Yes, My Darling Daughter (Warner Bros.) (1939)

(Lead Story) ‘Yes, My Darling Daughter’ Opens Friday At Strand Boasting one of the greatest comedy casts ever assembled, “Yes, My Darling Daughter,” the Warner Bros. screen adaptation of the sensationally successful stage comedy of the same title, will open next Friday at the Strand Theatre. In the romantic leads are those two charming youngsters, Priscilla Lane and Jeffrey Lynn, who were such a heart-warming pair of young lovers in the memorable “Four Daughters.” Their romance again travels a_ rocky road, but this time there is no tragedy about it. In fact, it’s the nucleus out of which all the amusing complications of the hilarious story evolve. The more mature members of the cast have the delightful task of furnishing most of the laughs, and a mere recital of their names is sufficient guarantee that this task is well performed, for they include such past masters of the art of comedy as Roland Young, May Robson, Fay Bainter, Genevieve Tobin and Ian Hunter. The screen play written by Casey Robinson and directed by William Keighley, is faithful in spirit to the stage original by Mark Reed. As a matter of fact, it is actually a satire on people who have “advanced” views on marriage. Two such are Priscilla and Jeffrey, who plan to run away to be alone together. Everyone in Priscilla’s household except her father, who isn’t at home, finds out about the youngsters’ intentions. Priscilla’s mother, played by lay Bainter, is a writer who for years has been dashing off books containing very “liberal” ideas on such matters. Nevertheless she’s shocked. So is her literary agent, played by Roland Young, who Granny shrewdly suspects was Miss Bainter’s lover during a youthful residence in Greenwich Village. Mama’s own arguments against hasty marriage are ruthlessly thrown at her by Priscilla, who points out that Jeffrey is to leave for Belgium in a couple of days, and mama reluctantly gives her consent to her daughter’s running away ideas. Soon after the youngsters leave, papa, played by Ian Hunter, returns home and, being a banker who has never had any advanced ideas, he is furious when he hears about what his daughter intends to do. He dashes to his car and sets out after Priscilla and Jeffrey with dire things in mind. In other cars, everyone else but Granny sets out to warn the young couple, but neither papa nor anyone of the others ever get to the mountain rendezvous. Granny, even though she’s sitting at home, attends to that. Meanwhile, the youngsters, alone at last and very embarrassed, decided it would really be much more sophisticated if they returned as though nothing extraordinary had happened. They return to Priscilla’s home as unsullied as when they left. Here, Jeffrey learns that the whole family knew of his and Priscilla’s plan, and he is so shocked and indignant that he tells them he wants to have nothing more to do with such a family. He walks out; he’s on his way to Belgium. Priscilla, however, decides that a hasty marriage is better than no Jeffrey, and she’s waiting in his cabin with a marriage license, when he reaches the boat. Priscilla Would Gather Big Lane Clan About Her Priscilla Lane wants to establish the Mullican family root, trunk and branches, in the soil of San Fernando Valley, California. The Mullicans, in case you’ve forgotten, beeame the Lanes after Lola made her Hollywood suecess under that name and the other sisters, one after the other, went out into the world of show business. Even Mamma, today, has changed her name, just so as to avoid confusion. It was Gus Edwards who was_ responsible for all that when he changed Dorothy Mullican (Dodo, to intimates) to that pleasantly alliterative Lola Lane. On the set of her latest Warner Bros. picture, “Yes, My Darling Daughter,” which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday, Priscilla was telling a small but distinguished audience all about it. Jeffrey Lynn, as he lstencd, looked adoring. Fay Bainter and Ian Hunter beamed sympathy. Roland Young: looked a bit dazed or maybe befuddled, May Robson smiled as though at a private joke and a pair of hand-holding newlyweds, Director Wilham Keighley and bride Genevieve Tobin, nodded understandingly at invervals. Said Priscilla, “I really think it’s possible, too. I mean, to get the family all together out here. I’d even like to see them on one big tract of ground, like Edward Everett Horton’s people seem to be. Did you ever drive around the fence of Mr. Horton’s big