The Very Thought of You (Warner Bros.) (1944)

‘The Very Thought Of You,’ Heartwarming Romance, Opens At Strand Theatre (Prepared Review) A warmly moving story of our youth today, a tender tribute to their unwavering faith in the future, has been brought to the screen with all the humanness a really fine screen play and a select cast can achieve, in Warner Bros.’ heartwarming romance, “The Very Thought of You,’ which opened last night at the Strand Theatre. Dennis Morgan, Eleanor Parker and Dane Clark are starred. “The Very Thought of You” is the kind of picture you’ll take away with you when you leave the theatre, for it is made of the stuff that is “Yourtown,” U.S.A., today. It is a timely story of the problems facing all couples in love during war. Here are their hopes and plans, their hours of loneliness and tears, their brief moments of joy, their ringing laughter. And in their laughter and courage is the answer to all the problems awaiting us tomorrow. The film is concerned with the brief courtship and the equally hasty marriage of Dave and Janet, who firmly believe their love of just a few days is of enduring timber. The solution to this problem, which has faced so many of our young people, is a salute to the youngsters who have made their lives firm footholds in this overcast world at war. Dave (Dennis Morgan), a serviceman just home from overseas, and hopefully looking for some assurance that the hardships he has endured have not been in vain, is skillfully portrayed by Dennis Morgan. His characterization as the _ sensitive young builder, who by some trick of fate has been assigned to a demolition battalion, is the best job Morgan has done to date. The gentle manner in which he _ handles himself throughout the production should be ample proof that Mr. Morgan has now added another talent to his ever-growing list, to be displayed along with his other screen successes in musicals and farce comedies. In the difficult role of Janet, the girl in love, who defies the wrath of her family by marrying a boy she has known only a few days, Warners have wisely cast their new dramatic find, Eleanor Parker, most recently seen in “Between Two Worlds.” Janet’s choice is not an easy one, for in giving her love to Dave, she is forced to divorce herself from a family life which, although not entirely understanding, has sheltered her all her life. And in bearing Dave’s son while he is overseas, she is forced to gamble with a future that may bring her nothing more than memories of a happy but brief love. With a part so meaty, a less talented actress might fall into a quagmire of artificial emotions. Miss Parker, this reviewer is happy to say, comes through with a performance which is at once both deftly competent and refreshing. In direct contrast to the touching dramatic theme of this fine motion picture, Dane Clark’s robust comedy performance seems like a healthy echo of Bob Hope, who said, on his return from overseas, ‘Thank God the G.I. can still laugh!” Dane Clark, though a newcomer, is an actor who, we prophesy, will be with us for some time to come. His versatility and good natured puss make him the logical contender for those lush Warner “star-maker” roles. His performance as the rollicking, lovable, powerhouse kid, “Fixit,” is certain to win him innumerable new friends for his fastgrowing fan roster, for “Fixit,” as he brings him to the screen, Breaks Into Films With Lunch At Romanoff’s The latest theory on how to break into those glamorous motion picture studios is embodied in the case history of Andrea King. Andrea, an auburn haired, green eyed actress who looks a little like Ida Lupino, had been a New York stage performer since the age of eleven. Recently she decided to give up the stage and come to Hollywood. She had no contract, no offers of screen tests. She arrived on the gold coast and knew no one. Her only acquaintance was Mike Romanoff, the royalist and restaurateur. The Romanoff rotisserie is no coffee pot and even the crumbs that fall from the tables there are glamorous. Pooling their resources, Andrea and her younger sister Ann managed to get into the hash house and order some lunch. Andrea had been in town only two days. By some coincidence, Producer Jerry Wald of Warner Brothers was having lunch there too. He noticed Andrea. Wald was then about to put into production “The Very Thought of You,” the current attraction at the Strand Theatre which stars Dennis Morgan, Eleanor Parker and Dave Clark. He observed that Andrea would fit neatly into the role of Eleanor Parker’s sister. He sent her a note via the waiter. By the end of the week, Andrea was at Warners being screen-tested. She 4 was signed and got the role. Andrea’s first role, in “The Very Thought of You,” parallels her real life to some extent. She plays the part of a lonely girl whose husband is in the service overseas. Andrea’s husband, Lt. (j.g.) N. H. Willis, is on the Pacific front on duty with the Navy. Andrea has been a thespian for fourteen years. She is now twenty-five. Her first role was in “Growing Pains” and she has participated in “Angel Street,” “Boy Meets Girl,” “Girls in Uniform,” and “Life With Father.” She was born in Paris, but came to this country at the age of one and a half. Mat AK 110—15c Andrea King Her real name is Georgia Mc Kee. She is five feet five and weighs one hundred and twenty pounds. Andrea specializes in playing what she ealls “character ingenues, or ingenues with character.” Today, she gets preferred treatment when she goes to Romanoff’s which is her favorite restaurant. Incidentally, she was eating lamb kidneys with