker
George M. Carleton	...	Frank Powers (as George Carleton)

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #8843) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

This was the first of four feature films based on Harold Peary's popular radio character "The Great Gildersleeve". The next two features would be released later the same year, and the fourth released the following year (1944).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Peeks at Hollywood (1945)

Soundtrack:

My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)

Gildersleeve makes transition from radio to screen...

HAROLD PEARY brings his trademark laugh and distinctive voice to the screen in the first of the Gildersleeve films starring him in the title role. It's strictly corny, lowbrow comedy but lots of fun, an unpretentious little programmer from the early, patriotic '40s.

With a running time of one hour and two minutes, it seems more like a back to back half-hour TV situation comedy in style with the running joke being Gildersleeve's attempt to remain the bachelor guardian of two children and suspected of having marriage plans with the plain spinster mistakenly assumed to be his intended.

Nice support from JANE DARWELL as his efficient Aunt Emma, willing to help Gildersleeve with his household responsibilities and NANCY GATES as one of his charges. Much of the humor springs from Peary's comic skill with slapstick material as he mismanages everything.

CHARLES ARNT as a befuddled and irate Judge Hooker is effective in a supporting role, as is MARY FIELD as his sister, the unattractive spinster.

Anyone familiar with the Gildersleeve of radio fame is sure to enjoy this situation comedy from the Golden Age of B-film programmers.