Marry Me Again (1953)

73 mins | Romantic comedy | 22 October 1953

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writer:

Frank Tashlin

Producer:

Alex Gottlieb

Cinematographer:

Robert de Grasse

Editor:

Edward Mann

Production Designer:

Daniel Hall

Production Company:

Wedding Pictures, Inc.
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HISTORY

According to a HR news item, Milton Gunzberg 's Natural Vision Corp., a company specializing in 3-D pictures, was set to make the film with Alex Gottlieb, but withdrew from the project due to financing delays. Gottlieb produced the picture in standard format, with financing from Chemical Bank & Trust Co. and three Chicago backers, headed by David Bright. According to a Jul 1953 LADN news item, Gottlieb approached Frank Tashlin to write the picture, and Tashlin agreed to do the screenplay in two to three weeks, on condition that he also be allowed to direct it. Tashlin completed the script in two weeks, and shot it in sixteen days. The director attributed his speed to the fact that both Marie Wilson and Robert Cummings had extensive television experience, Wilson on the My Friend Irma program, and Cummings on My Hero. Reviewers also pointed out that Cummings' character in Marry Me Again was similar to the one he played on My Hero, a bumbling real estate agent named "Robert S. Beanblossom."
       As noted in the LADN news item, Tashlin postponed his own wedding to supporting player Mary Costa in order to direct the film. The couple married shortly after production was completed. Costa, who made her screen acting debut in the picture, was an opera singer and later provided the voice of "Sleeping Beauty" in Walt Disney's 1959 film of the same name (See Entry). Wilson was married to associate producer Robert Fallon at the time of production. ...

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According to a HR news item, Milton Gunzberg 's Natural Vision Corp., a company specializing in 3-D pictures, was set to make the film with Alex Gottlieb, but withdrew from the project due to financing delays. Gottlieb produced the picture in standard format, with financing from Chemical Bank & Trust Co. and three Chicago backers, headed by David Bright. According to a Jul 1953 LADN news item, Gottlieb approached Frank Tashlin to write the picture, and Tashlin agreed to do the screenplay in two to three weeks, on condition that he also be allowed to direct it. Tashlin completed the script in two weeks, and shot it in sixteen days. The director attributed his speed to the fact that both Marie Wilson and Robert Cummings had extensive television experience, Wilson on the My Friend Irma program, and Cummings on My Hero. Reviewers also pointed out that Cummings' character in Marry Me Again was similar to the one he played on My Hero, a bumbling real estate agent named "Robert S. Beanblossom."
       As noted in the LADN news item, Tashlin postponed his own wedding to supporting player Mary Costa in order to direct the film. The couple married shortly after production was completed. Costa, who made her screen acting debut in the picture, was an opera singer and later provided the voice of "Sleeping Beauty" in Walt Disney's 1959 film of the same name (See Entry). Wilson was married to associate producer Robert Fallon at the time of production.

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PERSONAL & COMPANY INDEX CREDITS
HISTORY CREDITS
CREDIT TYPE
CREDIT
Corporate note credit:
General (mod):
SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
19 Sep 1953
---
Daily Variety
18 Sep 1953
p. 3
Film Daily
23 Sep 1953
p. 6
Hollywood Reporter
9 Jun 1953
---
Hollywood Reporter
12 Jun 1953
p. 11
Hollywood Reporter
18 Sep 1953
p. 3
Los Angeles Daily News
2 Jul 1953
---
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
26 Sep 1953
p. 2006
Variety
23 Sep 1953
p. 24
CAST
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
PRODUCTION COMPANY
PRODUCTION TEXT
A David Bright Enterprise; An Alex Gottlieb Production
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTORS
Dial dir
Robert G. Vreeland
Asst dir
PRODUCERS
Assoc prod
WRITERS
From a story by
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dir of photog
ART DIRECTOR
Daniel Hall
Art dir
FILM EDITOR
Film ed
COSTUMES
Miss Wilson's ward
MUSIC
Mus comp and cond
SOUND
MAKEUP
Makeup
PRODUCTION MISC
Prod supv
Asst to prod
Scr supv
DETAILS
Release Date:
22 October 1953
Production Date:
began 9 Jun 1953 at Motion Picture Center
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
RKO Pictures, Inc.
23 September 1953
LP3010
Physical Properties:
Sound
Western Electric Recording
Black and White
Duration(in mins):
73
Length(in feet):
6,582
Length(in reels):
8
Country:
United States
Language:
English
PCA No:
16618
SYNOPSIS

