By Frank Miller
So Goes My Love
Brief Synopsis
An inventor rises to fame with the support of his loving wife.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Frank Ryan
Director
Myrna Loy
Jane Budden Maxim
Don Ameche
Hiram Stevens Maxim
Rhys Williams
Magel
Bobby Driscoll
Percy Maxim
Richard Gaines
Josephus Ford
Film Details
Also Known As
A Genius in the Family, The Life of Hiram Percy Maxim
Genre
Comedy
Biography
Drama
Release Date
Apr
19,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Skirball-Manning Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel A Genius in the Family by Hiram Percy Maxim (New York and London, 1936).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 28m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
10 reels
Synopsis
In 1867 just outside of Boston, a pig farmer's daughter, Jane Budden, determined to get away from country life, takes the proceeds from selling the family pigs and heads south to Brooklyn to find a husband. On her way to the home of her cousin, Garnet Allison, Jane has a brief encounter with an eccentric young man, Hiram Stevens Maxim, a poor, unsuccessful inventor, who turns out to be the Allisons' next-door neighbor. Garnet invites several of the local matrons to her home to introduce Jane, who surprises and delights them by declaring her determination to marry. They are scandalized, however, when she admits she is not particular who she marries as long as the man meets her requirements of intelligence and wealth. One of the ladies, Mrs. Meade, is Hiram's landlady, and after meeting Jane, Mrs. Meade warns him about the "designing woman" who is his new neighbor. Hiram promptly visits Jane with a bouquet of flowers to inquire about her motivations for coming to Brooklyn and then informs her he is one prospect she can count out. The next day Jane and the Allisons are surprised when smoke begins billowing from Mrs. Meade's boardinghouse. The volunteer fire brigade, led by Josephus Ford, arrives but are unable to find the source of the smoke, which emanates from Hiram's latest invention, a smokeless curling iron. When Josephus finally discovers the source of the smoke and drenches Hiram with the hose, Jane looks on with approval. Some days later at a party, Jane proves quite popular with many of the local young men. While dancing with several in turn, however, Jane is annoyed to notice Hiram standing aside passing negative judgment on each of her potential suitors. Hiram is especially disapproving when Jane shows more than a passing interest in Josephus, who, it turns out, is a wealthy lawyer with important real estate interests. Later, as Jane's interest in Josephus grows, Hiram scoffs at her, assuring her she will never gain the attentions of so important a citizen as Josephus. Then Jane receives the newly printed invitations to her and Josephus' wedding. Hiram attends the engagement party uninvited and upsets Jane by telling her she will never be happy with Josephus. Her confidence wanes, when, to her dismay, Josephus asks her to sign a pre-wedding contract. Jane grows further discouraged after Josephus reveals how he expects his future wife to behave, but she only truly realizes her error when he announces that he has just bought a large interest in a pork packing plant. Jane excuses herself and hurries after Hiram and proposes to him. He accepts after warning her that he is poor and has nothing to offer her. She assures him she will see to it that he is successful. Jane and Hiram marry and he struggles along with several small inventions, always with support and encouragement from Jane. Soon they have a son, Percy, whom Hiram insists on rearing in a somewhat eccentric manner to build the boy's character and confidence. As Percy grows into a precocious and energetic young boy, Hiram's odd inventions begin to meet with increasing practical and financial success. The House of Science decides to honor Hiram as inventor and engineer of the times and requests that he sit for a formal portrait. Jane, now pregnant with their second child, is delighted by the family's prosperity and longs to see Hiram's countenance along side other world famous inventors of the day, but Hiram steadfastly refuses. Undeterred, Jane commissions a scatterbrained artist, Magel, to come to the house to do the portrait, but Hiram insists the portrait is a waste of time. Distracted by Hiram's obstinate attitude, Jane is accidentally knocked down by Percy as he is playing with his dog and is taken gravely ill. During a fearsome night, it appears that Jane and the new baby may die, but finally both recover. Hiram, who has been wracked with despair at the thought of losing Jane, surprises her as soon as she is well by taking her and the entire family to Magel's to sit for a family portrait.
Director
Frank Ryan
Director
Cast
Myrna Loy
Jane Budden Maxim
Don Ameche
Hiram Stevens Maxim
Rhys Williams
Magel
Bobby Driscoll
Percy Maxim
Richard Gaines
Josephus Ford
Molly Lamont
Garnet Allison
Sarah Padden
Bridget
Renie Riano
Emily
Clara Blandick
Mrs. Meade
Howard Freeman
Willis
John Gallaudet
Theodore Allison
John Phillips
Raymond
Bruce Edwards
Weldon
Alan Bridge
Street car conductor
Pierre Watkin
Committee man
Wheaton Chambers
Committee man
George Chandler
Mr. Williams
Robert Dudley
Uncle Daniel
Geraldine Wald
Mrs. Van Fleet
Douglas Wood
Preacher
Harry Hayden
Mr. Fister
Holmes Herbert
Dr. Fillmore
George Carlton
Dr. Grant
Betty Shaw
Daughter
Lois Austin
Mrs. Dreswell
Ruth Lee
Mrs. Gorman
Dorothy Christy
Mrs. Dennis
Larry Simms
Fister, Jr.
