Cinderella Jones


1h 32m 1946
Cinderella Jones

Brief Synopsis

A woman can claim inheritance only if she marries a genius.

Film Details

Also Known As
Judy Adjudicates
Genre
Comedy
Musical
Release Date
Mar 9, 1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Judy Adjudicates" by Philip Wylie in Red Book Magazine (Apr 1943).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 32m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1

Synopsis

Having failed to locate heiress Judy Jones, the law firm of Minland, Mahoney and Krencher decide to advertise. One of the many people who sees the ad is band leader Tommy Coles, whose girl friend, an addlepated singer, is named Judy Jones. Tommy has proposed many times to Judy, but she refuses to marry him until they have more money. After Judy makes a comment about her rich uncle Jonas Jones, Tommy realizes that she is really the missing heiress. By showing the lawyers a shrunken head that Jonas left to her, Judy proves her claim to his ten million dollars, but in order to inherit, she must marry a man with an I.Q. of 150 by a certain date. Using a man's name, Judy enrolls in an all-male school for geniuses. Her ruse is quickly discovered, but because she is attractive, and because she offers to pay for a new chemistry laboratory with part of her inheritance, professor Gabriel Popik allows her to stay in school. Younger professor Bartholomew Williams is not as susceptible to Judy's charms, however, and insists that she leave the campus. A horrified Popik demands that Williams beg Judy to return, but thanks to taxi driver Camille, she has already taken a waitress job at the campus coffee shop and refuses. After Judy accidentally serves Williams a sandwich made with a bar of soap, he angrily tells her that she epitomizes everything he hates about women. Tommy, who is also in the coffee shop, tries to defend Judy, but Williams knocks him unconscious, impressing Judy with his virility. Because Popik knows that Judy must marry a man with a high I.Q., he convinces Williams to romance her until she agrees to return to school. A few days later, Popik is sure that the stormy relationship between Judy and Williams is a sign that they love each other. When Judy joins Tommy and his band at a lakeside resort the night before her marriage deadline, Popik conspires with the lawyers, who are also at the resort, to bring Judy and Williams together. While the lawyers row Judy out to the middle of the lake, Popik brings a drunken Williams to the lakeshore. The lawyers overturn the boat and Williams swims out to rescue Judy. He confesses that he loves her, and she accepts his marriage proposal, to the dismay of Tommy and Camille, who loves Williams. Judy and Williams, together with the lawyers, Tommy, Camille and Popik, hurry to Nevada to be married. On the way, the police stop them for speeding and take them to jail. In their defense, Tommy reels off a lot of legal terminology and is forced to admit that he is a law school graduate and a former quiz kid. After Williams reveals that he has a low I.Q., but has worked hard to succeed, Tommy proposes again to Judy, whom he truly loves, and Camille proposes to Williams. The marriage plans are again interrupted when the wedding party is stopped by a convoy of returning soldiers, but everything is happily resolved when the army chaplain unites the two couples.

Cast

Joan Leslie

Judy Jones

Robert Alda

Tommy Coles

Julie Bishop

Camille

William Prince

Bartholomew Williams

S. Z. Sakall

Gabriel Popik

Edward Everett Horton

Keating

Charles Dingle

Minland

Ruth Donnelly

Cora Elliott

Elisha Cook Jr.