place, that sits up on the hill there near Ventura Boulevard?” Nobody had. “lve a foggy notion I’ve been guest at Eddie’s place, though,” offered the bemused Mr. Young, helpfully. “Well, around the north side are the mail boxes, and there must be a dozen, all different initials but all Hortons,” Priscilla continued. ‘Now that’s what I call nice. However, we Lanes wouldn’t have to be all in one enclosure. Maybe we'd just merely live in the same litte valley community, within shouting distance of each other! “Anyway, we’ve got a good start now. Mother, Lola, Rosemary and I. What I’d like next is to get Leota and Martha out here, with their families. Then ; when we other Lane girls marry, we'd have all our in-laws around too.” Her idea sounded like heaven to stage-touring veterans present. And the group of veteran show people, which meant everybody present except Priscilla and Lynn, looked at each other and didn’t smile. Perhaps they were thinking of lives of travel—hotel room to hotel room, around the world and back. Mat 202—30c PRISCILLA LANE is the lovely heart interest whose antics are the concern of a household in the Warner Bros. comedy, "Yes, My Darling Daughter,"’ which makes its local debut on Friday at the Strand Theatre. Mat 203 — 30c GRANNY GIVES THE O. K. to Priscilla Lane's boy friend, Jeffrey Lynn, in a delighttul scene from "Yes, My Darling Daughter," film version of the recent stage hit, coming to the Strand Theatre Friday. May Robson is Granny. Mat 201—30c HANDSOME JEFFREY LYNN, who with Priscilla Lane, formed the sweetheart team in "Four Daughters,’ comes back again with Priscilla to play the male lead of "Yes, My Darling Daughter'’ coming Friday to the Strand. [b] JEFFREY LYNN'S PRAISES SUNG BY BETTE DAVIS In the questionnaire handed to newcomers by Warner Bros. Studio there is this query: “How did you happen to go on the screen?” Jeffrey Lynn, the blue-eyed six-foot ex-collector for a telephone company, ex-doorman for a newsreel theatre, ex-high school teacher, ex-salesman for a department store, who got his big screen opportunity in ‘Four Daughters,” answered it thus: “Seen by Bill Grady in ‘Brother Rat’ playing in Los Angeles. Tested by MGM. Signed by Warners.” Mr. Lynn’s answer is true as far as it goes. But it doesn’t go far enough. He _ should have added: “Signed by Warner Bros. after Bette Davis looked at my MGM. test.” Interests Bette Davis Miss Davis saw Lynn’s test just before she started making “Jezebel.” Director William Wyler was looking for a young actor to play Henry Fonda’s brother in the film and Miss Davis was helping him in the search. She heard about a goodlooking young fellow named Lynn, sent for his test, ran it and came out of the projection room telling everyone she met how swell he was. “He’s wonderful,” she kept saying. And every time she got the chance, she made her friends look at Lynn’s test. “You see,” she would say when the projection room lights would go on. “He’s got everything — looks, talent, feeling, magnetism. There’s a future star.” ‘Four Daughters” Miss Davis was right. Lynn didn’t play in “Jezebel.” He couldn’t because his contract with George Abbott for “Brother Rat” conflicted. But Warners finally got his name on a contract and gave him bits in “Cowboy from Brooklyn,” ‘When Were You Born,” and a Technicolor short, “Out Where the Stars Begin.” Then Errol Flynn took a yacht trip to the Bahamas and wouldn’t come home to play the lead in “Four Daughters.” Perhaps, remembering the to-do Miss Davis had made over Lynn, studio executives decided to take a chance. Anyway, they gave him the part and he more than lived up to expectations. So emphatic was the approval of the fans that the Warner studio was careful about selecting a follow-up vehicle for the potential star that young Mr. Lynn gave every indication of being. So careful was the studio about the matter that it was several months before Lynn was put to work again. At last the ideal part was found in “Yes, My Darling Daughter,” the comedy adapted from the stage play of the same name which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday. In this, Lynn again is the romantic partner of Priscilla Lane. “Yes, My Darling Daughter” is a delightful romantic comedy which centers about a pair of would-be sophisticated youngsters who run away to the mountains so they can be alone, together, but which turns out to be practically a family party. Fay Bainter, May Robson, Roland Young, Ian Hunter and Genevieve Tobin are featured with them.