Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952)

An aging heir-less millionaire wants to leave his fortune to the unsuspecting family of his first love but not before testing his prospective heirs by living with them under the guise of a poor boarder.

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Joseph Hoffman (written for the screen by), Eleanor H. Porter (based on a story by)

Stars:

Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Piper Laurie	...	Millicent Blaisdell
Rock Hudson	...	Dan Stebbins
Charles Coburn	...	Samuel Fulton / John Smith
Gigi Perreau	...	Roberta Blaisdell
Lynn Bari	...	Harriet Blaisdell
William Reynolds	...	Howard Blaisdell
Larry Gates	...	Charles Blaisdell
Skip Homeier	...	Carl Pennock
Paul Harvey	...	Judge Wilkins
Paul McVey	...	Lester Pennock
Gloria Holden	...	Clarissa Pennock
Frank Ferguson	...	Edward Norton
Forrest Lewis	...	Martin Quinn
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Natalie Schafer	...	Clarissa Pennock (replaced by Gloria Holden) (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Wealthy Samuel Fulton is getting older and has no family of his own. He decides to leave his estate to the family of his first love, who turned down his marriage proposal years ago because he was poor. But he wants to test the family before leaving his money to them. He takes a room in their home and a job in the father's shop. He anonymously grants them $100,000. Harriet Blaisdell moves the family into a mansion and makes plans to marry her daughter Millicent off to a socialite rather than her soda jerk boyfriend Dan. The money goes to their heads, and they soon find themselves broke, back in their old house, and back to their old lives. Father back in his shop, Millicent engaged to Dan, and everyone seemingly much happier. Hoping they learned their lesson, Fulton takes his leave of the family.

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Plot Keywords:

texas | 1920s | eccentricity | card game | clothesline | 

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Taglines:

The happy days ... the mad fads ... the great songs of the ... Roaring Twenties!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1953 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Oh Money, Money

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Coburn's characters name is Samuel Fulton. In the movie Monkey Business, in which Coburn appears with Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers, Grant's character's last name is also Fulton.

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Quotes

Millicent Blaisdell: [Coming down the stairs for their date] Hello, Carl.
Carl Pennock: Hot diggity, Millie. You're the cat's meow!

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Connections

Featured in The Universal Story (1996)

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Soundtracks

La cumparsita
(uncredited]
Music by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez (1916)
Lyrics by Pascual Contursi and Enrique Pedro Maroni
Danced by Lynn Bari and Fritz Feld

User Reviews

You've a lovely family, Millicent. It could have been my family if you hadn't been so darn obstinate!

Has Anybody Seen My Gal is directed by Douglas Sirk and written by Joseph Hoffman and Eleanor H. Porter. It stars Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie and Charles Coburn. Music is by Herman Stein and cinematography by Clifford Stine. It's 1928 and plot finds Coburn as wealthy Samuel Fulton, who now he is older and has no family of his own decides to leave his wealth to the family of his first love, the Blaisdells. Worming his way into the family's lives, he secretly grants them $100,000 and observes as money greatly changes the family. And not for the better!

Glorious Technicolor, sumptuous period detail and a funny picture laced with a caustic edge, Has Anybody Seen My Gal is a darn fine movie from the Sirk/Hudson stable. True, it's guilty of layering on the nostalgia, but the feel good factor that pulses throughout ensures the film remains a crowd pleaser. With song and dance also featuring, picture is frothy in its telling of how money can corrupt those who were once of sound standing. Yes, it's a message movie, but it's told with such an assuredness by Sirk and acted with fine ebullience by the cast, particularly the wonderful Coburn, that it becomes a movie comfortably recommended to those in need of a pick me up in this new and hurried world we live in. 7/10