Has Anybody Seen My Gal
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Douglas Sirk
Piper Laurie
Rock Hudson
Charles Coburn
Gigi Perreau
Lynn Bari
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In a Tarrytown, New York mansion in the late 1920s, the richest man in the world, skinflint hypochondriac Samuel G. Fulton, plans to leave his fortune to the children of the love of his life, the late Millicent Blaisdell. He explains to his lawyer, Edward Norton, that it was only because Millicent spurned him for a bookkeeper that he turned to business and made his millions, but that he always wished he could have had a family with her instead. When Norton suggests that the Blaisdell family, consisting of father Charles, mother Harriet, and children Millie, Howard and Roberta, might spend his money foolishly, Sam decides to visit them at their home in Hilverton, Vermont. Bearing a newspaper advertisement asking for a border, Sam introduces himself as a painter named John Smith. A bewildered Harriet, who does not realize that Sam himself has placed this ad, allows him to stay for one night in Grandma Millicent's old attic room. He soon finds himself partaking in the kind of home-cooked meals and cheap cigars his doctors had assumed would cause him certain death. Roberta immediately likes Sam and, after urging him to paint for her, declares she also appreciates the paint-splattered canvases which he calls "modern art." The middle-class Blaisdells are a happy family, except for Harriet, who despairs that Millie will befall the same fate as her grandmother by spurning the attentions of rich rake Carl Pennock for those of soda jerk Dan Stebbins. As Harriet attempts to push Millie into Carl's arms, Sam convinces Charles to let him stay on as a border by offering to work part-time in the store alongside Dan. One night, Millie and Dan burst in and announce their engagement. While everyone except Harriet celebrates, Norton arrives and reveals that he represents an anonymous benefactor who has bequeathed the family one hundred thousand dollars. Harriet immediately plans how to spend the money, and declares that now Dan will never be able to support Millie "in the manner to which she will become accustomed," causing Dan to storm out angrily and Millie to burst into tears. Harriet then states that the family mongrel must be replaced by French poodles and that Sam must move, causing Roberta to run out crying. Within days, Harriet buys the biggest house in town, and the Blaisdells are the toast of Hilverton society, all of whom believe that the family has inherited millions. Millie is forced to date Carl again, although he continues to be a drunken cad. When he brings her to a speakeasy one night, Sam learns of an impending raid, and rushes there to rescue her. As they escape out a window, Carl pushes Sam back into the speakeasy and Sam is arrested. Millie and Dan both arrive to bail him out, and although Sam hopes for a reconciliation, they turn away from each other. Sam continues to work at the store under its new owner, who is even cheaper than Sam. As he works one day, he overhears Howard beg a local gambler for more time to repay his two thousand dollar debt. Posing as a novice gambler, Sam visits the card tables that night and wins back Howard's IOU, but is captured in another police raid. Dan bails him out again, then determines to leave Hilverton to find his fortune, even though Sam warns him not to let Millie go because money cannot buy happiness. While Sam visits Millie that night, Howard mentions that his IOU was mysteriously returned to him, and takes her to see Dan at the movies. There, Dan spurns Millie's attempts to talk, and when she sobs that she wishes they had never gotten the money, the Pennocks see Sam comforting Millie and assume the worst. They race to the Blaisdells' cocktail party with the news that Sam is a molester, and although the pair denies the charge, Harriet insists that Millie announce her engagement to Carl immediately. At the engagement party, Charles learns that his investments have failed and calls Norton for a loan. Sam, realizing the family cannot make wise financial decisions, instructs Norton to refuse, and Charles is forced to turn to Pennock. As soon as Pennock discovers that the Blaisdells are broke, however, he leaves with his wife and Carl. Charles informs Harriet that their only hope now is to sell the house and buy back the store, and although she faints, the rest of the family rejoices. Soon, Dan and Millie are engaged and Carl has his store back. Upon learning that he has won first prize in the local art show because Roberta has seceretly entered his paintings, Sam, still protecting his real identity, races away to avoid the press. He bids goodbye to the family, who now think of him as the Blaisdell grandfather he always wished he could be.
Director
Douglas Sirk
Cast
Piper Laurie
Rock Hudson
Charles Coburn
Gigi Perreau
Lynn Bari
William Reynolds
Larry Gates
Skip Homeier
Paul Harvey
Paul Mcvey
Gloria Holden
Frank Ferguson
Forrest Lewis
Fred Nurney
Sally Creighton
Helen Wallace
Willard Waterman
Fritz Feld
Emory Parnell
Charles Flynn
Barney Phillips
William Fawcett
Edna Holland
Leon Tyler
Charles Williams
Joey Ray
Sam Pierce
Mack Chandler
Harry Mendoza
James Guilfoyle
Ada Adams
Harmon Stevens
Lynn Wilde
Donna Leary
Lynne Hunter
Michele Lange
Connie Warner
June Kenny
Don Raphael
James Dean
Doug Carter
Spec O'donnell
W. James Adamson
Bob Slaven
Rod Barclay
Philo Mccullough
Gilbert Fallman
Jack Mower
Ray Flynn
John Tuggle
Pat Combs
Jeanne Gail
Joy Hallward
Larry Carr
Paul Bryar
Dick Winters
Al G. Smith
Otto Malde
Earl Brown
Samuel Franklin
Ann Duncan
Patti Mckaye
Bob Crosby
Helen Dickson
Tom Costello
Dick Gordon
Lulu Mae Bohrman
Nadine Dennis
Eric Alden
Bob Dulaine
Earl Spainard
Crew
Glenn E. Anderson
John Austin
Harold Belfer
Hilyard Brown
Leslie I. Carey
Harry Decosta
Fred Frank
William Fritzsche
Russell A. Gausman
Joseph Gershenson
Franz Gruber
Wendell Hall
John Held Jr.
Ray Henderson
Bernard Herzbrun
Joseph Hoffman
Sam Lewis
Joseph Mohr
Rosemary Odell
Maceo Pinkard
Eleanor H. Porter
Ted Richmond
Russell Schoengarth
Jack Smith
Joan St. Oegger
Clifford Stine
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Roy Turk
Bud Westmore
Harry Woods
Joe Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
You've a lovely family, Millicent. It could have been my family if you hadn't been so darn obstinate!- Samuel Fulton
Trivia
Notes
The working titles for this film were Oh Money, Money and Has Anybody Seen My Girl. Although some reviews and modern sources end the title with a question mark, the onscreen credits do not include a question mark. The film's action opens with a title card reading: "This is a story about money... remember it?" A Hollywood Reporter news item adds Iris Krasnow to the cast, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Another Hollywood Reporter news item notes that the trailer for Has Anybody Seen My Gal was the first to mix a color cartoon and live action scenes. On January 11, 1954, Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie reprised their roles in a Lux Radio Theatre presentation of this film that co-starred Gene Lockhart. Lockhart also starred in the May 3, 1956 Lux Video Theatre version.
