Casanova Brown (1944)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

Floyd Dell (play)
Nunnally Johnson (writer)

Release Date:

26 December 1944 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Don Juan did all right in his day...but he was a piker compared to Casanova Brown

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Beautiful Woman | Marriage | Baby | Based On Play

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Casanova (Cass) Brown
Teresa Wright	...	Isabel Drury
Frank Morgan	...	Mr. Ferris
Anita Louise	...	Madge Ferris
Edmund Breon	...	Mr. Drury (as Edmond Breon)
Patricia Collinge	...	Mrs. Drury
Jill Esmond	...	Dr. Zernerke
Mary Treen	...	Monica Case, the Maid
Emory Parnell	...	Frank, the Bell Captain
Isobel Elsom	...	Mrs. Ferris
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Charles, the Butler
Charles Cane	...	Hicks
Larry Olsen	...	Junior (as Larry Joe Olsen)
Irving Bacon	...	Hotel manager
Dorothy Tree	...	Nurse Clark

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Nunnally Johnson Productions

Movie Connections:

Version of Little Accident (1939)

A Forgotten Gem of a Movie

I just watched Casanova Brown (1944) for the first time. Though it is not Gary Cooper or Teresa Wright's best movie, (The Pride of the Yankess was the best acting performance for either), it is still a cute little comedy.

Cooper plays Casanova Brown a college English teacher. He is about to be married when he receives a letter from a maternity hospital in Chicago. When his future father in law (Frank Morgan) asks him what it is all about he tells him a wild tale.

Within the last year Brown had met a young coed named Isabel Drury (Teresa Wright) they married but the marriage was annulled by her parents when Brown accidentally burns their $750,000 home down (a very funny scene).

He decides to go to Chicago and find out what happened. There he learns that his former wife just gave birth to their daughter and plans to give her up for adoption. Brown falls in love with the child and kidnaps her to keep her from being adopted.

Watching him care for the baby in his hotel room is very funny. The mother and her parents frantically search for the child. When they meet up Casanova and Isabel realize that they are still in love and get back together.

Great performance by Patrica Collinge as Wright's astrology loving mother. (Wright and Collinge seemed to have a special relationship on film. Collinge played Wright's aunt in "The Little Foxes", her mother in "Shadow of a Doubt" and once again as her mother in "Casanova Brown")

Watch for very touching scene late in the film in Brown's hotel room where Isabel (Wright) holds up the baby and Brown (Cooper) shows her how to burp their baby.

Teresa Wright is stunning in the film. Her face seems to glow in every shot. She looks better in this film then in any film she ever did.