Virginia Carroll
Miss Mason
Virginia Sale
Miss Wright
Nell Craig
Mrs. Lang
Spec O'donnell
Joel
Constance Stone
Daughter
Shirley Turner
Daughter
Margaret Hoffman
Mrs. Ellis
Bobby Barber
Hokey pokey man
Wilbur Mack
Gertrude Astor
Crew
Glenn E. Anderson
[Sound] tech
Lionel Banks
Art Director
Travis Banton
Gowns
Wilbur Bradley
2nd Camera
Bernard B. Brown
Director of Sound
Adele Cannon
Set Construction
James Clifden
Screenwriter
Ronnie Coulon
Stand-in for Bobby Driscoll
Carmen Dirigo
Hairstylist
John B. Goodman
Art Supervisor
Stanley Horsley
Special Photography Effects
Ted J. Kent
Film Editor
Carmen Lindquist
Stand-in for Myrna Loy
Bruce Manning
Screenwriter
Margie Murray
Stand-in for Molly Lamont
Ted Offenbecker
Set Decoration
Jack P. Pierce
Director of makeup
Ronald K. Pierce
Re-rec and Effects mixer
H. J. Salter
Music score and Director
George Sawley
Set Decoration
Arthur Siteman
Production Manager
Jack H. Skirball
Producer
William Tummel
Assistant Director
Joseph Valentine
Director of Photography
Joe Walls
Stand-in for Don Ameche
Vera West
Gowns
Film Details
Also Known As
A Genius in the Family, The Life of Hiram Percy Maxim
Genre
Comedy
Biography
Drama
Release Date
Apr
19,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Skirball-Manning Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel A Genius in the Family by Hiram Percy Maxim (New York and London, 1936).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 28m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
10 reels
Articles
So Goes My Love -
In a strange move for Hollywood, Universal filmed this tale of the man who created a more efficient machine gun and even built a better mousetrap not as a straight-up biopic but rather as a domestic comedy. In place of the usual "and then I wrote/built/discovered" plot of most biopics, the film focuses on the unconventional courtship of Maxim (Don Ameche) and Jane Budden (Myrna Loy), a pig farmer's daughter out to land a rich husband. When she can't fight her attraction to the penniless inventor, she decides to turn him into the rich husband she wants. Though it may seem strange to modern eyes to be laughing and swooning romantically over a man who made killing others easier, the leading performances of Myrna Loy and Don Ameche as Mrs. and Mr. Hiram Maxim are so charming, reality is sidelined. They even get away with playing their characters as innocent youngsters, even though both stars were around 40 at the time. Each was coming off long-term contracts at other studios, Loy at MGM and Ameche at Fox, and worked so well together it's a pity Universal didn't think to team them further.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
So Goes My Love -
In a strange move for Hollywood, Universal filmed this tale of the man who created a more efficient machine gun and even built a better mousetrap not as a straight-up biopic but rather as a domestic comedy. In place of the usual "and then I wrote/built/discovered" plot of most biopics, the film focuses on the unconventional courtship of Maxim (Don Ameche) and Jane Budden (Myrna Loy), a pig farmer's daughter out to land a rich husband. When she can't fight her attraction to the penniless inventor, she decides to turn him into the rich husband she wants. Though it may seem strange to modern eyes to be laughing and swooning romantically over a man who made killing others easier, the leading performances of Myrna Loy and Don Ameche as Mrs. and Mr. Hiram Maxim are so charming, reality is sidelined. They even get away with playing their characters as innocent youngsters, even though both stars were around 40 at the time. Each was coming off long-term contracts at other studios, Loy at MGM and Ameche at Fox, and worked so well together it's a pity Universal didn't think to team them further.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were A Genius in the Family and The Life of Hiram Percy Maxim. The credits and plot summary were taken from a cutting continuity in studio files located at the USC Cinema-Television Library. The following written prologue appears onscreen before the credits: "As Goes My Heart, So Goes My Love." The film was Myrna Loy's first starring role as a freelance artist following her departure from M-G-M. Bobby Driscoll was borrowed from Walt Disney for the role of "Percy." So Goes My Love was the first film that producers Jack Skirball and Bruce Manning made for Universal Pictures. The real Hiram Stevens Maxim, born in Maine in 1840, became a British citizen in 1900 and was knighted the following year in honor of his numerous inventions. These included the re-coil operated machine gun, an automatic steam-powered water pump and a mousetrap. His brother Hudson (Isaac) Maxim (1853-1927) was also an inventor and the American representative of Hiram's company. Maxim died in 1916. His son, Hiram Percy Maxim (1896-1936), wrote the autobiography upon which So Goes My Love is loosely based and continued the family tradition of inventing, developing the Maxim silencer for firearms and adapting the principle to automobile mufflers.
