It All Came True (1940)

After crooked nightclub owner Chips Maguire murders a police informant, he blackmails his piano player to allow him to stay at his eccentric mother's boarding house.

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Writers:

Louis Bromfield (writer: "It All Came True"), Michael Fessier (screen play),

Stars:

Ann Sheridan, Jeffrey Lynn, Humphrey Bogart

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ann Sheridan	...	Sarah Jane Ryan
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Tommy Taylor
Humphrey Bogart	...	Grasselli / Chips Maguire
Zasu Pitts	...	Miss Flint
Una O'Connor	...	Maggie Ryan
Jessie Busley	...	Mrs. Taylor
John Litel	...	Mr. Roberts
Grant Mitchell	...	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 (as Herbert Vigran)
Tommy Reilly
The Elderbloom Chorus

Storyline

Nightclub entertainer Sarah Ryan and songwriter Tommy Taylor move in to the boardinghouse run by their mothers Maggie and Norah. Tommy brings along Mr. Grasselli, a "nervous wreck" who keeps to himself.. Sarah recognizes him as the gangster Chips Maguire. He killed a cop with Tommy's gun, so Tommy must now protect him. Grasselli winds up turning the boarding house into a money-making nightclub.

---

Plot Keywords:

nightclub | eccentric | gun | police informant | blackmail | 

---

Taglines:

She Sings! "ANGEL IN DISGUISE" "GAUCHO SERENADE" and 9 nifties from the '90s

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 April 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Um Sonho para Dois

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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 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 Hellinger, who had received screen credit as producer. This was one of the contributing factors in Hellinger's shortly thereafter 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.

---

Connections

Featured in Great Performances: Bacall on Bogart (1988)

---

Soundtracks

"Memories"
(1915) (uncredited)
Music by Egbert Van Alstyne
Lyrics by Gus Kahn
Sung by 'The Lady Killers Quartet' at the Roaring 90's Club
Reprised as background music by the band
Also played when Sarah Jane and Tommy are on the roof

User Reviews

The Roaring Nineties

It All Came True finds Humphrey Bogart as a gangster on the lam from killing a police stoolie and using a gun that was registered to club piano player Jeffrey Lynn to do the deed. With the stoolie probably telling the cops about his regular hideouts, Bogart has Jeffrey Lynn under a blackmail threat about the weapon hide him in a boarding house that is run jointly by Lynn's mother Jessie Burley and Una O'Connor who is the mother of Ann Sheridan.

Sheridan and Lynn were childhood sweethearts, she's a chorus girl, he's an aspiring composer and the Moms hoped that they'll be joint grandmothers some day. Bogart is hiding under an assumed name at the boardinghouse, but Sheridan recognizes him.

Perhaps the fact that he's away from the police spotlight, fooling them even temporarily makes Bogart fall under the charms of the place which is a theatrical boardinghouse. O'Connor and Burley wax nostalgic about the Gay Nineties and Bogart kind of does also. Bear in mind that this was probably when he was a kid in the film.

It All Came True is the kind of film that would have been better suited to James Cagney. In fact he did several fine nostalgic type films in his career like Frisco Kid, Johnny Come Lately, Strawberry Blonde, and The Time Of Your Life. I'm betting this was a property that Warner Brothers developed for Cagney, but for some reason or other Cagney couldn't do it.

Sheridan's feet are firmly in the 20th century however, she delivers a few zingers that were quite up to date for the audience. Until Rita Hayworth was established, Ann was Hollywood's number one redhead and she had a bit more wit in her scripts than Rita got at Columbia.

Maybe with Cagney in the lead and someone like Frank Capra directing and someone like Damon Runyon doing the screenplay, It All Came True could have been a real classic. It's an amusing comedy as it is with Ann Sheridan at her career height and Humphrey Bogart on the crest of becoming a legend.