The Male Animal (1942)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Elliott Nugent

Writers:

Stephen Morehouse Avery (writer)
Julius J. Epstein (writer)

Release Date:

4 April 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists...

Plot Keywords:

Football | Teacher | Bonfire | Fistfight | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Prof. Tommy Turner
Olivia de Havilland	...	Ellen Turner
Joan Leslie	...	Patricia Stanley
Jack Carson	...	Joe Ferguson
Eugene Pallette	...	Ed Keller
Herbert Anderson	...	Michael Barnes
Hattie McDaniel	...	Cleota
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Dr. Fredrick Damon
Don DeFore	...	Wally Myers
Jean Ames	...	Hot Garters Gardner
Minna Phillips	...	Blanche Damon
Regina Wallace	...	Myrtle Keller
Frank Mayo	...	Coach Sprague
William B. Davidson	...	Alumnus at Rally
Bobby Barnes	...	Nutsy Miller

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Gene Tierney starred in the Broadway production as Patricia Stanley, she was to be loaned out to Warner Bros. but was cast in John Ford's Tobacco Road (1941) instead.

Quotes:

Ellen Turner: You'd better take a hot water bottle to bed with you.
Prof. Tommy Turner: Nice of you to arrange for a substitute.

Movie Connections:

Version of "BBC Play of the Month: The Male Animal (#4.2)" (1968)

Soundtrack:

The Old Grey Mare

The folly of jumping to conclusions

The lyrics of Jerome Kern's "Who" resonate throughout this movie as the lead characters battle one another, both rhetorically and physically, for answers to the big question "Who?" Who does Ellen Turner (Olivia de Havilland) really love? Who does Ed Keller (Eugene Palette) like? Who invited Joe Ferguson (Jack Carson), erstwhile beau to Ellen and football hero/legend at Midwestern U.? Who will save Ellen and Tommy from themselves? Who can save Michael Barnes (Herbert Anderson) from "Hot Garters" Gardner (Jean Ames)? Who is Wally Myers (Don DeFoe), the current football hero, really courting? Joe or Patricia (Joan Leslie)? And who is Bartolomeo Vanzetti? and what does he have in common with people like these? Tune in to the song: i.e. "Who stole my heart away?/Who makes me dream all day,/Dreams I know will never come true,/Seems like I'll always be blue./Who makes my happiness?/Who would I answer yes to?/Well, you oughta guess, Who? No one but you." Don't guess.

See the movie. You not only gotta see the movie, but you gotta hear it, too.