Four Wives (1939)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Fannie Hurst (novel)
Julius J. Epstein (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The "Four Daughters" are now "Four Wives" It's a four belle picture! For these four wedding belles!

Plot:

In this sequel to Four Daughters, Adam Lemp and his daughters have gone on with life after the death of Mickey Borden...

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Sequel | Engagement | Discovering One Is Pregnant | Musician

Cast

Priscilla Lane	...	Ann Lemp Dietz
Rosemary Lane	...	Kay Lemp
Lola Lane	...	Thea Lemp Crowley
Gale Page	...	Emma Lemp Talbot
Claude Rains	...	Adam Lemp
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Felix Dietz
Eddie Albert	...	Dr. Clinton 'Clint' Forrest Jr.
May Robson	...	Aunt Etta
Frank McHugh	...	Ben Crowley
Dick Foran	...	Ernest Talbot
Henry O'Neill	...	Dr. Clinton F. Forrest Sr.
John Garfield	...	Michael 'Mickey' Borden
Vera Lewis	...	Mrs. Ridgefield
John Qualen	...	Frank, a Patient
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Loia Cheaney	...	(scenes deleted)
Robert Warwick	...	Mr. Roberts (scenes deleted)
Pat West	...	Charlie, Taxi Driver (scenes deleted)
Claude Wisberg	...	Western Union Boy (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

110 min | USA:99 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Shown at some engagements with Warner Bros.' new Vitasound audio process. Often incorrectly called a stereophonic process, Vitasound actually combined a standard, variable width monophonic soundtrack with a second, variable width control track, located between the soundtrack and the sprocket holes, that increased loudness for certain scenes by switching on additional amplifiers and speakers.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Anne is already pregnant at Christmastime. The baby comes well after Father's Day (June), probably July or even later and there is no attempt to make her look pregnant -- not even maternity-type clothes. She continues wearing skirts and tucked-in blouses, remaining thin through the entire picture. She's even wheeled into the Delivery Room with her stomach looking as flat as a board.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The John Garfield Story (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I Love You Truly

Hi Lemp...Hello Dietz

On the strength of an outstanding performance by Priscilla Lane, Four Wives succeeds as a sequel to the popular Four Daughters.

Priscilla Lane gives a performance that any of the more acclaimed actresses of her time would be hard-pressed to match. She does an outstanding job of portraying a woman whose life has been completely turned upside down. How she reconciles the past, which keeps intruding on the present, will determine how well she handles the future.

There is an examination of certain issues in this movie, grief, guilt, depression, and loyalty, for example, that goes a bit deeper than one might expect at first glance. At the core of Four Wives, however, is the stunningly beautiful Priscilla Lane, whose beauty is at least the equal to any of Hollywood's actresses of that era, or any era.

As for the rest of the cast, Jeffrey Lynn does a nice job opposite Miss Lane, and Eddie Albert and Claude Rains both do a fine job in support. And, lest I forget, Priscilla's real life sisters Rosemary and Lola, and the "fourth" Lane sister Gale Page.

After the next sequel, Four Mothers, it's too bad they didn't make one more movie to finish the series. Four Sisters has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?