Casanova Brown*

Casanova Brown

Directed by Sam Wood. 94 mins. (1944)

Gary Cooper – Casanova “Cas” Brown

On the eve of his second marriage, a well-meaning but impulsive professor discovers his ex-wife has secretly borne his child and, in a panic, abducts the baby—setting off a comic chase that reveals their lingering love.

Also starring Teresa Wright, Frank Morgan, Anita Louise, and Edmund Breon.

Based on the Broadway play Little Accident by Phoebe and Henry Ephron. The film was widely screened for Allied troops in outdoor cinemas across newly liberated France during World War II.

Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Original Story, Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, and Best Sound Recording.

MARIA’S NOTES

This film is a very different Cooper type role. He plays a sweet, rather awkward and naive man…not your typical Gary Cooper heroic character. My father was a co-producer on this movie followed by Along Came Jones, however wearing those 2 hats cured him of the “producing “ bug. He was co-starred with Teresa Wright, the wonderful wife of Lou Gehrig in the Pride of The Yankees, but not so wonderful in Cassanova Brown. The husband/wife relationship was quite the opposite, in fact dramatically so!The comedy that plays thru this film did not work all the time.  That was a frustration for my father, as he in fact had a real flair and natural timing for comedy, something that is shown off wonderfully well in his film Bluebeard’s 8th Wife with Claudette Colbert, written by that master Billy Wilder and directed by Ernst Lubitch. Claudette Colbert and her husband Dr. Joel Pressman were close friends of my family, and we spent many happy weekends together at our tennis court and around the swimming pool.

Maria Cooper Janis