Fred MacMurray

  • Claude Binyon – Family Honeymoon (1948)

    1941-1950ClassicsClaude BinyonComedyScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    Grant Jordan, bachelor botany professor, marries Katie, a widow with three kids, despite the machinations of Grant’s former girlfriend Minna. But on the wedding day, Aunt Jo, who was to babysit, breaks a leg; so the kids come along on the honeymoon. After misadventures en route, they make it to the Grand Canyon, only to find Minna there, still scheming.Read More »

  • Douglas Sirk – There’s Always Tomorrow (1955)

    1991-2000Douglas SirkDramaRomanceUSA

    Quote:
    Clifford Groves, toy manufacturer, is in full charge at the factory but feels left out and taken for granted by his wife and children at home. Alone and depressed, he meets old flame Norma, and one thing leads to another. While their relationship is still fairly innocent, his son Vinnie sees them together and suspects the worst. It’s time for tortured souls behind rain-streaming windows…Read More »

  • Mitchell Leisen – Suddenly, It’s Spring (1947)

    1941-1950ComedyMitchell LeisenUSA

    Review Summary
    A post-WWII romantic comedy that explores the effects of the war on American marriage, this film stars Fred MacMurray and Paulette Goddard as Peter and Mary Morley, a pair of constantly fighting attorneys. They are on the verge of breaking up their marriage when the war breaks out. Mary goes into the Women’s Army Corps, and when she returns after the war, she’s no longer sure if she wants a divorce. In her absence, however, Peter has hooked up with Gloria Fay (Arleen Whelan), who demands that he sign the divorce papers. In turn, Jack Lindsay (MacDonald Carey, one of Peter’s clients, has fallen for Mary, but he doesn’t want to move in with her until the divorce is official. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Edward H. Griffith – One Night in Lisbon (1941)

    1941-1950ComedyEdward H. GriffithRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    synopsis
    One Night in Lisbon is one of several pre-1942 films which used the screwball-comedy form to comment upon the raging war in Europe. While transporting American warplanes to the beleagured RAF, Texas flyboy Dwight Houston (Fred MacMurray) is caught in a London air raid. Scurrying to a shelter, Dwight meets icy, well-bred Briton Leonora Pettycote (Madeleine Carroll), with whom he falls in love–a feeling that is far from mutual at first. Eventually responding to Dwight’s charms, Leonora agrees to join him for a night’s revelries (as soon as the Nazi bombers head home, that is), but their budding relationship is complicated by the unexpected presence of Dwight’s ex-wife Gerry Houston (Patricia Morrison and Leonora’s erstwhile sweetheart, Cmdr. Peter Walmsley (John Loder). Escaping their respective suitors, Dwight and Leonara end up in neutral Lisbon, only to land in the middle of a Nazi spy ring.Read More »

  • Lloyd Bacon – An Innocent Affair (1948)

    1941-1950ComedyLloyd BaconRomanceUSA

    From start to finish this little known throwback to the best mad-cap screwball comedies of the 1930s is guaranteed to tickle the most jaded funny bone. Vincent Doane, played by Fred MacMurray, is a successful advertising executive who has come under severe scrutiny by his wife of five years, Paula, played by the gorgeous Madeleine Carroll, for the simple reason that he has been keeping rather late nights trying to woo a rather wealthy client, a Mr. Fraser, into signing a lucrative contract. The problem is Paula has serious doubts about the veracity of her husband’s story, thinking that Mr. Fraser is in reality, well, you guessed it. In order to cover up the real identity of his client–and it really is a client–Vincent goes to great lengths, entangling himself further and further into a hilarious web of lies and misadventures that, in the hands of a master comedian like Fred MacMurray, are simply unforgettable.Read More »

  • Billy Wilder – The Apartment [+Commentary] (1960)

    1951-1960Billy WilderClassicsComedyUSA

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    The Apartment is a 1960 American comedy-drama film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, which stars Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray. It was Wilder’s next movie after Some Like It Hot and, like its predecessor, a commercial and critical smash, grossing $25 million at the box office. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, and won five, including Best Picture. The film was the basis of the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises, with book by Neil Simon, music by Burt Bacharach, and lyrics by Hal David.

    Synopsis:
    A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.Read More »

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