Four Daughters
| Four Daughters | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Written by |
|
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on |
Sister Act by Fannie Hurst |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
| Edited by | Ralph Dawson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Four Daughters is a 1938 musical drama film that tells the story of a happy musical family whose lives and loves are disrupted by the arrival of a cynical young composer who interjects himself into the daughters' romantic lives. The movie stars the Lane Sisters (Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, and Lola Lane), and features Gale Page, Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, John Garfield and Dick Foran. The three Lanes were sisters and members of a family singing trio.
The film was written by Lenore J. Coffee and Julius J. Epstein, adapted from the Fannie Hurst novel Sister Act, and was directed by Michael Curtiz. The movie's success led to two sequels with more or less the same cast: Four Wives and Four Mothers.
Plot
The Lemp sisters, Emma (Gale Page), Thea (Lola Lane), Kay (Rosemary Lane), and Ann (Priscilla Lane) are prodigies in a musical family headed by their father, Adam (Claude Rains). The Lemps also run a boarding house, and among the tenants is Felix Deitz (Jeffrey Lynn), a young composer whom the four daughters want to attract.
Emma, the oldest daughter, is the object of affection of a neighbor, Ernest (Dick Foran), but she rebuffs his attentions. Thea, a pianist and the second eldest, is courted by wealthy Ben Crowley (Frank McHugh), another neighbor, but she is not sure she loves him. Kay, the third daughter, is a talented singer and has a chance at a music school scholarship but doesn't want to leave home. The youngest daughter is Ann, a violinist. Mickey (John Garfield), an orchestral arranger and friend of Felix, falls for Ann, but Felix also has had his eyes on her and proposes marriage.
Cast
 | Priscilla Lane as Ann Lemp |  | John Garfield as Mickey Borden |
 | Rosemary Lane as Kay Lemp |  | Jeffrey Lynn as Felix Deitz |
 | Lola Lane as Thea Lemp |  | May Robson as Aunt Etta |
 | Gale Page as Emma Lemp |  | Frank McHugh as Ben Crowley |
 | Claude Rains as Adam Lemp |  | Dick Foran as Ernest Talbot |
Academy Awards
- Nominations[1]
- Outstanding Production: Warner Bros.-First National
- Best Directing: Michael Curtiz
- Best Sound Recording: Warner Bros. Studio Sound Department, Nathan Levinson, Sound Director
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role: John Garfield
- Best Writing (Screenplay): Julius J. Epstein, Lenore Coffee
Four Daughters film series
Four Daughters is the first in a series of four films by Warner Bros. featuring the Lane Sisters and the other cast members. It was followed by 1939's Daughters Courageous, also directed by Michael Curtiz and co-starring Claude Rains and John Garfield, though it is a story about a different family. However, the storyline of Four Daughters and the Lemp family is continued in the 1940 film, Four Wives, and 1941's Four Mothers.
Remake
Four Daughters was remade in 1954 as Young at Heart starring Frank Sinatra and Doris Day.
References
- ↑ "The 11th Academy Awards (1939) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2014-02-24.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Four Daughters. |
- Four Daughters at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Four Daughters at the Internet Movie Database
- Four Daughters at AllMovie
- Four Daughters at the TCM Movie Database