Claudia (1943)

Child bride Claudia Naughton has made life difficult for her husband David because she can't stand living so far away from her mother. She's also afraid her husband doesn't find her ... See full summary »

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Rose Franken (play), Morrie Ryskind

Stars:

Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young, Ina Claire

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dorothy McGuire	...	Claudia Naughton
Robert Young	...	David Naughton
Ina Claire	...	Mrs. Brown
Reginald Gardiner	...	Jerry Seymour
Olga Baclanova	...	Madame Daruschka
Jean Howard	...	Julia
Frank Tweddell	...	Fritz
Elsa Janssen	...	Bertha

Storyline

Child bride Claudia Naughton has made life difficult for her husband David because she can't stand living so far away from her mother. She's also afraid her husband doesn't find her desirable enough. To remedy both situations, she sells their farm to an opera singer so they'll have to move back to the city near her mother, and she tries to make her husband jealous by flirting with a neighbor. Eventually, Claudia has to learn to grow when she discovers that she's about to become a mother and that her own mother is gravely ill.

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Plot Keywords:

child bride | one word title | forename as title | party line | parental death | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1943 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Claudia, a Esposa Moderna

Filming Locations:

Stage 3, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cary Grant was considered for the role of David Naughton.

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Connections

Followed by Claudia and David (1946)

User Reviews

From Another Time

CLAUDIA is an excellent film, based on a novel and Broadway play which starred Dorothy McGuire as a young and naive wife of an older man who lives in the Connecticut countryside. McGuire recreated her stage role in her film debut, which was a smash hit.

Claudia is a naive young woman who lives on a farm in rural Connecticut before WW II. The farm is isolated and has no electricity. Her major contacts with the world are her architect husband (Robert Young) and her mother (Ina Claire) who lives in New York City. She is devoted to both but is torn between living with her husband at the cost of being separated from her mother.

A few colorful characters breeze through her rural idyll. There's a roguish writer (Reginald Gardiner) who lives down the road and who makes a pass at her. And there's an opera diva (silent film star Olga Baclanova) who wants to buy the farm. These characters change Claudia and her relationship with her husband.

There are other changes coming to Claudia. She discovers she is pregnant just as she discovers a sad truth about her mother. Claudia adjusts to her world slowly but resolutely. It's called growing up.

Wonderful performances by all with McGuire center stage. Director Edmund Goulding had wanted retired superstar Marion Davies for the role of the mother. He knew she would add some star wattage to the cast. She would have been marvelous. Legend has it Davies' long-time love William Randloph Hearst could not bear the thought of his beloved Davies playing a middle-aged mother. She was 46 years old at the time. What a pity she bypassed the film.

The film instantly established Dorothy McGuire as a film star and was followed by a sequel CLAUDIA AND David in 1946.