To Each His Own (1946)

An unwed mother, forced to give up her child to avoid scandal, follows her son's life from afar even as she prospers in business.

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Charles Brackett (screenplay), Jacques Théry (screenplay) (as Jacques Thery)

Stars:

Olivia de Havilland, John Lund, Mary Anderson

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Olivia de Havilland	...	Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris (as Olivia De Havilland)
Mary Anderson	...	Corinne Piersen
Roland Culver	...	Lord Desham
Phillip Terry	...	Alex Piersen
Bill Goodwin	...	Mac Tilton
Virginia Welles	...	Liz Lorimer
Victoria Horne	...	Nurse Daisy Gingras
Griff Barnett	...	Daniel Norris
Alma Macrorie	...	Belle Ingram
Billy Ward	...	Gregory - Younger (as Bill Ward)
Frank Faylen	...	Babe
Willard Robertson	...	Dr. Hunt
Arthur Loft	...	Bernadock Clinton
Virginia Farmer	...	Mrs. Cora Clinton
Doris Lloyd	...	Miss Pringle

Storyline

During World War I, small-town girl Josephine Norris has an illegitimate son by an itinerant pilot. After a scheme to adopt him ends up giving him to another family, she devotes her life to loving him from afar.

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Plot Keywords:

announcement of pregnancy | loneliness | adopted son | cosmetics | small town | 

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Taglines:

A Great Star! She's Never Had A Better Role!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 March 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lágrimas de una madre

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The popular 1946 Livingston-Evans song hit "To Each His Own", though inspired by the film's title, was not included in the soundtrack. The top-selling version by Eddy Howard entered the national record charts three months after the movie's premiere and was followed by other best-sellers from The Ink Spots, Freddy Martin, Tony Martin, and The Modernaires.

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Goofs

When Captain Cosgrove shuts off the power to his biplane it continues to glide on a level path. Biplanes have very high drag because they have two wings and all the supports in between. The plane would have started to fall toward the ground, not continue on. The clouds in the background show a level path of travel.

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Quotes

Lord Desham: In case of accident or death, notify whom?
Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris: My lawyer.
Lord Desham: Mmmm. Same here. Freaks! That's what we are, a tad of freaks.
Miss Josephine 'Jody' Norris: Nonsense!
Lord Desham: Halfway through life and the warmest high we can produce is a paid fellow that does our business for us.

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Connections

Referenced in Feud: And the Winner Is... (The Oscars of 1963) (2017)

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Soundtracks

Three Little Fishies (Itty Bitty Poo)
Word & Music by Saxie Dowell

User Reviews

"Holy Canarsie!"

I caught this one on a late-night TV broadcast some years ago and was immediately hooked by Olivia's beautiful performance (plus being a sucker for tear-jerking stories with a flashback structure, I'm embarrassed to admit.) With Paramount's finest artisans and technicians in all departments to enhance her return to the screen, Olivia's Oscar was well-earned, indeed.

Other IMDb comments on this title are "on the money" (except for the one nay-sayer...Can't please everyone!) but no one mentioned John Lund's (as Gregory, Josephine Norris' long-lost son, rediscovered during his wartime London leave) constantly having to exclaim "Holy Canarsie!" before nearly every line of his dialog. After the first couple of times I wanted to scream at him, "Oh, stuff it!" But then, we're all guilty of overusing certain expressions, but THAT one was REALLY annoying. No wonder the script failed to win the Academy Award. So there!