Rings on Her Fingers (1942)

Two con artists take a shopgirl under their wing, but complications arise when she begins to fall for a mathematician, disrupting their marrying-for-money scheme.

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

Ken Englund (screen play), Robert Pirosh (original story)

Stars:

Henry Fonda, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Henry Fonda	...	John Wheeler
Gene Tierney	...	Susan Miller / Linda Worthington
Laird Cregar	...	Warren Worthington
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Tod Fenwick (as John Shepperd)
Spring Byington	...	Mrs. Maybelle Worthington
Frank Orth	...	Kellogg
Henry Stephenson	...	Colonel Harry Prentiss
Marjorie Gateson	...	Mrs. Fenwick
George Lessey	...	Fenwick Sr.
Iris Adrian	...	Peggy
Harry Hayden	...	Conductor
Gwendolyn Logan	...	Miss Calahan
Eric Wilton	...	Butler
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Newsboy (as Billy Benedict)
Sarah Edwards	...	Mrs. Clancy

Storyline

Susan Miller works behind the girdle counter in a department store and dreams about the beautiful clothes and glamour she can never hope to have. Enter May Worthington and Warren, a pair of con artists who pose as the mother and uncle of a pretty girl in order to separate millionaires from their money. They convince Susan she has an opportunity to fulfill all her dreams, and the trio heads for Palm Beach. Susan meets John Wheeler who says he is shopping for a sailboat. Believing that he is a millionaire, Warren and May sell him a boat that doesn't belong to them, and make off with his $15,000 life savings. Looking for greener pastures, they work themselves into the family of wealthy Tod Fenwick, who falls for Sue, posing as "Linda Worthington". But John shows up as a guest of Fenwick and he tells "Linda", not knowing she was part of the scam, that he has a detective after the fake captain that sold him the boat. John admits that he is not a millionaire but only a $65-a-week clerk. He ...

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male | screwball comedy | millionaire | sailboat | gambling | 

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Taglines:

It's Larceny ... But She's Lovely ... And He Loves It!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Double or Nothing

Filming Locations:

Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hairy-chested Henry Fonda was forced to subject to a torso waxing for his bare chested scenes at the beach.

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Quotes

Susan Miller: Say, are you really millionaires?
[Warren and Maybelle burst into laughter]
Warren: Why?
Susan Miller: Well, there seems to be something missing.
Mrs. Maybelle Worthington: Just the millions, and they can't rule you out for a technicality.
Warren: You see, nature played a little trick on us: we should have been born with blue blood, so we have devoted our entire life to correcting this... biological error.
Susan Miller: What do you do? If you're not, what are you?
Mrs. Maybelle Worthington: Well, we're sort of an excess profits tax. To criticize us would be unamerican.
Warren: We are merely bees ...

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Connections

Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda (1978)

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Soundtracks

I Know Why (and So Do You)
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played after John starts winning at roulette

User Reviews

Silly comedy that wastes the talents of a good cast...

RINGS ON HER FINGERS is the story of a shopgirl (GENE TIERNEY) who dreams of riches and accepts the idea that if she joins a gang of con artists she can escape her department store existence and live it up as a rich girl. The unlikely con artists are played by LAIRD CREGAR, SPRING BYINGTON and HENRY STEPHENSON.

All of their plans go haywire when Tierney falls for simpleton HENRY FONDA, doing a reprise of his role opposite Barbara Stanwyck in THE LADY EVE as the guy taken for a sap.

The story only livens up considerably during the final twenty or so minutes involving a merry chase in an airport terminal. But most of it is directed unevenly by Rouben Mamoulian who was never known for his prowess with comedy.

Tierney manages to be lively in a one dimensional role and Fonda does his usual imitation of an earnest, down to earth guy who wants nothing more than to find the right girl to take down the aisle on his $50 a week job.

Only unusual element is seeing Spring Byington in a part different from her usual sweetly sentimental roles.

Silly and totally forgettable.