Chicken Every Sunday (1949)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

George Seaton

Writers:

Valentine Davies (writer)
Julius J. Epstein (play)

Release Date:

4 July 1949 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

More fun than you've had in a month of Sundays!

Plot:

A rueful wife (circa 1910) recalls 20 years of her husband's financial fumbles, as she keeps a boarding house to support the family.

Plot Keywords:

Boarding House | Pregnant Wife | Young Love | Get Rich Quick | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Dan Dailey	...	James C. 'Jim' Hefferan
Celeste Holm	...	Emily Hefferan
Colleen Townsend	...	Rosemary Hefferan
Alan Young	...	Geoffrey Lawson
Natalie Wood	...	Ruth Hefferan
William Frawley	...	George Kirby
Connie Gilchrist	...	Millie Moon
William Callahan	...	Harold Crandall
Veda Ann Borg	...	Rita Kirby
Porter Hall	...	Sam Howell
Whit Bissell	...	Mr. Robinson / Robby
Katherine Emery	...	Mrs. Mildred Lawson
Roy Roberts	...	Harry Bowers
Hal K. Dawson	...	Jake Barker

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Original V&T Railway, Nevada, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Quotes:

Emily Hefferan: There are other homes in town that take in guests.
Rita Kirby: Yeah, I tried 'em all. Those dumps are full too. I mean... nice place you got here.

Movie Connections:

Followed by "The 20th Century-Fox Hour: The Hefferan Family (#1.18)" (1956)

Soundtrack:

Wedding March

A Delicious Slice of Americana

Based on Rosemary Taylor's memoir of life in turn-of-the-century (i.e., circa 1900) Tucson, the book's subtitle tells much of the story -- "My Life with Mama's Boarders." Rosemary's mother was a practical businesswoman who wasn't above renting out every available square foot of her home to make ends meet. This movie, though, like the book, is a delightful look backward at life in a frontier city in the century's first two decades, featuring Celeste Holm as her mother and Dan Dailey as her more fly-by-night father, who always has a get-rich-quick scheme that, somehow, doesn't pan out. In addition to Dailey (who had several short-lived TV series in the 1970s), later generations will enjoy spotting cast members like Alan Young (quite the rising star in 1948, but remembered now mostly as Wilbur Post from "Mr. Ed" and as the voice of Uncle Scrooge in Disney's "Ducktales"), William Frawley (remembered, of course, from "I Love Lucy" and "My Three Sons"), and ubiquitous character actor Whit Bissell, who appeared in everything from "Star Trek" to "I was a Teenage Werewolf."

This movie is another small gem from director George Seaton and his writing partner, Valentine Davies, who also gave the world the original "Miracle on 34th Street," "The Country Girl," and "The Song of Bernadette." Seaton isn't that well-known today, unfortunately, even though almost everyone has seen at least "Miracle on 34th Street," but like Frank Capra, his movies have a quiet humanity that, even when he used a lighter touch (as here), show Seaton's faith in human resilience. When people say that "they don't make them like they used to," they're talking about movies like this.