garlic when she was discovered by Hollywood. stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of our fighting men. Handing in fine performances in supporting roles are Faye Emerson, one of the most interesting featured players in Hollywood today, who plays a delightful Cora, foil for Clark’s engaging “Fixit”; Beulah Bondi, as the neurotic mother of a family of conflicting personalities; Henry Travers as Pop; William Prince, young New York stage find, doing well in the effective role of a sailor, returning to his faithless wife (Andrea King). John Alvin, Marianne O’Brien, Georgia Lee Settle, Dick (‘Janie’) Erdman are others whose performances add much to the film’s enjoyment. Delmer Daves, crackerjack seripter of “‘Love Affair,” and fresh from his directorial triumph with “Destination Tokyo,” rings the bell again with a fine piece of work, handling a difficult story theme, which he directed for Producer Jerry Wald. The special orchestral arrangements by Leo Arnaud, and the work of musical director Leo F. Forbstein do much to set the mood, while the lilting strains of Ray Noble’s “The Very Thought of You,” pleasantly revived from 1934, will find a place in your mind along with the songs of today, to be hummed over and over again. If the words, thoughts, and the music of “The Very Thought . of You” could presumably drift out across the seas, they might well act as a bridge of hope and reassurance between our men over there and their women over here. GAY COMEDY OPENING AT STRAND TONIGHT (Opening Day Reader) The problem of the relationship between soldier and civilian, an important current and post-war item, is tenderly and humorously surveyed in Warners’ new film, “The Very Thought Of You,” which opens tonight at the Strand Theatre. Its cast offers the most promising of that company’s new stars—Dennis Morgan, Eleanor Parker and Dane Clark. A brilliant supporting cast includes Faye Emerson and the veteran performers, Henry Travers and Beulah Bondi. Delmer Daves, represented most recently as director of the highly successful “Destination Tokyo,” both directed and collaborated on the screenplay for this film. “The Very Thought Of You” is concerned with two soldiers who meet two girls in Pasadena after a long stand in the Aleutians. One of them is brought home for dinner and must endure the opposition of a tense, war-strained family. It’s a condition which will prevail again and again before returning servicemen will finally be absorbed back into civilian life. A_ believable adult solution is offered in “The Very Thought Of You.” Alvah Bessie and Daves wrote the screen play. Franz Waxman wrote the film’s music. IN FIRST STARRING ROLE Mat 202—Still VT 511—30c Lovely young Warner actress Eleanor Parker plays her first starring role as a courageous war wife in Warners’ new romantic comedy hit, Thought Of You,"' opening tonight at the Strand. Dane Clark are co-starred. "The Very Dennis Morgan and Glamour Plus Needed For Success In Films Glamour is an overrated commodity in Hollywood. That is the opinion of Eleanor Parker, lovely Warner Bros. star currently sharing top honors with Dennis Morgan and Dale Clark in “The Very Thought of You,’ new romantic comedy now playing at the Strand. Miss Parker should know, too, because she’s both glamorous and a successful screen actress. Glamour, she admits without reluctance, will help many a girl get a break in pictures; there’s no question but that it will attract attention. “But,” says this young, five and a half foot, blue-eyed star, “it takes more than just glamour to succeed on the screen.” Hollywood, she points out, is heavily populated with glamour gals—youngsters who have an enticing charm, yet fail to click on the screen in all but decorative ability. “You can’t always make an actress out of a girl boasting pretty legs, a cute figure and an appealing face,” says this Warner Bros.’ star who has pretty legs, a cute figure and an appealing face. “It takes much more than that.” In her case, it teok months to prepare for screen work— months in semi-professional lit Still VT 504—15c Mat 101; Faye Emerson tle theatres, months of study and waiting on tables to pay the tuition bill. And, in Hollywood, where she never consciously puts her glamour to use, she continues studying—in the studio and out of it. That perhaps explains why she rose so rapidly from a few insignificant parts via the top feminine spot in “Between Two Worlds” opposite Paul Henreid, to her first starring role in “The Very Thought of You.” This role, to date, is her favorite—because it gave her the opportunity to run the gamut in dramatic acting. “T like great dramatic roles the best, but I must admit that one day I should enjoy doing the role of an_ ultra-sophisticate. I think I could have fun with that sort of thing,’ she says. But, because she’s a regular trouper at heart, she’d don a tight-fitting, dazzling gown, have her hair done in some tricky manner, paste inch-long artificial eyelashes over her naturally attractive ones, and swing into the role of a glamour queen if the studio asked it of her. Meanwhile, she’ll just keep on going up the cinematic ladder, quite unmindful that she’s about as glamorous as any girl on the lot. “Girl Who’ Title Ends Long Quest When Georgia Lee Settle was signed for her third picture, Warners’ “The Vary Thought of You,” which opens Friday at the Strand Theatre, her boy friend said he would get his buddies in his Infantry Training Battalion to elect her. They finally decided to give Georgia a title that would be all-encompassing, good for all time. They named her “the girl who.” Period.