By Violet LeVoit
Keeping Company
Brief Synopsis
A young man's engagement is jeopardized by the return of an old girlfriend.
Cast & Crew
Read More
S. Sylvan Simon
Director
Frank Morgan
Harry C. Thomas
Ann Rutherford
Mary Thomas
John Shelton
Ted Foster
Irene Rich
Mrs. [Susan] Thomas
Gene Lockhart
Mr. Hellman
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Dec
27,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 20m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
Harry C. Thomas and his wife Susan head a brood of daughters-- Mary, who has just attained marriagable age; Harriet, a mischevous adolescent who spies on her sister and makes shrewd business deals for ice cream; and Evelyn, the middle sister. Mary's engagement to car salesman Ted Foster changes the status of the family, prompting Mr. and Mrs. Thomas to give the prospective newlyweds advice on marriage. Although both Ted and Mary insist that their marriage will be one without problems, misunderstandings arise with the appearance of Anastasia Atherton, Ted's old sweetheart who has just returned from New York. Because Anastasia is in need of money, Ted agrees to buy her car, but neglects to inform Mary of the transaction. Consequently, when Mary finds Anastasia's compact in the back seat of the car and discovers checks written from Ted to Anastasia, she assumes that Ted is being unfaithful and leaves her husband to return to the security of the Thomas home. Ted's worries are compounded when he convinces his boss, Mr. Hellman, to order forty new cars because a factory is scheduled to open in a nearby town, only to learn that the factory is not opening, thus placing Hellman in danger of bankruptcy. Plagued by problems, Ted disappears, leaving Mary behind to attend the annual Hellman picnic by herself. When Mr. Hellman, who has promised to make Ted his successor, fails to announce his intentions at the picnic, Mary chastises him for overlooking Ted's fine qualities. Soon afterward, Ted appears and announces that he has saved the agency by selling cars to a dealership in the town of Lyndhurst. When Hellman then tells Ted how Mary stood up for him, the newlyweds are reconciled.
Director
S. Sylvan Simon
Director
Cast
Frank Morgan
Harry C. Thomas
Ann Rutherford
Mary Thomas
John Shelton
Ted Foster
Irene Rich
Mrs. [Susan] Thomas
Gene Lockhart
Mr. Hellman
Virginia Weidler
Harriet Thomas
Virginia Grey
Anastasia Atherton
Dan Dailey Jr.
Jim Reynolds
Gloria De Haven
Evelyn Thomas
Sara Haden
Mrs. Foster
Bert Roach
Bert Crouch
Ann Todd
First stooge
Sally Martin
Second stooge
Fern Emmett
Mrs. Miller
Harry Tyler
Joe Green
Cy Kendall
Arnold
Joe Yule
Mr. Alberts
Robert Winkler
Urchin
Richard Crane
Eddie Lane
John Webb Dillon
Postman
Buddy Messinger
Boy
Crew
Daniele Amfitheatrof
Music Score
Karl Freund
Photography
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
James H. Hill
Screenwriter
Herman J. Mankiewicz
Original Story
Samuel Marx
Producer
Wade B. Rubottom
Art Director Associate
Harry Ruskin
Screenwriter
Adrian Scott
Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
Elmo Vernon
Film Editor
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Dolph Zimmer
Assistant Director
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Dec
27,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 20m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Keeping Company
MGM knew they had a valuable property in Frank Morgan. Not only was the twice-Oscar nominated actor a consummate professional on set, but he had a likeable versatility that added pathos or levity to projects ranging from Lubitsch-directed romantic comedies like The Shop Around The Corner (1940) to more serious pictures like the WWII drama The Mortal Storm (1940). Determined to create a dependable vehicle that could showcase the amiable actor, they tapped legendary screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz to create the first of a planned series about a small-town husband and wife (Morgan and Irene Rich) and their three daughters (Ann Rutherford, Gloria DeHaven, and young Virginia Weidler, who gets the best and zingiest Mankiewicz lines). Strangely, despite the warmth and good humor of the end result, MGM never honored their plan for a continuing series and only returned to these characters one more time in This Time For Keeps (1942) -- but this time without Morgan.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Keeping Company
MGM knew they had a valuable property in Frank Morgan. Not only was the twice-Oscar nominated actor a consummate professional on set, but he had a likeable versatility that added pathos or levity to projects ranging from Lubitsch-directed romantic comedies like The Shop Around The Corner (1940) to more serious pictures like the WWII drama The Mortal Storm (1940). Determined to create a dependable vehicle that could showcase the amiable actor, they tapped legendary screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz to create the first of a planned series about a small-town husband and wife (Morgan and Irene Rich) and their three daughters (Ann Rutherford, Gloria DeHaven, and young Virginia Weidler, who gets the best and zingiest Mankiewicz lines). Strangely, despite the warmth and good humor of the end result, MGM never honored their plan for a continuing series and only returned to these characters one more time in This Time For Keeps (1942) -- but this time without Morgan.
