by Glenn Erickson
I'll Wait for You
Brief Synopsis
A wounded gangster's recuperation on a remote farm leads to love.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Robert B. Sinclair
Director
Robert Sterling
"Lucky" Wilson
Marsha Hunt
Pauline Miller
Virginia Weidler
Lizzie Miller
Paul Kelly
Lieutenant McFarley
Fay Holden
Mrs. Miller
Film Details
Also Known As
Man from the City
Genre
Drama
Release Date
May
16,
1941
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 13m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Film Length
6,523ft
(8 reels)
Synopsis
"Lucky" Wilson, a smooth, amoral front man working for New York gangster Tony Berolli, gets everything he wants, from the best tables at nightclubs to the most glamourous showgirls. When Berolli thinks that nightclub owner Cassell is complaining that business is bad to avoid giving Berolli his full take, Lucky goes to the club's laundry and proves that Cassell is lying by counting the number of napkins the club has washed. When Lucky threatens him, Cassell decides to go to the police. Lieutenant McFarley and Sergeant Brent, who have been after Lucky and Berolli for some time, go to arrest Lucky, but he slips away from them and drives off. As he is escaping, Lucky is wounded by Brent, but is able to drive as far as Connecticut before he passes out. He is found by the family of farmer Miller, whose wife and daughters believe Lucky's fanciful story that he is fleeing from New York gangsters. He asks them to call for his personal physician, Dr. Anderson, who works for Berolli, and Anderson tells him that Berolli wants him to stay out of sight for a while. Although he is cynical about the boring life of a farm family, Lucky becomes attracted to the Miller's older daughter Pauline and soon finds himself befriending their tomboyish younger daughter Lizzie as well. When Mr. Miller complains about gangsters who are requiring local farmers to pay protection money in order to get their crops to market, Lucky begins to feel ashamed of his life. A short time later, Lucky is almost well when Berolli calls to tell him to change his hideout. Lucky is planning to leave, but when he learns that Mr. and Mrs. Miller will be traveling to visit a relative the next day, he determines to spend the day alone with Pauline. He bribes Lizzie to go with her parents by giving her money to buy a parrot she wants, then spends the morning doing chores with Pauline. They later go on a picnic and when a sudden rainstorm starts, they take refuge in the empty cottage of a neighbor. There Lucky realizes that he is in love with Pauline and cannot take advantage of her. When they return home, McFarley and Brent, who have learned Lucky's whereabouts, are waiting for him. He promises to go along willingly with them if they will pretend to be business associates. Although McFarley is reluctant, when he meets the kindly Millers and sees how they feel about Lucky, he goes along with the story. During dinner, the policemen say that Lucky has to go away for a while and must leave with them for New York. McFarley lets Lucky say a private goodbye to Pauline, and after she promises to wait for him, he tells her the truth. She is stunned by his confession, but as he, McFarley and Brent are about to drive away, she runs after him and again promises to wait for his return. As Lucky leaves, he knows that he will he soon come back home to his family.
Director
Robert B. Sinclair
Director
Cast
Robert Sterling
"Lucky" Wilson
Marsha Hunt
Pauline Miller
Virginia Weidler
Lizzie Miller
Paul Kelly
Lieutenant McFarley
Fay Holden
Mrs. Miller
Henry Travers
Mr. Miller
Don Costello
Sergeant Brent
Carol Hughes
Sally Travers
Reed Hadley
Tony Berolli
Ben Weldon
Dr. Anderson
Theodor Von Eltz
Cassell
Leon Belasco
Lapagos
Mitchell Lewis
Al
Joe Yule
"Butch"
Eddie Hart
Joe
Jerry Jerome
Pete
Steve Darrell
Napkin counter
William Tannen
Driver
Veda Ann Borg
Manicurist
Ann Morriss
Miss Evans
Ann Mason
Manager
Mickey Martin
Elevator operator
Patricia Dane
Blonde
Marjorie Deane
Check girl
George Sorel
Headwaiter
Charles Judels
A. Bardosch
Marek Windheim
B. Bardosch
Jac George
Assistant. tailor
Crew
Joseph Boyle
Assistant Director
Ralph Freed
Composer
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
Mauri Grashin
Story
Kalloch
Gowns
Bronislau Kaper
Music Score
Edwin Knopf
Producer
Harry Mcafee
Associate (Art Direction)
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
Al Siegel
Composer
Guy Trosper
Screenwriter
Elmo Veron
Film Editor
Sidney Wagner
Director of Photography
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Film Details
Also Known As
Man from the City
Genre
Drama
Release Date
May
16,
1941
