It Happened to Jane (1959)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Richard Quine

Writers:

Norman Katkov (screenplay)
Norman Katkov (story)

Release Date:

14 July 1959 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Jane Osgood is trying to support her two young children by running a lobster business. After one of...

Plot Keywords:

Railway | Beautiful Woman | Train | Character Name In Title

Cast

Doris Day	...	Jane Osgood
Jack Lemmon	...	George Denham
Ernie Kovacs	...	Harry Foster Malone
Steve Forrest	...	Lawrence Clay 'Larry' Hall
Teddy Rooney	...	Billy Osgood
Russ Brown	...	Uncle Otis
Walter Greaza	...	Crawford Sloan
Parker Fennelly	...	Homer Bean
Mary Wickes	...	Matilda Runyon
Philip Coolidge	...	Wilbur Peterson
Max Showalter	...	Selwyn Harris (as Casey Adams)
John Cecil Holm	...	Aaron Caldwell
Gina Gillespie	...	Betty Osgood
Dick Crockett	...	Clarence Runyon
Napoleon Whiting	...	Eugene, the waiter

Also Known As:

Jane from Maine (USA) (alternative title)
Twinkle and Shine (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | West Germany:6 | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Chester, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Arwin Productions

Trivia:

Doris Day wrote that her manager/husband Martin Melcher was terribly concerned over the box-office failure of this film and The Tunnel of Love (1958). Their failures caused Day to drop out of the Top Ten Box Office Stars. Day and Melcher had words about him hustling her into almost any film for the money instead of waiting to find good scripts that would have produced better results.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The movie is supposed to take place in the Bangor, ME area but the microphone that Gene Rayburn is holding and the supporting television truck is for WTIC, a station in Hartford, CT a good 300 miles away.

Movie Connections:

References "Youth Wants to Know" (1951)

Any Day that starts with Doris is a good Day

Viewing this as a baby boomer today and remembering watching as a near teenager in 1960 or there about; I found this to be refreshingly warm, funny, and filled with some very beautiful scenery of America the beautiful. When I originally viewed this movie it was more of a good guy or girl versus a bad guy. Today on a cable movie network I watched it and was in awe of the beauty I missed as a young lad. Watch the movie for content, for Jack Lemon, Ernie Kovacks, or just because of Doris; but take a moment to observe the buildings, the towns, the scenery featured during the train ride, or just to see the townspeople in the parade at the end and maybe you will find yourself asking these same questions.

Where did the filming of this movie actually take place? Was the parade the actual city's population and band? Why did the movie industry abandon a wholesome Americana for such violent and explicit movies? It Happened to Jane; is a wonderful movie that should be a real life experience that happens to all of us. This today was more like a journey back to my childhood than just watching a movie. Perhaps if we as movie goers supported this venue of entertainment, then we might get back to being America the Beautiful as beautiful as she once was. Yes, she is still the best place in the world, but wouldn't it be grand to return to those happy glorious Doris Day(s) of yesteryear. R. John a fan of America the Beautiful