It All Came True (1940)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Louis Bromfield (story)
Michael Fessier (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

6 April 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Another sizzling story by the author of "The Rains Came"...and starring ANN Sheridan the one girl in all Hollywood who can really live the part of the teasing, tempting, man-handling heroine of IT ALL CAME TRUE By LOUIS BROMFIELD

Plot:

Nightclub entertainer Sarah Ryan and songwriter Tommy Taylor move in to the boardinghouse run by their mothers Maggie and Norah...

Plot Keywords:

Nightclub | Boarding House | Gangster | Dog | Drunkenness

Cast

Ann Sheridan	...	Sarah Jane Ryan aka Sal
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Tommy Taylor
Humphrey Bogart	...	Grasselli aka Chips Maguire
Zasu Pitts	...	Miss Flint
Una O'Connor	...	Maggie Ryan
Jessie Busley	...	Mrs. Nora Taylor
John Litel	...	Mr. 'Doc' Roberts
Grant Mitchell	...	Mr. Rene Salmon
Felix Bressart	...	The Great Boldini
Charles Judels	...	Henri Pepi de Bordeaux
Brandon Tynan	...	Mr. Van Diver
Howard C. Hickman	...	Mr. Prendergast (as Howard Hickman)
Herb Vigran	...	Monks, Stoolie (as Herbert Vigran)
Tommy Reilly	...	Performer
The Elderbloom Chorus	...	Group Performers

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6005)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Producer Mark Hellinger's dislike for executive producer Hal B. Wallis became even stronger after this film was released. Though the film was critically acclaimed and made money for Warners, print ads at the time mentioned Hal B. Wallis as executive producer (though uncredited in the film), Jack L. Warner in charge of production and Lewis Seiler as director, but did not even mention Mark Hellinger, who had received screen credit as producer. This was one of the contributing factors to Hellinger soon leaving Warners for 20th Century Fox. (Source: "The Mark Hellinger Story" by Jim Bishop, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1952)

Quotes:

Sarah Jane Ryan aka Sal: You poor baby lamb. Don't you know a runaround when you see it? I know gorillas like Chips Maguire, I know what kind of pal he'd be. He gives you promises as long as he can use you and then forgets all about you. We'll throw him out in the street where he belongs.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bacall on Bogart (1988) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves)

Sweet as they come

"It All Came True" is a delightful 1940 film starring Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Jeffrey Lynn, and Zasu Pitts. Sheridan and Lynn are the adult children of business partners in a boarding house (Jessie Busley and Una O'Connor). The women are about to lose the house because of back taxes. Lynn is Tommy, a composer, and Sheridan is Sarah Jane, a nightclub entertainer. Both move back home, but Lynn brings his boss, Chips Maguire (Bogart) with him, who is hiding from the police. He's blackmailing Tommy into hiding him the gun that killed the victim is in Tommy's name.

Chips can't leave his room, of course, and eventually grows bored with the entire arrangement. He recognizes the very attractive Sarah Jane as having been on the circuit, and decides to help her out by making the boarding house into a nightclub. He finances it and bails the women out of their financial troubles at the same time. Sarah Jane isn't interested in Chips - she's re-connected with Tommy - but naturally plays along. Tommy is uneasy; if Chips is caught, he'll tell the cops that Tommy committed the murder.

The plot may sound serious, but the film is filled with music and a lightheartedness that's hard to describe. Ann Sheridan was sort of the working man's Rita Hayworth. She was at Warner's, which put her low, sultry voice, mane of red hair and other assets to good use in a variety of roles. She wasn't as beautiful as Hayworth or as exotic, but she was more versatile as an actress. Here she's at the top of her game, singing and dancing up a storm and looking sensational. She really carries the film. Lynn, whose career lost its momentum after World War II, was a nice-looking, boy next door type of leading man, and does an able job here. Bogart is a riot; the man could do anything. Though his character is ruthless and dangerous, he comes off as extremely likable. The striking Zasu Pitts is wonderful as a boarder who sees men following her everywhere and can't handle her liquor. At all.

There's a charming sentiment about this film - it'll leave you smiling.