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 13m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Film Length
6,523ft
(8 reels)
Articles
I'll Wait for You
The big studios liked to showcase promising talent, and 1941's I'll Wait for You is a classic example. Promoted as the 'new Bette Davis,' beautiful Broadway actress Marsha Hunt teams with the handsome but somewhat bland newcomer Robert Sterling in this remake of a 1934 melodrama by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, the writers of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The story will seem familiar to fans of John Garfield and John Wayne: a gangster finds atonement and moral values on a country farm. Sterling's cynical hood 'Lucky' Wilson is wounded in a New York shooting, and makes it as far as Connecticut before passing out. Taken in by the Millers, a farming family, he finds the sticks a good place to hide. Only when Lucky falls in love with the lovely, unspoiled daughter Pauline (Marsha Hunt) do his feelings become more sincere. A sympathetic cop (Paul Kelly) eventually shows up, and when Lucky confesses his criminal past to Pauline, she promises to wait for him. MGM had hired the handsome Sterling as a backup for Robert Taylor, but he's best remembered for starring in the TV series Topper (1953). Leading roles in major pictures eluded Marsha Hunt. Although the blacklist derailed her film career for several years, she remained popular on the stage and television. Critics in 1941 praised Miss Hunt's performance but complained that studios were recycling too many tired old stories. Variety also noted that rural audiences might resent the way Paul Kelly and another detective patronize the Millers by speaking city jargon as if it were a foreign language. Actor Kelly's own story was more scandalous and heartbreaking than anything the movies could show. He served two years in San Quentin for the 1927 death of the husband of his lover, actress Dorothy MacKaye. She indeed waited for him. They married on his release, but MacKaye died in an auto accident in 1940.
by Glenn Erickson
by Glenn Erickson
I'll Wait for You
The big studios liked to showcase promising talent, and 1941's I'll Wait for You is a classic example. Promoted as the 'new Bette Davis,' beautiful Broadway actress Marsha Hunt teams with the handsome but somewhat bland newcomer Robert Sterling in this remake of a 1934 melodrama by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, the writers of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The story will seem familiar to fans of John Garfield and John Wayne: a gangster finds atonement and moral values on a country farm. Sterling's cynical hood 'Lucky' Wilson is wounded in a New York shooting, and makes it as far as Connecticut before passing out. Taken in by the Millers, a farming family, he finds the sticks a good place to hide. Only when Lucky falls in love with the lovely, unspoiled daughter Pauline (Marsha Hunt) do his feelings become more sincere. A sympathetic cop (Paul Kelly) eventually shows up, and when Lucky confesses his criminal past to Pauline, she promises to wait for him. MGM had hired the handsome Sterling as a backup for Robert Taylor, but he's best remembered for starring in the TV series Topper (1953). Leading roles in major pictures eluded Marsha Hunt. Although the blacklist derailed her film career for several years, she remained popular on the stage and television. Critics in 1941 praised Miss Hunt's performance but complained that studios were recycling too many tired old stories. Variety also noted that rural audiences might resent the way Paul Kelly and another detective patronize the Millers by speaking city jargon as if it were a foreign language. Actor Kelly's own story was more scandalous and heartbreaking than anything the movies could show. He served two years in San Quentin for the 1927 death of the husband of his lover, actress Dorothy MacKaye. She indeed waited for him. They married on his release, but MacKaye died in an auto accident in 1940.
by Glenn Erickson
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Man from the City. According to news items in Hollywood Reporter, backgrounds for the film were shot prior to principal photography, commencing on March 4, 1941. Another Hollywood Reporter news item noted that actress Veda Ann Borg was released from her Monogram Pictures contract just prior to the start of this film and was subsequently put under contract to M-G-M. M-G-M made an earlier version of Mauri Grashin's original story in 1934. That film, entitled Hide-out, co-starred Robert Montgomery and Maureen O'Sullivan, and was directed by W. S. Van Dyke from a screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40 F3.1904).