During the Korean War, moments before Bill Anderson, a gas station attendant, and legal secretary Doris Doolittle are to be married in a San Fernando, California chapel, Bill receives a summons from the War Department and must leave without completing the ceremony. Bill, a fighter pilot, distinguishes himself in battle, and upon returning to San Fernando, is given a hero's welcome by the townspeople. While thanking the crowd with Bill, Doris invites everyone to their wedding the following night. Later, exhausted from the day's activities, Bill falls asleep at the apartment Doris shares with co-worker Joan Paxton and is in a deep sleep when Doris' boss, Mr. Taylor, arrives to inform Doris that her maiden aunt Minerva has died in San Francisco and left her one million dollars. Though ecstatic, Doris decides not to tell Bill about her windfall, as he has stated publicly that he is to be the sole breadwinner in their family. Leaving the still slumbering Bill behind, Doris flies to San Francisco and arranges with Courtney, her aunt's lawyer, to get the bulk of her money in cash once probate has been settled. Doris asks Courtney to keep her inheritance a secret, but the lawyer calls the press as soon as she leaves. On the plane home, Doris sees a front-page newspaper story about her inheritance and panics. The unsuspecting Bill, meanwhile, drops by a new housing complex designed for returning veterans and fantasizes about bringing Doris there for the first time. Later, at the gas station where he works, Bill is perplexed when a customer makes an oblique comment about Doris' wealth and then misdirects a television reporter looking for the lucky ...

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During the Korean War, moments before Bill Anderson, a gas station attendant, and legal secretary Doris Doolittle are to be married in a San Fernando, California chapel, Bill receives a summons from the War Department and must leave without completing the ceremony. Bill, a fighter pilot, distinguishes himself in battle, and upon returning to San Fernando, is given a hero's welcome by the townspeople. While thanking the crowd with Bill, Doris invites everyone to their wedding the following night. Later, exhausted from the day's activities, Bill falls asleep at the apartment Doris shares with co-worker Joan Paxton and is in a deep sleep when Doris' boss, Mr. Taylor, arrives to inform Doris that her maiden aunt Minerva has died in San Francisco and left her one million dollars. Though ecstatic, Doris decides not to tell Bill about her windfall, as he has stated publicly that he is to be the sole breadwinner in their family. Leaving the still slumbering Bill behind, Doris flies to San Francisco and arranges with Courtney, her aunt's lawyer, to get the bulk of her money in cash once probate has been settled. Doris asks Courtney to keep her inheritance a secret, but the lawyer calls the press as soon as she leaves. On the plane home, Doris sees a front-page newspaper story about her inheritance and panics. The unsuspecting Bill, meanwhile, drops by a new housing complex designed for returning veterans and fantasizes about bringing Doris there for the first time. Later, at the gas station where he works, Bill is perplexed when a customer makes an oblique comment about Doris' wealth and then misdirects a television reporter looking for the lucky new millionaire. At Doris' request, Joan races to the gas station and asks Mac, Bill's boss and best friend, to keep Bill from finding out about her inheritance until after the wedding. Mac takes Bill drinking all day, then frantically sobers him up before the wedding. On the way to the chapel, however, Bill, an avid smoker, stops at a drug store for cigarettes and sees a television broadcast about Doris. Enraged, Bill bursts into the chapel and accuses Doris of making him look like a fool. When Doris refuses to call off the wedding, Bill stomps off, yelling. Later, Doris, who has been allowed to draw funds from her aunt's account, shows up at Mac's station in an expensive sports car and, calling Bill a "big drip," antagonizes him with her wealth. Unable to deal with his new status as the local jerk, Bill decides to re-enlist in the Air Force. However, while being examined by two military psychiatrists, who are intent on finding out why he refused to marry Doris, Bill loses control and kisses a WAC. Doris, meanwhile, visits her own psychiatrist, Dr. Pepperdine, and gets the idea to win Bill back by making him jealous. Doris recruits a reluctant Pepperdine to be her date at the movies that night and tells Joan to have Bill there at the same time. Doris shows up late at the theater and is unaware that Bill has brought the WAC with him. When the newsreel starts, Bill is startled to see Doris on the screen, talking to the audience about being in love with an idiot. Bill becomes upset and upon noticing Pepperdine with Doris, starts a fight. Bill is arrested and thrown in jail, but Doris is satisfied that he still loves her, despite the WAC, and decides to get rid of her inheritance. While Doris telephones Courtney with instructions to deliver her money that night, the now-free Bill announces to Mac that he is quitting and leaving town. After Eddie Jenkins, a former Air Force buddy, tells him that the veterans' housing project is a scam, however, Bill goes to Doris' home, intending to ask her to use her inheritance to help veterans. To his surprise, Joan and Mr. Taylor are there, busily working on Doris' plan to donate her million dollars to a veterans' housing project. Without reconciling with Bill, Doris leaves to pick up her cash at the airport, and Joan tells Bill that Doris is now flat broke. Guilt-ridden, Bill hops in his car and chases after Doris, who collects her suitcase from Courtney at the airport. Unknown to Doris, Courtney and his secretary, Miss Craig, have hired three thugs to follow Doris and steal the money from her. On the road home, Doris meets Bill, and the two happily renew their wedding plans, then are set upon by the armed thugs. Bill, however, tricks the thieves into taking an empty suitcase and zooms off with Doris and the cash. The thugs soon resume the chase and wind up fighting the couple outside the San Fernando Wedding Chapel. After thrashing the thieves and presenting them to the police, Bill and Doris, sporting matching black eyes, finally get married.

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Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

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