Dear Heart (1964)

Director:

Delbert Mann

Writers:

Tad Mosel (screenplay)
Tad Mosel (story)

Release Date:

16 April 1965 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Two hours from now, two total strangers will meet at a hotel convention in the most unconventional love affair in years!

Plot:

Single and alone, Evie arrives in New York for the annual Postmasters' convention. Staying at her hotel...

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Glenn Ford	...	Harry Mork
Geraldine Page	...	Evie Jackson
Angela Lansbury	...	Phyllis
Michael Anderson Jr.	...	Patrick, Phyllis' Son
Barbara Nichols	...	June Loveland
Patricia Barry	...	Mitchell
Charles Drake	...	Frank Taylor
Richard Deacon	...	Mr. Cruikshank
Neva Patterson	...	Connie Templeton
Ken Lynch	...	The Masher
Ruth McDevitt	...	Miss Tait
Alice Pearce	...	Miss Moore
Mary Wickes	...	Miss Fox
Joanna Crawford	...	Emile Zola Bernkrant
James O'Rear	...	Marvin

Also Known As:

Out of Towners (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:11 | USA:Unrated | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Out of Towners Productions

Trivia:

At the time this movie was being filmed, the demolition of the above-track-level portions of New York's Pennsylvania Station was beginning. In the opening scene of Evie Jackson's arrival in New York, you can see several panes of station windows broken and replaced with boards. By 1966, the station had been converted from its old to its new form, and the new Madison Square Garden had been added on top of it.

Quotes:

Evie Jackson: Did you see how we just came in, Harry? Got a table right away. Isn't life easy when there are two of you?

Soundtrack:

Dear Heart

Time for a DVD release, please!

I note that a DVD version of this charming film is available in Great Britain, but not here . (Our VHS version is not in stock from one major source and one wonders if the British DVD is also out-of-stock.) This title boasts two truly fine actresses, Geraldine Page and Angela Lansbury (although the latter has little more than a cameo, of which she makes the most, as always), plus a wonderful supporting cast as well. Ordinarily I've found Glenn Ford to be rather dull in several of his big screen performances but in this one I recall finding him well-suited to his role and giving an entirely sympathetic and amusing account of himself opposite Ms. Page in a role she obviously relished.

With a well-remembered theme song and a nice music score by the prolific Henry Mancini, there's probably no danger of this one being remade, I suspect, and, since it's close to perfect in this original telling, let's just hope that a DVD release will eventually allow us to revisit the qualities that made it genuinely appealing for mature audiences forty years ago and, I feel sure, still would today.