This Time for Keeps
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Charles Riesner
Ann Rutherford
Robert Sterling
Guy Kibbee
Irene Rich
Virginia Weidler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Katherine White leaves her husband Lee for a few days, in order to attend an out-of-town wedding, he tries to make the most of his freedom. After futile attempts to induce his friends to get together for poker, he realizes his loneliness and accepts the invitation of his sympathetic father-in-law, Harry Bryant, to stay with him and his family for a few days. Although Lee wants to stand on his own and do the best job he can as a used car salesman, Harry reveals that he had always wanted a son like Lee and invites him to join his real estate and insurance business. Lee gets on well with Kit's family, especially her tomboyish youngest sister Harriet, but is overjoyed when Kit returns. She is delighted to find Lee ensconced in "Harry Bryant and Son" and is not at all concerned that Harry is having a difficult time relinquishing responsibility to Lee. Meanwhile, Harriet reads a romance novel in which the heroine is secretly in love with her sister's "betrothed" and thinks that it is just like her and her own sister Edith's boyfriend, Eustace. Needing money for a makeup kit to make herself more glamorous, Harriet goes to quiz night at the local movie theater, in defiance of Harry's orders. She wins ten dollars in the quiz, but because she is a minor they will not give her the cash and instead award her two hundred bars of Frothy Foamy Soap. To make matters worse, her parents, who had also gone to the movies, run into her in the lobby. The next day, Harry and Lee clash when Harry again refuses to delegate authority, so the remorseful Harry agrees to let Lee follow one deal all the way through completion, without interference. Harry is shocked that Lee wants to sell a vacant lot to candy manufacturer Arthur Freeman, who is notoriously difficult, but agrees to let Lee try. A short time later, to make amends for a silly argument, Lee goes with Kit to a hat shop, where they meet Freeman and his wife. They strike up a conversation and Freeman agrees to meet with Lee, but later Lee cannot convince him to buy the lot. Lee then hits upon the idea to buy all of the remaining cakes of soap from Harriet and have her spread the bars around town to suggest to Freeman that a soap company wants to buy the lot. The trick works, and Freeman is almost ready to sign when Lee suggests that because Mrs. Freeman is out of town, Freeman try Kit's cooking for dinner. Unknown to Lee, Kit and her mother have concluded that Lee's recent bad mood has been caused by his diet and Kit has prepared a special "health food" dinner. When Lee unexpectedly brings Freeman home, she calls her mother for help and Harry takes their dinner over to Kit. Once there, Harry decides to stay, and just as Freeman is about to complete the deal, Harry inadvertently talks him out of it. The next day, Lee is terribly depressed and tells Kit that he is going to quit working for Harry, even though Harry deeply regrets what has happened. They argue, and she threatens to leave him, then goes off to a masquerade with her parents. Lee then goes to Harriet to commiserate, and, after she tells him that she does not love Eustace after all and deliberately put a tutu in his costume box, they decide to help each other. At the masquerade, Lee helps Harriet exchange costumes with Eustace, and she helps him find Kit. By chance they encounter Freeman who, like Harry, is dressed as a clown. Freeman offers Lee a big job because he has been so impressed with his business sense. After Lee leaves for a moment, he returns to give Freeman his answer, unaware that Freeman has left and the "clown" is now Harry. Lee then explains the situation with Harry, but says that he cannot quit because he is so fond of his father-in-law. When Harry takes his mask off, Lee feels terrible, but Harry realizes that Freeman's opportunity is much better for Lee and wishes him well. Finally, Harriet wins the grand prize, one hundred cakes of Frothy Foamy Soap.
Director
Charles Riesner
Cast
Ann Rutherford
Robert Sterling
Guy Kibbee
Irene Rich
Virginia Weidler
Henry O'neill
Dorothy Morris
Richard Crane
Joseph Strauch Jr.
Connie Gilchrist
Tim Ryan
Dave Willock
Ava Gardner
John "buddy" Williams
Ken Christy
Cliff Danielson
George Noisom
Richard Kipling
Harold Miller
Lucien Littlefield
Robert Emmett Keane
Frank Hagney
Mark Daniels
Russell Simpson
Doris Day
Billy Griffith
Hooper Atchley
Frances Carson
Bess Flowers
Babe London
Catherine Henderson
Regina Wallace
Bunty Cutler
Crew
Muriel Roy Bolton
Cedric Gibbons
Lennie Hayton
Rian James
Charles Lawton
Herman J. Mankiewicz
Samuel Marx
Sandy Roth
Harry Ruskin
Gabriel Scognamillo
Douglas Shearer
Fredrick Y. Smith
Edwin B. Willis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was Just Between Us. The picture opens with the following written prologue: "Only a friend can become an enemy. A relative is one from the beginning-Olde Proverbe." According to Hollywood Reporter news items, Spring Byington, Sig Froelich and Reginald Simpson were cast in the film. Byington, who was to have appeared as "Mrs. Bryant," did not, and the appearance of Froelich and Simpson has not been confirmed.
This Time for Keeps was based on characters created by Herman J. Mankiewicz for the 1940 M-G-M film Keeping Company, starring Frank Morgan as "Harry C. Thomas," Ann Rutherford as "Mary Thomas," Virginia Weidler as "Harriet Thomas" and Irene Rich as "Mrs. Thomas" (See AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.2256). Although Rutherford, Rich and Weidler all appeared in the earlier film, the family surname was changed and Guy Kibbee replaced Morgan as the family patriarch. Although a series based on the family was planned, This Time for Keeps was the final film made featuring the characters.
