Young Widow
Brief Synopsis
A young newspaperwoman tries to get over the loss of her husband in World War II.
Cast & Crew
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Edwin L. Marin
Director
Jane Russell
Joan Kenwood
Louis Hayward
Jim Cameron
Faith Domergue
Gerry Taylor
Kent Taylor
Peter Waring
Marie Wilson
Mac
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Mar
1,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Hunt Stromberg Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Young Widow by Clarissa Fairchild Cushman (Boston, 1942).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 40m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9,011ft
Synopsis
Joan Kenwood, whose husband Barry was killed during the war, returns home to New York from England. She is met at the dock by her old friend, Peter Waring, the managing editor of the newspaper for which both she and Barry worked. Peter offers Joan her old job, but she turns him down and instead stays with her two aunts on their Virginia farm. Still haunted by memories of Barry, however, Joan decides to return to New York. On the train, young lieutenant Jim Cameron makes a pass at her, but Joan rebuffs him. In New York, Joan stays with her friend, Peg Martin, whose husband Bill is on a submarine in the South Pacific. Peg also shares her apartment with Mac, a man-crazy show girl who has just returned from entertaining the troops. By accident, Jim learns where Joan is staying, and drops by the apartment along with a number of other sailors and soldiers invited by Mac. Later, everyone goes out to a café. While Jim and Joan are dancing, Barry's favorite song is played, and a distraught Joan leaves the café. Jim follows and takes her home. When he bluntly suggests that she get over the man she is in love with, Joan explains that the man is her husband, who was killed over Berlin. Ashamed, Jim returns to his base. The next day, as Joan is leaving the apartment, she encounters a remorseful Jim. After she accepts his apology, Jim accompanies her to the subway. While waiting for the train, Jim saves the life of a woman who falls on the tracks. Joan's reporter instincts take over, and she writes the story for the paper. Delighted, Peter promptly puts her on the payroll. The following week, Joan invites Jim and some other friends to the apartment for dinner. Among the guests is an engaged couple, Bob Johnson and Gerry Taylor. Bob is about to join the Army, and Gerry, who is afraid of becoming a widow, wants to break their engagement. Joan persuades her not to desert Bob, but to marry him so that he will have something to come home to. Some time later, Jim receives a telegram ordering him to report for cholera shots. That night he proposes to Joan, but Joan, who is not yet over Barry's death, sadly replies that she will never love him. A few days later, Bill returns, having lost a leg in the war, and moved by seeing him with Peg, Joan decides to tell Jim that she will wait for him. Peter drives her to the airfield, but before they arrive, Jim's plane takes off for the Pacific. Although she realizes that she is not really ready for a new relationship, Joan knows in her heart that when she is ready, Jim will return to her.
Director
Edwin L. Marin
Director
Cast
Jane Russell
Joan Kenwood
Louis Hayward
Jim Cameron
Faith Domergue
Gerry Taylor
Kent Taylor
Peter Waring
Marie Wilson
Mac
Connie Gilchrist
Aunt Cissie
Cora Witherspoon
Aunt Emeline
Norman Lloyd
Sammy
Penny Singleton
Peg Martin
Steve Brodie
Willie
Richard Bailey
Bill Martin
Robert Holton
Bob Johnson
Peter Garey
Navy lieutenant
William Moss
Marine lieutenant
Bill "red" Murphy
Army lieutenant
Crew
Max Bertisch
Assistant art Director
Carmen Dragon
Music Score
John M. Foley
Film Editor
Lee Garmes
Director of Photography
Harold Godsoe
Assistant Director
Dan Keefe
Production Manager
William Lynch
Sound
Richard Macaulay
Screenwriter
James E. Newcom
Supervising Film Editor
Ruth Nordli
Additional Dialogue
Nickolai Remisoff
Prod Designer and art Director
Robert Stirling
Executive Assistant to Hunt Stromberg
Hunt Stromberg
Producer
Hunt Stromberg
Presented By
Natalie Visart
Gowns
Ern Westmore
Makeup
Margaret Buell Wilder
Screenwriter
Film Details
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Mar
1,
1946
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Hunt Stromberg Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Young Widow by Clarissa Fairchild Cushman (Boston, 1942).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 40m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9,011ft
Articles
Young Widow
A young newspaperwoman tries to get over the loss of her husband in World War II.
Young Widow
A young newspaperwoman tries to get over the loss of her husband in World War II.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Clarissa Fairchild Cushman's novel was first published in Good Housekeeping (Feb-June 1941). The above credits were taken from a cutting continuity. Jane Russell was loaned to Hunt Stromberg by independent producer and businessman Howard Hughes. This was her first motion picture appearance since Hughes' film The Outlaw (for more information on that film see entry above). The film also marked the motion picture debut of Faith Domergue, another Hughes protegée. According to a February 21, 1945 Hollywood Reporter news item, Ida Lupino started production in the title role, and William Dieterle directed for the first two weeks. On April 19, 1945, Hollywood Reporter reported that filming was starting at General Service under Dieterle's direction. The extent of his contribution to the final film, if any, is undetermined. Marie McDonald and Spring Byington were also included in early cast lists, but they do not appear later on.
A May 1945 article in New York Times adds the following information about the production: Joan Fontaine was suspended from Stromberg's company when she refused to substitute for Lupino. Production on the film stopped for eight weeks for story revisions after Lupino left the film. Subsequently, Andre de Toth was assigned to direct. Hollywood Reporter production charts add the following actors to the cast: Cordell Hickman, Gail Writte, Louise Beavers, Leigh Whipper, Gerald Mohr and Betty Newling. Their appearance in the released picture has not been confirmed, however. On November 25, 1952, Hollywood Reporter reported that the film was being reissued under the title The Naughty Widow.
