Pillow to Post (1945)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Vincent Sherman

Writers:

Charles Hoffman (writer)
Rose Simon Kohn (play)

Release Date:

9 June 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

With a war on and most men being drafted, Howard Oil Supply Company has no salesmen left. So daughter Jean hits the road and does not make one sale...

Plot Keywords:

Saleswoman | Based On Play

Cast

Ida Lupino	...	Jean Howard
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Colonel Michael Otley
William Prince	...	Lieutenant Don Mallory
Stuart Erwin	...	Captain Jack Ross
Johnny Mitchell	...	Earl 'Slim' Clark
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mrs. Grace Wingate
Barbara Brown	...	Mrs. Kate Otley
Frank Orth	...	Clayfield Taxi Driver
Regina Wallace	...	Mrs. Mallory, Don's Mother
Willie Best	...	Lucille, Colonial Auto Court Porter
Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra	...	Themselves at the Tavern
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louis Armstrong	...	Orchestra Leader
Marie Blake	...	Wilbur's Mother (scenes deleted)
Bob Crosby	...	Clarence Wilson (scenes deleted)
Ferdinand Munier	...	Traveling salesman (scenes deleted)
Lynn Baggett	...	Disgruntled Traveler (uncredited)
Leah Baird	...	Sailor's Mother (uncredited)
Robert Blake	...	Wilbur (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler	...	Oil Well Foreman (uncredited)
Pat Clark	...	Sergeant's Girl (uncredited)
Joyce Compton	...	Gertrude Wilson, Army wife on bus (uncredited)
William Conrad	...	First Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)
Dorothy Dandridge	...	Herself - Vocalist (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Al - Army Sergeant in Jeep (uncredited)
Diane Dorsay	...	Mildred Henning (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	Louie - Army Sergeant in Jeep (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Officer at Auto Court (uncredited)
William Haade	...	Big Joe - Loolie's Drunken Date (uncredited)
Paul Harvey	...	J.R. Howard, Coast Oil Well Supply (uncredited)
Victoria Horne	...	Mildred Henry (uncredited)
Carol Hughes	...	Loolie Fisher (uncredited)
Charles Jordan	...	Cpl. Chuck Corliss (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey	...	Businessman (uncredited)
Ann Loos	...	Mrs. Pudge Corliss (uncredited)
Don McGuire	...	Archie, Sailor at Bus Station (uncredited)
James Metcalf	...	Major Strotz (uncredited)
Johnny Miles	...	Marine at The Tavern (uncredited)
Sue Moore	...	Doris Wilson (uncredited)
James Notaro	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Marianne O'Brien	...	Marine's Girl Friend (uncredited)
Anne O'Neal	...	Mrs. Bromley, USO Housing Clerk (uncredited)
John Sheridan	...	Private (uncredited)
Mabel Smaney	...	Truck Driver (uncredited)
Bunny Sunshine	...	Celeste Corliss (uncredited)
Grady Sutton	...	Alex, Coast Oil Flunky (uncredited)
Colleen Townsend	...	WAC's Daughter (uncredited)
Lelah Tyler	...	Jerry Martin (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincent Sherman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Charles Hoffman		writer
Rose Simon Kohn		play "Pillar to Post"

Produced by
Alex Gottlieb	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Friedrich Hollaender		(as Frederick Hollander)

Cinematography by
Wesley Anderson

Film Editing by
Alan Crosland Jr.

Art Direction by
Leo K. Kuter		(as Leo Kuter)

Set Decoration by
Walter F. Tilford

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jesse Hibbs	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles Lang	....	sound

Special Effects by
Warren Lynch	....	special effects

Editorial Department
James Leicester	....	montage

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Jerome Moross	....	orchestrator

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1945) (USA) (theatrical)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

William Conrad's first film project.

Quotes:

Jean Howard: Love is a beautiful thing.
Lieut. Don Mallory: I get two hours of it every Saturday night at a movie. That's enough for me.

Soundtrack:

Watcha Say?

Unheralded Screwball Comedy

This film hasn't been put on VHS or DVD. I saw it on the Turner Classic Movie channel in early July, 2007. What starts out to be a rather predictable wartime "B" light comedy, emerges shortly as a full-blown screwball comedy of the most delightful sort. Ida Lupino, of all people,shows that she can do comedy as well as Carol Lombard. After her years at Columbia, Warner Brothers finally discovered her broad acting talent. (Would that Columbia and MGM had discovered the comedic abilities of Lucille Ball decades earlier.) This low-budget gem, based on a play, reveals quite a bit about wartime America's economy and socio-economic structure. But mostly it's about a romantic entanglement and mistaken identity, two much-used devices that need first rate acting to pull off. Here, it happens. Even Sidney Greenstreet manages his atypical role in an impressive way. I don't know why the producers decided to insert a meaningless nightclub scene featuring two minutes of Louis Armstrong "and his orchestra," but perhaps this was just a way to attract more viewers. By the way, this is one of Willy Best's best films. He was finally given something to do in a movie that didn't involve Charlie Chan. Paul Harvey and William Prince also handled their roles admirably. In short, this is a long- forgotten winner.