By Violet LeVoit
Virginia Grey (1917-2004)
She was was born in Los Angeles on March 22, 1917, and was exposed to the film industry at a very young age. Her father, Ray Grey, was a Keystone Cop and acted in several other of Mack Sennett's comedies with the likes of Mabel Normand, Dorothy Gish and Ben Turpin. When her father died when she was still a child, Virginia's mother encouraged her to join the acting game and audition for the role of Eva for Uncle Tom's Cabin, a big budget picture for Universal Studios in the day. She won the role, and acted in a few more pictures at the studio: The Michigan Kid and Heart to Heart (both 1928), before she decided to temporarily leave acting to finish her schooling.
She returned to films after graduating from high school, and after bouncing around Hollywood doing bits for various studios, she hooked up with MGM in 1938. Her roles in her first few films were fairly non-descript: In Test Pilot and Ladies in Distress (both 1938), she did little more than look pretty, but in the following year she had scene-stealing parts in The Women (upstaging Joan Crawford in a delicious scene as a wisecracking perfume counter girl) and as the suffering heroine in Another Thin Man (both 1939).
Despite her versatility (she could handle comedy or drama with equal effectiveness), MGM would cast her in some above-average, but hardly starmaking movies: Whistling in the Dark, The Big Store (both 1941), and Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942). She left MGM in 1943 and became a freelance actress for several studios, but her material as a leading lady throughout the '40s were mediocre: Swamp Fire, House of Horrors (both 1946), and Mexican Hayride (1948) were sadly the more interesting films in her post-MGM period. But by the '50s she was a well-established character actress, appearing in fairly big-budget pictures: All That Heaven Allows, The Rose Tattoo (both 1955), Jeanne Eagels (1957).
In the '60s, Grey turned to television and found work on a variety of hit shows: Wagon Train, Peter Gunn, Bonanza, My Three Sons, I Spy, and several others; plus she also captured a a couple of notable supporting parts in these films: Madame X (1966), and Airport (1970), before retiring completely from acting in the early '70s. She is survived by her sister, Lorraine Grey Heindorf, two nieces and two nephews.
by Michael T. Toole
Virginia Grey (1917-2004)
Virginia Grey, one MGM's lovliest, but underused
leading ladies of the late '30s and '40s, died in
Woodland Hills, California on August 1 of heart
failure. She was 87.
She was was born in Los Angeles on March 22, 1917, and
was exposed to the film industry at a very young age.
Her father, Ray Grey, was a Keystone Cop and acted in
several other of Mack Sennett's comedies with the
likes of Mabel Normand, Dorothy Gish and Ben Turpin.
When her father died when she was still a child,
Virginia's mother encouraged her to join the acting
game and audition for the role of Eva for Uncle
Tom's Cabin, a big budget picture for Universal
Studios in the day. She won the role, and acted in a
few more pictures at the studio: The Michigan
Kid and Heart to Heart (both 1928), before
she decided to temporarily leave acting to finish her
schooling.
She returned to films after graduating from high school,
and after bouncing around Hollywood doing bits for
various studios, she hooked up with MGM in 1938. Her
roles in her first few films were fairly non-descript:
In Test Pilot and Ladies in Distress
(both 1938), she did little more than look pretty, but
in the following year she had scene-stealing parts in
The Women (upstaging Joan Crawford in a
delicious scene as a wisecracking perfume counter
girl) and as the suffering heroine in Another Thin
Man (both 1939).
Despite her versatility (she
could handle comedy or drama with equal
effectiveness), MGM would cast her in some
above-average, but hardly starmaking movies:
Whistling in the Dark, The Big Store
(both 1941), and Tarzan's New York Adventure
(1942). She left MGM in 1943 and became a freelance
actress for several studios, but her material as a
leading lady throughout the '40s were mediocre:
Swamp Fire, House of Horrors (both
1946), and Mexican Hayride (1948) were sadly the
more interesting films in her post-MGM period. But by
the '50s she was a well-established character actress, appearing in fairly
big-budget pictures: All That Heaven Allows,
The Rose Tattoo (both 1955), Jeanne
Eagels (1957).
In the '60s, Grey turned to television and found work
on a variety of hit shows: Wagon Train,
Peter Gunn, Bonanza, My Three
Sons, I Spy, and several others; plus she
also captured a a couple of notable supporting parts
in these films: Madame X (1966), and Airport
(1970), before retiring completely from acting in the
early '70s. She is survived by her sister, Lorraine
Grey Heindorf, two nieces and two nephews.
by Michael T. Toole
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This picture was to be the first in a series of M-G-M features detailing the homey adventures of the Thomas family. No other films featuring these characters was ever made, however.
