Here Comes the Groom (1951)

Foreign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted.

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Robert Riskin (story and treatment "You Belong to Me"), Liam O'Brien (story)

Stars:

Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman, Alexis Smith

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bing Crosby	...	Peter 'Pete' Garvey
Jane Wyman	...	Emmadel Jones
Alexis Smith	...	Winifred Stanley
Franchot Tone	...	Wilbur Stanley
James Barton	...	William 'Pa' Jones
Robert Keith	...	George Degnan
Jacques Gencel	...	Bobby (as Jacky Gencel)
H.B. Warner	...	Uncle Elihu
Beverly Washburn	...	Suzi
Nicholas Joy	...	Uncle Prentiss
Connie Gilchrist	...	Ma Jones
Ian Wolfe	...	Uncle Adam
Walter Catlett	...	Mr. McGonigle
Ellen Corby	...	Mrs. McGonigle
Alan Reed	...	Walter Godfrey

Storyline

Pete Garvey, foreign correspondent, has been running an impromptu adoption agency for war orphans in Paris, when an ultimatum from his erstwhile fiancée Emmadel Jones draws him back to Boston, complete with two adopted orphans to melt her heart. Too late! She's now engaged to rich, handsome Wilbur Stanley. And if Pete's not married within five days, he loses the kids. He'll have to work fast...

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Plot Keywords:

reference to cinderella | boston massachusetts | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 15, 1952 with Jane Wyman reprising her film role.

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Goofs

When Winifred seeks shelter in Garvey's home, George is on the phone. In a close-up, the phone is to his ear, but in the next medium shot, the phone is hung up, and he picks up the receiver again.

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Quotes

Emmadel Jones: No, I'm not going to live Ma's life all over again, waiting on shore for a sailor who comes to land every three years. It's like being married to a salmon!

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Connections

Referenced in Frank Capra's American Dream (1997)

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Soundtracks

YOUR OWN LITTLE HOUSE
Written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston
Performed by Bing Crosby

User Reviews

Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman show sparks in Frank Capra's Here Comes the Groom

For the last several days, I had been watching a series of films made in the '40s that coincidentally had a player from my favorite movie It's a Wonderful Life in it. Well, now I'm commenting on one from that picture's director, Frank Capra, which happened to have several players from his movie. Among them were H.B. Warner, J. Farrell MacDonald, Charles Lane, and Charles Halton. IMDb also lists Ellen Corby, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, and Jimmy Hawkins but I didn't recognize them. The site also mentioned frequent Laurel & Hardy player James Finlayson in here but, once again, I didn't find him. Anyway, this was an uneven romantic musical comedy starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman that didn't become funny to me until Bing's character starting living in Jane's potential future husband's mansion. That possible husband was played by Franchot Tone whose straight presence brings a steady tone that makes some of the more silly or over-the-top moments more tolerable. Alexis Smith plays a cousin, fourth removed, of Tone's whose transformation to something closer to Ms. Wyman's actual demeanor is one of the more genuinely charming moments. I also liked a sequence in which Ms. Wyman appears in hologram form when Bing plays a record from her in which she basically declares her through with him especially the way the scene ended. A couple of people I didn't find funny were Jane's parents especially the drunk father. As for the songs, Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer's "In the Cool, Cool, Cool, of the Evening" with Crosby and Wyman is a great number that seems played with no cuts whatever and possibly in one take. I also loved that one-of several they wrote here-Ray Evans and Jay Livingston song "Misto Christofo Columbo" that features Bing with Dorothy Lamour, Phil Harris, Cass Daley, Frank Fontaine (in his Crazy Gugenheim character), and the one and only Satchmo-Louis Armstrong. What a gas that was! There's also a nice operatic number from a young girl named Anna Maria Alberghetti in the beginning. By the way, I first saw her several months ago when I watched her grown-up in Ten Thousand Bedrooms, Dean Martin's first solo picture. In summation, Frank Capra's Here Comes the Groom is no great shakes but it's still quite enjoyable fluff overall.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

20 September 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

You Belong to Me

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$2,117,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1