By Frank Miller
Half a Hero
Brief Synopsis
A married writer moves to the suburbs to research a story.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Don Weis
Director
Red Skelton
Ben Dobson
Jean Hagen
Martha Dobson
Charles Dingle
Mr. Bascomb
Willard Waterman
Mr. McEstway
Mary Wickes
Mrs. Watts
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Sep
4,
1953
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 11m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,402ft
(8 reels)
Synopsis
At the New York office of Everyone's magazine, freelance writer Ben Dobson reports for a job interview with the editor, Mr. Bascomb. After stressing the importance of old-fashioned virtues such as thrift, Bascomb requests a thorough accounting of Ben's finances, and is pleased to learn that Ben and his wife live modestly in a tenement. Impressed by the younger man's thrift, Bascomb hires him. Ben goes home and breaks the good news to his wife Martha, who replies that this would be the perfect time to start a family. Ben begins his new job, and is disappointed to be assigned the task of rewriting other people's articles. Martha soon becomes pregnant, and gives birth to a boy, Pete. Several years pass, and Ben, who is still stuck on the rewrite desk, invites his boss home to dinner, but Martha's small extravagances on his behalf displease the penny-pinching Bascomb. Martha eventually tires of the inconvenience of trying to bring up a child in a small apartment, and persuades Ben to buy a house in the suburb of Williams Landing. Martha loves their new home, but Ben complains constantly about the expense, and admits he has not yet told Bascomb about the house. One night, Ben announces that their bank account is depleted and proposes they sell the house, but Martha flatly refuses. The following day, Bascomb finally gives Ben his first writing assignment, requesting an article--to be titled "The Slums of Tomorrow"--about post-war housing developments, which he considers traps for "self-indulgent weaklings." Bascomb offers to drive Ben home and, unable to tell the truth about his house, Ben accepts a ride to his former apartment building. To Ben's horror, Bascomb insists on coming in, and Ben tries to pretend that the French-speaking little girl now living in the apartment is his child. On his commute home, Ben thinks about the assignment and sees an opportunity to impress his boss and alienate his neighbors by writing about Williams Landing. Hoping to gather dirt on the other residents, Ben agrees to go door to door collecting for the community chest. Ben discovers that his neighbors also are struggling to keep up with their expenses, and uses their anecdotes as material for his article. Bascomb is delighted with the pages Ben turns in, but when Martha reads a draft of his article, she throws him out. After two days, however, Martha begs Ben to come home and tearfully agrees to his demand that they sell the house. The realtor brings in some prospective buyers, but their critical attitude offends Ben, who begins to see the value of his home and takes it off the market. Ben then submits his article with a new ending praising his neighbors for their pioneer spirit. After telling the surprised Bascomb that he wants a raise and better assignments, Ben meets Martha for lunch, and she tells him she is pregnant. Martha gives birth to twins, and they all live happily in the suburbs.
