Don Juan Quilligan
Cast & Crew
Frank Tuttle
William Bendix
Joan Blondell
Phil Silvers
Anne Revere
B. S. Pully
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Ten years after his mother's death, barge captain Patrick Michael Quilligan is still so devoted to her memory that he becomes enamoured of barmaid Margie Mossrock, whose laughter and charm remind him of her. Quilligan, whose boat carries freight between Brooklyn and Utica, New York, introduces Margie to his caustic first mate, Mac Denny, and is in turn introduced to her three overprotective brothers: bartender Ed, ball player Howie and policeman Artie. The brothers tease Quilligan but happily accept him into the family when he proposes to Margie. Quilligan promises to bring Margie a diamond ring following his next run to Utica, but in Utica, he is hurt while defending shy Lucy Blake from an annoying man, and when Lucy takes him to her house to recuperate, he is amazed by Lucy's tasty homecooking. Quilligan then offers Lucy his highest compliment: that her cooking is just like his mother's. So impressed is Quilligan that he asks Lucy to call him Michael, as did his mother, and after spending four days with Lucy and her mother, Quilligan becomes engaged to Lucy. Although Mrs. Blake's friend, Cora Rostigaff, finds it suspicious that Quilligan just happened to have an engagement ring with him, Mrs. Blake cares only that Quilligan has a steady job. When Mac reads the newspaper announcement of Quilligan and Lucy's engagement, he upbraids his friend for his foolishness as they sail back to Brooklyn. At a New Year's party, Cora sees Quilligan with Margie, who always calls him Pat. In order to get his friend out of hot water, Mac doctors a photograph of Quilligan and his mother, making it look as if Quilligan has a twin brother. Quilligan then tells Lucy and her mother about his black sheep brother Patrick, who is engaged to Margie. The Blakes believe Quilligan's story, but after his return to Brooklyn, Margie finally succeeds in getting him to the marriage bureau to obtain a license. As they are getting the license, Mac rushes in with a telegram stating that Mrs. Blake is seriously ill. Quilligan goes to Utica, where Mrs. Blake asks him to fulfill her dying wish by marrying Lucy immediately. Quilligan consents, and after the hasty ceremony, Mrs. Blake reveals that she was faking her illness in order to hurry along the marriage. Determined to tell Margie the truth, Quilligan rushes back to Brooklyn before his and Lucy's honeymoon. Quilligan goes to Margie's house, where the brothers have engineered a wedding "rehearsal," in which Quilligan reluctantly participates. The rehearsal turns out to be a real ceremony and Quilligan is aghast to find he is a bigamist. Before he can decide what to do, Quilligan hears an announcement about the attack on Pearl Harbor and decides to help his country and escape his marriages by joining the Navy. After he visits the Navy recruitment center as Patrick, however, Quilligan learns that he has been drafted by the Army under the name of Michael. Quilligan passes the Army physical, and he and Mac are on the street when they see Artie and other policemen chasing some gangsters. Upon their return to the boat, Quilligan and Mac find the body of a man murdered by the gangsters, and because the mutilated body is unrecognizable, they decide to drop it into the ocean and claim that it was one of the Quilligan brothers. When Lucy is notified that her husband Michael's drowned body has been discovered, Cora tells the police that his twin brother Patrick probably murdered him. Quilligan is then arrested and put on trial, during which he confesses to bigamy and explains his twin brother ruse. Quilligan is acquitted of murder, but the judge orders him to annul his marriages and report for military service. As he is leaving the courtroom, Lucy and Margie both offer Quilligan their forgiveness and assure him that they will wait for his return.
Director
Frank Tuttle
Cast
William Bendix
Joan Blondell
Phil Silvers
Anne Revere
B. S. Pully
Mary Treen
John Russell
Veda Ann Borg
Thurston Hall
Cara Williams
Richard Gaines
Hobart Cavanaugh
Renee Carson
George Macready
Helen Freeman
Charles Cane
Anthony Caruso
Eddie Acuff
Joel Friedkin
Charles Marsh
Emmett Vogan
James Flavin
John Albright
Charles D. Brown
Lee Phelps
Tom Dugan
Carey Harrison
Genevieve Bell
Jimmy Conlin
Alvin Hammer
Charles Mcnaughton
Lester Sharpe
Michael Dunne
Margo Woode
William Carter
Forbes Murray
Byron Foulger
Richard Abbott
George Carleton
Russ Clark
Brick Sullivan
Ted Jordan
Sarah Edwards
Jack Baxley
Frank Johnson
William Haade
Crew
Harry Brand
Norbert Brodine
Bud Brooks
Alfred Bruzlin
Norman Colbert
Lee Crawford
Tom Dudley
Mack Elliott
Leo Friedman
Frank Gabrielson
Charles Hall
Ben Hayne
Roger Heman
Frank E. Hughes
Arthur Kober
William Lebaron
Thomas Little
Norman Martien
Emil Newman
Ben Nye
Maurice De Packh
David Raksin
George Schaefer
Fred Sersen
Murray Spivack
Eddie Welch
Lyle Wheeler
Beth Slater Whitson
Larry Williams
Gladys Witten
Yvonne Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Two-Faced Quilligan. A February 24, 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item stated that Paramount and Warner Bros. had also bid for the rights to Herbert Clyde Lewis' short story. Although a February 26, 1943 Los Angeles Times news item speculated that Thomas Mitchell would star in the picture, Hollywood Reporter stated on May 11, 1943 that the story, "which has been in preparation for some time as a straight comedy vehicle for Jack Benny," would be turned into a musical comedy for Benny. On July 8, 1943, Hollywood Reporter announced that Gracie Fields would co-star with Benny, and that John M. Stahl was to direct the picture. Exterior and background scenes were shot on location in San Pedro, CA, according to Hollywood Reporter, and studio publicity notes that background shots of Brooklyn, New York, were photographed by Larry Williams. Hollywood Reporter production charts and studio publicity include Roy Roberts, Mary Taylor and George Magrill in the cast, but their appearance in the completed film has not been confirmed.
