They Knew What They Wanted (1940)Tony (Charles Laughton), a successful but illiterate middle-aged grape farmer, sends the photograph of his handsome young foreman, Joe (William Gargan), instead of his own, hoping to woo ... See full summary » Director:Garson Kanin |
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Title: They Knew What They Wanted (1940)
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Nominated for 1 Oscar.
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Carole Lombard | ... | ||
| Charles Laughton | ... | ||
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William Gargan | ... |
Joe
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| Harry Carey | ... |
The doctor
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Frank Fay | ... |
Father McKee
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Joseph E. Bernard | ... |
The R.F.D.
(as Joe Bernard)
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Janet Fox | ... |
Mildred
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Lee Tung Foo | ... |
Ah Gee, the Cook
(as Lee Tung-Foo)
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| Karl Malden | ... |
Red
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Victor Kilian | ... |
The photographer
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Tony (Charles Laughton), a successful but illiterate middle-aged grape farmer, sends the photograph of his handsome young foreman, Joe (William Gargan), instead of his own, hoping to woo and marry Amy (Carole Lombard), a waitress in a San Francisco restaurant. Through a series of letters, the two become close and Tony invites his "future wife" to visit. When the beautiful, young Amy arrives at Tony's Napa, California ranch she falls for the wrong man thinking that Joe is the wealthy Tony. When Tony tries to win her over in broken English, she is at first furious and then charmed. But Tony breaks his legs while showing off to impress Amy, and -- left alone to care for a cripple -- she reluctantly succumbs to Joe's charms and becomes pregnant. Although Tony discovers that he has been cuckolded and that Joe has run off, his anger turns to genuine love and he offers to take Amy back unconditionally for the sake of the child and his own true feelings for Amy. Written by E. Summer
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You have seen great motion pictures! We believe you have not seen a greater motion picture than this!Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
19 October 1940 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Sabían lo que querían See more »Filming Locations:
Napa Valley, California, USACompany Credits
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even taking into account the context of its time, this is incredibly dated, morals-wise. also, it strains credibility that the female protagonist (amy) would stay initially, stay later, stay longer, proclaim her love for (the wrong guy), and then leave w/o getting together w/who she wanted all along. just seems really dopily contrived. "she DIDN'T know what she wanted" would be a more apt title. also, the whole plot revolving about her pregnancy just comes from out of nowhere and dominates the proceedings as if it was 1750 in puritan new england. i really wanted to like this film; i'd heard it was good -
- but it's really pretty hard to take. as for tony; he's similarly
unbelievable, a 1-dimensional character, until he explodes, and then he becomes 2-dimensional (still 1 short). OK i'm done