Director
Don Weis
Director
Cast
Red Skelton
Ben Dobson
Jean Hagen
Martha Dobson
Charles Dingle
Mr. Bascomb
Willard Waterman
Mr. McEstway
Mary Wickes
Mrs. Watts
Frank Cady
Mr. Watts
Hugh Corcoran
Pete Dobson
Dorothy Patrick
Edna Radwell
King Donovan
Sam Radwell
Billie Bird
Ernestine
Dabbs Greer
George Payson
Kathleen Freeman
Welcomer
Polly Bergen
Burt Mustin
Old man
Helen Winston
Miss Vail
Helen Kleeb
Nurse
Perry Sheehan
Nurse
Joann Arnold
Nurse
William E. Green
Dr. Horowitz
Lucille Knoch
Ethel Streller
Joseph Larson
Billy Streller
Catherine Pasquez
French girl
Tao Porchon
French mother
Hayden Bower
Fencer
June Whitley
Mrs. Payson
Alexis Davidoff
Waiter
Dave Willock
Taxi driver
Wilson Wood
Co-worker
John Rosser
Co-worker
Jerry Hausner
George Faring
Charlotte Lawrence
Alice Faring
Dick Winslow
Orchestra leader
Ann Tyrrell
Woman in village
Jessie Arnold
Chambermaid
Bobby Diamond
Boy
Walter Anthony Merrill
Crew
Peter Ballbusch
Montage Sequence
Walter Donaldson
Composer
Grace Dubray
Script Supervisor
Joel Freeman
Assistant Director
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
Josh Greenwald
Assistant Director
Sydney Guilaroff
Hair Styles
Charles Hunt
Unit Manager
Newell P. Kimlin
Film Editor
Arthur Krams
Set Decoration
Arthur Lonergan
Art Director
Frank Mackenzie
Sound
Ralph Pender
Sound
Robert Quirk
Stills
Matthew Rapf
Producer
Paul Sawtell
Music
Douglas Shearer
Recording Supervisor
Max Shulman
Writer
William Tuttle
Makeup
Paul Vogel
Director of Photography
George Whiting
Composer
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Release Date
Sep
4,
1953
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 11m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6,402ft
(8 reels)
Articles
Half a Hero
Red Skelton was nearing the end of his long association with MGM when he made this comic look at suburban life. He stars as a magazine writer whose boss hates the suburbs. When his wife demands they move their family out of their cramped New York City apartment, he agrees but doesn't tell the boss. Then he's assigned to write an exposé on the shallowness of suburban life. This was the studio's second attempt to move Skelton out of the slapstick vehicles that had made him a big moneymaker, following on the heels of his dramatic remake of The Champ (1931), The Clown (1953). Half a Hero brought him back to comedy, but in a more subdued tone, with a script by satirist Max Shulman, author of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which MGM had filmed in 1953 as The Affairs of Dobie Gillis. The picture also marked the final MGM appearance for Jean Hagen, who would move to TV as Danny Thomas' wife in Make Room for Daddy, while featuring supporting turns by Mary Wickes and Kathleen Freeman and a cameo by Polly Bergen, singing a sizzling rendition of "Love."
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
Half a Hero
Red Skelton was nearing the end of his long association with MGM when he made this comic look at suburban life. He stars as a magazine writer whose boss hates the suburbs. When his wife demands they move their family out of their cramped New York City apartment, he agrees but doesn't tell the boss. Then he's assigned to write an exposé on the shallowness of suburban life. This was the studio's second attempt to move Skelton out of the slapstick vehicles that had made him a big moneymaker, following on the heels of his dramatic remake of The Champ (1931), The Clown (1953). Half a Hero brought him back to comedy, but in a more subdued tone, with a script by satirist Max Shulman, author of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which MGM had filmed in 1953 as The Affairs of Dobie Gillis. The picture also marked the final MGM appearance for Jean Hagen, who would move to TV as Danny Thomas' wife in Make Room for Daddy, while featuring supporting turns by Mary Wickes and Kathleen Freeman and a cameo by Polly Bergen, singing a sizzling rendition of "Love."
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The opening credits feature caricatures depicting Red Skelton and Jean Hagen in a variety of domestic situations. In the end credits, Polly Bergen's name is listed in a different order than in the opening credits. The song "My Blue Heaven" was credited onscreen as follows: "Theme Melody: 'My Blue Heaven,' Walter Donaldson and George Whiting." Only the music, by Donaldson, was heard in the film. According to a April 3, 1953 news item in Hollywood Reporter's "Rambling Reporter" column, a part was being written for Dorothy Dandridge, but she was not in the film. The review of Half a Hero in Saturday Review criticized Hollywood for not portraying the middle classes with the same authenticity and insight with which the very rich and very poor were depicted. After praising English and French filmmakers for their convincing portrayals of middle-class characters, the reviewer wondered "if the middle classes in America had been granted some sort of special dispensation by our movie producers-almost as though that large ticket-buying group mustn't be worried or scared."
