People Will Talk (1951)

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (writer)
Curt Goetz (play)

Release Date:

29 August 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Dr. Noah Praetorius falls in love with Debra, a student who finds out that she is pregnant by her old boyfriend who recently died in combat.

Plot Keywords:

Foreign Language Adaptation | Secret | Academic Hearing | Pregnancy | Double Bass

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Dr. Noah Praetorius
Jeanne Crain	...	Deborah Higgins
Finlay Currie	...	Shunderson
Hume Cronyn	...	Prof. Rodney Elwell
Walter Slezak	...	Prof. Barker
Sidney Blackmer	...	Arthur Higgins
Basil Ruysdael	...	Dean Lyman Brockwell
Katherine Locke	...	Miss James

Also Known As:

The Dr. Praetorious Story (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #15270) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The eyelashes of the 'cadaver' can be seen to twitch during one of her close-ups.

Quotes:

Shunderson: Professor Elwell, you're a little man. It's not that you're short. You're...little, in the mind and in the heart. Tonight, you tried to make a man little whose boots you couldn't touch if you stood on tiptoe on top of the highest mountain in the world. And as it turned out...you're even littler than you were before.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Frauenarzt Dr. Prätorius (1950)

Soundtrack:

Happy Birthday to You

Beautifully told tale of an admirable man in less than admirable times...

This film, far ahead of its time, presents a thoughtful, intelligent commentary on the issues the time, eerily relevant not only to the conservative 50's, but to just about any subsequent era. Noah Praetorious, played with the suave appeal with which Cary Grant always seemed to shine, shows us just how admirable and sympathetic a successful physician can actually be. His decision to court and marry Deborah Higgins, to his devoted friendship with Mr. Shunderson, sets a fine example for all of us about loyalty, friendship and love. And considering the political climate which existed at the time this film was made makes it all the more noteworthy. Dr. Praetorious's conviction to stand up to his accuser, portrayed by a well cast Hume Cronyn, says much for "doing the right thing". This film holds up well after close to 50 years, and the sensitivity written into the main character should be required study for any student about to embark upon a career as a physician.