Oliver S. Patch

Hobart Cavanaugh

George

Charles Arnt

Mahoney

Chester Clute

Krencher

Ed Gargan

Riley

Marianne O'brien

Marie

Robert Dudley

Secretary

Gayle Mellott

Miss Brewster

Mary Landa

Elevator girl

Sondra Janson

Elevator girl

Libby Taylor

Black woman

Hallene Hill

Little old lady

Lillian Castle

Little old lady

Marian Martin

Burlesque queen

Lottie Harrison

Buxom girl

Ezelle Poule

Cigar store clerk

Dorothy Kennedy

Girl truck driver

Karen Hale

Riveter

Pat Knox

Show girl

Valerie Gratton

"B" girl

Charles Marsh

Electrician

Don Wilson

Announcer

Mary Dean

Singer

Buddy Gorman

Sailor

Margaret Early

Bashful girl

Johnny Mitchell

Soldier

Johnny Duncan

Newsboy

Russell Coles

Newsboy

Lawrence Lathrop

Newsboy

Bill Chaney

Newsboy

Fred Carpenter

Newsboy

Victoria Horne

Agnes

Ruth Warren

Faded lady

George Turner

Marine

Edwin Mills

Genius

Robert Cherry

Genius

Edward Fielding

Dean Barker

Percival Vivian

Professor Diebold

Douglas Wood

Professor Seabright

Walter Soderling

Member, board of directors

John Christian

Member, board of directors

Frank Hilliard

Member, board of director

Elmer Jerome

Member board of directors

Eddie Acuff

Truck driver

Ben Weldon

Truck driver

Betty Alexander

Waitress

Angela Greene

Waitress

Diana Mumby

Waitress

Trude Lavoice

Waitress

Ann Goldthwaite

Waitress

Lynne Baggett

Junior leaguer

Barbara Slater

Junior leaguer

Beverly Thompson

Junior leaguer

Alma Carroll

Junior leaguer

Ricki Van Dusen

Junior leaguer

Jan Bryant

Junior leaguer

Zetta Cramer

"B" girl

Wesley Brent

Junior leaguer

Ellen Hall

Junior leaguer

Lavonne Moyer

Junior leaguer

Joy Barlowe

Junior leaguer

Lorraine Breacher

Junior leaguer

Beverlee Mitchell

Cashier

Monte Blue

Jailer

Edwin Hanneford

Bailiff

Joseph Crehan

Prosecuting attorney

Paul Scardon

Judge Rutledge

Vera Lewis

Woman in court room

Rose Plumer

Woman in court room

Jack Chefe

Waiter

Johnny Walsh

Bellboy

John Sheehan

Bartender

Bob Ebright

Sgt. McNulty

Abe Dinovitch

Tough M.P.

Clifford Holland

Black soldier

Mike Gaddis

M.P.

John Alban

Chaplain

Shelby Payne

Red Cross nurse

Helen Kimbell

Red Cross nurse

Marion Graham

Red Cross nurse

Janette Gras

Red Cross nurse

Dell Clow

Red Cross nurse

Betty Brodel

Red Cross nurse

Walter Bacon

Man

Howard Washington

Man

Ray Flynn

Harold Miller

Lawrence Williams

Jack Daley

Eric Alden

Orn Huntington

Dan Wallace

Hal Townsend

Zane Megowan

Jeffrey Sayre

Everett Smith

Harry Woolman

Betty Gordon

Gertrude Keeler

Marjorie Kane

Toby Green

Isabelle Lamal

Tiny Jones

Film Details

Also Known As
Judy Adjudicates
Genre
Comedy
Musical
Release Date
Mar 9, 1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Judy Adjudicates" by Philip Wylie in Red Book Magazine (Apr 1943).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 32m
Sound
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1

Articles

Cinderella Jones


Joan Leslie had been working under contract at Warner Brothers since the age of 15, in High Sierra (1941)), and the studio rewarded her loyalty and professionalism by giving her great co-stars (Cagney, Fonda, Bogart) and directors (Howard Hawks, Michael Curtiz). What's more, she took time to entertain troops at the Hollywood Canteen every Tuesday as part of the war effort. But by the time she was 21, the good parts were harder to find. The studio, under pressure to work cheaply and quickly to compete with television, put her in projects like Cinderella Jones, a madcap fantasy about a singer (Leslie) who's up for a $10 million inheritance if she can marry a man with an IQ over 150. Even though it was a chance to work under Busby Berkeley, the picture contained very few songs and even less of Berkeley's trademark kaleidoscopic, psychedelic musical numbers. After being disappointed by the end result, the now adult Leslie decided to sue Warner Brothers for dissolution of the contract she'd signed as a minor - and lost. After the defeat, Leslie made a few films at Republic before retiring to focus on her family.
Cinderella Jones

Cinderella Jones

Joan Leslie had been working under contract at Warner Brothers since the age of 15, in High Sierra (1941)), and the studio rewarded her loyalty and professionalism by giving her great co-stars (Cagney, Fonda, Bogart) and directors (Howard Hawks, Michael Curtiz). What's more, she took time to entertain troops at the Hollywood Canteen every Tuesday as part of the war effort. But by the time she was 21, the good parts were harder to find. The studio, under pressure to work cheaply and quickly to compete with television, put her in projects like Cinderella Jones, a madcap fantasy about a singer (Leslie) who's up for a $10 million inheritance if she can marry a man with an IQ over 150. Even though it was a chance to work under Busby Berkeley, the picture contained very few songs and even less of Berkeley's trademark kaleidoscopic, psychedelic musical numbers. After being disappointed by the end result, the now adult Leslie decided to sue Warner Brothers for dissolution of the contract she'd signed as a minor - and lost. After the defeat, Leslie made a few films at Republic before retiring to focus on her family.

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The film's working title was Judy Adjudicates. A November 4, 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item notes that Faye Emerson replaced Jane Wyman, who was re-assigned to the Warner Bros. film Make Your Own Bed (see below), but Emerson does not appear in the film, and the role was finally played by Joan Leslie. A press release announced Dennis Morgan as the star. The Motion Picture Herald review states that although this film was made before Rhapsody in Blue, which also stars Robert Alda (see below), Warner Bros. delayed its release in the hope that Rhapsody in Blue would establish Alda as a box office draw. According to modern sources, one result of this delay was that a number of wartime references had to be edited out of the film. This film marked Busby Berkeley's last directorial effort for Warner Bros., the studio where he was the dance director on a number of musicals made in the 1930s.