Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)

A would-be playwright and a young woman escaping from a job at a gas station meet cute and fall in love.

Director:

William Castle

Writers:

Barry Benefield (story), Lewis Meltzer (screenplay)

Stars:

Guy Madison, Diana Lynn, James Dunn

Cast

Credited cast:
Guy Madison	...	Eddie Tayloe
Diana Lynn	...	Perry Dunklin
James Dunn	...	Mike
Michael Chekhov	...	Gaboolian
Florence Bates	...	Mandy
Lionel Stander	...	Bellhop
William Frawley	...	Agent
Roscoe Karns	...	Carmody
Margaret Hamilton	...	Ruby Cheever
Irene Ryan	...	Opal Cheever
Colin Campbell	...	MacWirther
Clem Bevans	...	Capt. Bjorn
Moyna MacGill	...	Pearl Cheever (as Moyna Magill)
Audie Murphy	...	Copy Boy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean Dean	...	Jean Dean - Water Nymph (unconfirmed)

Storyline

Eddie Tayloe's grandfather leaves him six thousand dollars and the money belt it came in, freeing Tayloe to leave his dull newspaper job in Texas and move to New York to become a playwright. Along the way, his car breaks down and a girl walking along the highway asks for a lift. It turns out she's a nice girl, named Perry, running away from a job at a gasoline station. Soon they're off to New York together, but part ways once they arrive. Time passes and Eddie is failing to sell his play; Perry is failing to find a job. Odd circumstances, involving an old pickpocket named Mandy, bring them together again. Three starchy sisters renting a room, a bartender named Mike, and a sleepy old immigrant running a mechanical menagerie all play parts in this romantic comedy.

---

Plot Keywords:

playwright | pickpocket | running away | money belt | mechanical horse | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Viver Sonhando

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert S. Golden Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Audie Murphy.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Mike: What'll you have?

---

Connections

Featured in Biography: Audie Murphy: Great American Hero (1996)

---

Soundtracks

"Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven"
by Ervin Drake and Jimmy Shirl

User Reviews

No Sleep till Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven

Fits and starts is no way to engage a film spectator. Undivided attention is volunteered and not guaranteed. Clearly with Texas-Brooklyn Castle and the producers forgot these tenets of spectatorship. The long talks in the car had me paying attention to the rear projection in hopes of a bit of action. Although, dry at first these talks later became more interesting through developing the characters aptly. That being said, characterization was ambiguous. I feel that many reviewers of this film will be more forgiving than myself because of how "gosh-darn" cute the couple was. Diana Lynn did play her character very well. If the film story has relevance it is mostly anachronistic in nature. There are plot digressions and long drawn out scenes that do little for forwarding the story. Some mobile framing creeps in, but for the most part Castle is doing nothing special to foster spectator interest. Coney Island makes an appearance again, but unlike in When Strangers Marry there is no creatively edited montage sequence to accompany the fun fair. Margaret Hamilton also makes an appearance but is effectively side-lined rendering her casting value nil. Castle would not make the same mistake when directing her in 13 Ghosts many years later. If you have other things to do, you can either not watch this film, or simply keep it running in the background.