For the Love of Mary (1948)

Young girl gets a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and gets mixed up in politics.

Director:

Frederick De Cordova

Writer:

Oscar Brodney (original screenplay)

Stars:

Deanna Durbin, Edmond O'Brien, Don Taylor

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Deanna Durbin	...	Mary Peppertree
Edmond O'Brien	...	Lt. Tom Farrington
Don Taylor	...	David Paxton
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Phillip Manning
Ray Collins	...	Harvey Elwood
Hugo Haas	...	Gustav Heindel
Harry Davenport	...	Justice Peabody
Griff Barnett	...	Timothy Peppertree
Katharine Alexander	...	Miss Harkness
James Todd	...	Justice Van Sloan
Morris Ankrum	...	Adm. Walton
Frank Conroy	...	Samuel Litchfield
Leon Belasco	...	Igor
Louise Beavers	...	Bertha
Raymond Greenleaf	...	Justice Williams

Storyline

Mary Peppertree, a switchboard operator in the White House, is being courted by three men; Philip Manning, an attorney; Navy Lieutenant Tom Farrington, naval-aide to the President; and David Paxton, whose father owns an island in the Pacific. When the U.S. Navy negotiates for the purchase of the island for a base, David agrees to sell on two conditions - that Philip be made a judge in a court at least 1500 miles from Washigton, and that Lieutenant Farrington be given sea duty.

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Plot Keywords:

switchboard operator | white house | attorney | u.s. navy | politics | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Forever Yours

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the last film appearance of Deanna Durbin. On August 22, 1948, two months after the picture wrapped, Universal International announced a lawsuit brought against Miss Durbin for the sum of $87,083 in wages advanced to her. The actress settled the dispute be agreeing to stay on with the studio for an additional three pictures (including a project intended to be shot in Paris). Instead, Universal International simply permitted Deanna's contract to expire on August 31, 1949. Upon leaving the studio after 13 years and 21 features, Deanna was paid $150,000 for the three abandoned films plus another $50,000 owed her for this movie. Miss Durbin then retired from all of show business. In subsequent years, producer Joe Pasternak, Deanna's early mentor at Universal, could not persuade Miss Durbin to resume her film career at MGM, and she would reject two prime female leads offered by the studio: in the Jack Cummings production of Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate, and in the Pasternak filming of Sigmund Romberg's The Student Prince.

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Goofs

In the kitchen at Gustav's, Mary is wearing earrings in some shots, but not in others.

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Soundtracks

"News Reel"
(uncredited)
Music by Louis De Francesco

User Reviews

A delightful, charming, effervescent romantic comedy!

What a way to go! "For The Love of Mary" was Deanna Durbin's swansong. She proves what a charming, sparkling entertainer she was in her role as Mary Peppertree, a White House operator. This film (in it's acting, casting of veteran character actors, such as Harry Davenport and Louise Beavers, and it's lyrical though swift pacing) really marks the end of romantic comedy as practiced by the practitioners of screwball comedy. Romantic comedies would never again be this light, unpretentious, and wholesome, in my opinion.

Deanna Durbin shines as a comedic actress in this film as she never did as an adult performer because she never had a comedy script as bright and as fresh as this one. The chemistry between her and Edmond O'Brien is strong and sexy. This is one of the few romantic comedies to believably transport one to an idyllic world in which everyone can be lighthearted and in love with life if one were only in the right place and with the right kind of people.

"For The Love of Mary" deserves far more widespread viewing and critical praise than it currently has. It is great that it is now on video for all to appreciate.