Tom, Dick and Harry (1941 film)

Tom, Dick and Harry
Tom, Dick and Harry
Directed by	Garson Kanin
Written by	Paul Jarrico
Produced by	Robert Sisk
Starring	Ginger Rogers; George Murphy; Alan Marshal; Burgess Meredith
Cinematography	Merritt Gerstad
Edited by	John Sturges
Music by	Roy Webb
Production; company	RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	June 13, 1941;
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$806,000
Box office	$1,628,000

Tom, Dick and Harry is a 1941 RKO Radio Pictures American comedy film written by Paul Jarrico, directed by Garson Kanin and starring Ginger Rogers, George Murphy, Alan Marshal, Phil Silvers and Burgess Meredith.^[2] Rogers was working on the film when she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle (1940).

Tom, Dick and Harry was remade as The Girl Most Likely (1957), a musical that was also the last film released by RKO.

Plot

Janie is a telephone operator and a daydreamer whose fondest wish is to land a rich husband. Her boyfriend Tom, a car salesman, also wants to marry, and Janie dreams about married life with him.

Listening to a long-distance phone call between the wealthiest eligible bachelor in town, Dick Hamilton, and the girl whom Dick has been dating, Janie makes a wish that she could meet him. When an expensive car pulls alongside her, Janie perceives that her wish has been granted. However, the car is driven by garage mechanic Harry, who is driving it to be repaired.

Harry is immediately smitten with Janie. He spends time with her, kisses her and proposes marriage. Janie now daydreams about becoming a mechanic's wife.

Disconnecting a call, Janie causes a quarrel between Dick and his girlfriend. She meets Dick and falls for him. However, Tom and Harry are waiting for her, and Janie declares that she is engaged to all three men. After dreaming of becoming Dick's wealthy wife, she chooses him, but at the last minute, a kiss from Harry changes her mind one last time.

Cast

Ginger Rogers as Janie
George Murphy as Tom
Alan Marshal as Dick
Burgess Meredith as Harry
Phil Silvers as Ice Cream Vendor
Joe Cunningham as Father
Jane Seymour as Mother
Lenore Lonergan as Butch, Janie's sister
Vickie Lester as Paula
Betty Breckenridge as Gertrude
Sarah Edwards as Mrs. Burton
William Halligan as Mr. Burton
Gayle Mellott as Brenda Whitney Jr.
Edna Holland as Miss Schlom, Janie's Boss
Joseph E. Bernard as Judge in Dream
Sidney Skolsky as Photographer

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called Tom, Dick and Harry "a delightful little fable" and wrote: "Of all the Hollywood bubbles which have been blown this way of late, here, we are happy to report, is one which doesn't go poof in your face. It floats off in the full-rounded splendor, and the memory lingers on. ... [T]he airy charm of the picture is in the way it spins along, popping with nifty dialogue and bubbling with visual absurdities."^[3]

The film earned a profit of $234,000.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56
^ Fetrow p.530
^ Crowther, Bosley (1941-07-18). "The Screen: 'Tom, Dick and Harry,' a Delightful Fantasy About Three Princes and a Cinderella, at the Music Hall". The New York Times. p. 22.

Bibliography

Fetrow, Alan G. Feature Films, 1940-1949: a United States Filmography. McFarland, 1994.

External links

Tom, Dick and Harry at IMDb
Tom, Dick and Harry at AllMovie
Tom, Dick and Harry at the TCM Movie Database
Tom, Dick and Harry at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

[rko-1] Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p56

[2] Fetrow p.530

[nytreview5-3] Crowther, Bosley (1941-07-18). "The Screen: 'Tom, Dick and Harry,' a Delightful Fantasy About Three Princes and a Cinderella, at the Music Hall". The New York Times. p. 22.

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