In the Meantime, Darling
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Otto Preminger
Jeanne Crain
Frank Latimore
Eugene Pallette
Mary Nash
Stanley Prager
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Due to wartime housing restrictions, Army lieutenant Daniel Ferguson must wait to marry his fiancée, Margaret Preston, until a room becomes available in the Craig Hotel, where the married officers live with their wives. The hotel, which has been taken over by the Army, can only be occupied by wives whose husbands are stationed at nearby Camp Fielding, and when an officer is shipped overseas, his wife must then vacate their room. When a room finally becomes available, Danny wires Maggie to come immediately from her home in Philadelphia, and she soon arrives with her wealthy parents, H. B. and Vera Preston. H. B. and Vera are appalled by the crowded, simple conditions that Maggie will have to endure, but Maggie is so thrilled to be marrying Danny that she does not notice. After her parents leave, however, and Danny must go to the base to work, Maggie unhappily surveys her surroundings. Although Maggie, who has always led a very privileged life, does not mean to be snobbish or rude, her expectations of being served and her lack of consideration of the other wives quickly make her an outcast. Maggie does not understand that she is supposed to pitch in, just as all the wives do, and Jerry Armstrong, who runs the hotel, is exasperated to find that Maggie is seemingly without any skills. Fed up with the situation, Maggie acts rudely to Jerry until she discovers that Jerry continued to run the hotel after her soldier husband's death overseas in order to honor his memory. Ashamed of her selfish behavior, Maggie grows more humble and, using her college training as an artist, creates a lovely sign for an upcoming dance to honor a visiting general. Maggie becomes friendly with the other wives, especially Shirley, the wife of Danny's best pal, Lt. Philip "Red" Pianatowski. A month later, on the afternoon of the dance, Danny works with some of the other soldiers to decorate the hall and is bewildered by the snide comments of his comrades, who accuse him of being a shirker. At the hotel, Maggie confesses to Danny that she asked her influential father to arrange for him to be kept at the camp as the adjutant so that he would not be shipped overseas. Furious at Maggie's interference, Danny storms out, and Maggie tearfully packs her bags to go home. When Danny returns with Red, they find an infant care book that Maggie had been studying in order to help the other wives, and mistakenly assume that she is pregnant. Danny then rushes to the station to find Maggie, who is confused but pleased by his insistence that she return. The couple attend the dance, and Red tells Shirley about Maggie's supposed pregnancy. Shirley informs Maggie, who is trying to tell Danny the truth when the company receives word that they are being shipped out. Horrified, Maggie tells Danny that she is not pregnant, and the disappointed Danny walks away. Jerry comforts Maggie and encourages her to be more supportive of her husband's efforts to serve his country, and when Danny runs back in, Maggie embraces him warmly. The couple reassure each other of their love, and after Danny leaves, Maggie and Shirley prepare to move out of the hotel and find jobs in the defense industry.
Director
Otto Preminger
Cast
Jeanne Crain
Frank Latimore
Eugene Pallette
Mary Nash
Stanley Prager
Gale Robbins
Jane Randolph
Doris Merrick
Cara Williams
Cliff Clark
Elisabeth Risdon
Clarence Muse
Olin Howlin
Reed Hadley
Ann Corcoran
Heather Angel
Bonnie Bannon
William Colby
Marjorie Massow
Lee Bennett
Roger Clark
Mae Marsh
Ruth Clifford
Frank Wilcox
Glenn Langan
Blake Edwards
Mary Mccarty
Evelyn Mulhall
Geraldine Wall
Don Hayden
Lillian Bronson
Eddie Acuff
Merrill Rodin
Janet Burston
Paul Harvey
Marvin Davis
George Nokes
B. S. Pully
Milton Kibbee
John Craven
Charles Bates
Charles Hayes
Peggy Remington
Frank Mcclure
Carlyle Blackwell Jr.
Mike Kilian
Gary Bruce
Crew
Harold Adamson
James Basevi
Jasper Blystone
Col. Phillip W. Booker
Bonnie Cashin
Con Conrad
John Ewing
Bernard Freericks
R. L. Hough
Arthur Kober
Harry M. Leonard
Thomas Little
Louis Loeffler
Joe Macdonald
Herb Magidson
Jimmy Mchugh
Cyril J. Mockridge
Emil Newman
Guy Pearce
Arthur Pierson
Otto Preminger
Fred J. Rode
Gene Rose
Geneva Sawyer
Fred Sersen
Michael Uris
Sam Wurtzel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Army Wife, Paris, Tenn. (which Hollywood Reporter news items referred to as Paris, Tennessee) and I Married a Soldier. Although an May 11, 1942 Hollywood Reporter news item stated that Twentieth Century-Fox had purchased an original story entitled "A Far Off Music," written by Ursula Parrott, and would be producing it as Army Wife, Parrott's work is not related to this picture. The Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department, located at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, reveal that Parrott's story was "abandoned" and the title Army Wife was transferred to Uris' original story, entitled "Paris, Tenn." The legal files also indicate that Sylvia Regan and Michael Kanin worked on versions of the screenplay, but the extent of their contribution to the completed film has not been determined.
Hollywood Reporter news items noted that William Perlberg was originally scheduled to produce the picture, and that Maureen O'Hara, Anne Baxter, Dorothy McGuire, Dana Andrews, Phil Regan and William Bendix were considered for the cast. Laird Cregar was set to "impersonate Hermann Göring," according to Hollywood Reporter, and Lillian Gish was offered an "important part." A July 14, 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item noted that Archie Mayo had been assigned to direct the picture. The following actors were included in the cast by Hollywood Reporter news items and a studio press release, although their appearance in the completed picture has not been confirmed: John Harvey, Hal Roach, Jr., Dave Willock, George Holmes, Trudy Marshall, Frank Harvey, Barbara Booth and Kevin O'Shea. June Haver, who is included in the cast by a November 1943 Hollywood Reporter news item, does not appear in the finished film. Hollywood Reporter news items also noted that Billie Burke was originally cast as "Vera Preston," but withdrew from the cast due to prior commitments and was replaced by Mary Nash. Studio records, however, indicate that Burke was replaced after "it was decided to change the character." James Gleason was replaced in the role of "Col. Corkery" by Cliff Clark.
According to Hollywood Reporter news items and a studio press release, background shots were photographed at Camp Callan, near San Diego, CA; location work was done at Camp Cooke, near Lompoc, CA, and the production was delayed for approximately six weeks due to the illness of Stanley Prager. In the Meantime, Darling, which featured Jeanne Crain's first starring role, marked the screen debuts of stage actor Frank Latimore, singer Gale Robbins and former studio commissary worker Marjorie Massow.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Fall October 1944
Released in United States Fall October 1944
