Just for You
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Elliott Nugent
Bing Crosby
Jane Wyman
Ethel Barrymore
Bob Arthur
Natalie Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
On the eve of the opening of his latest Broadway show, producer-songwriter Jordan Blake is so busy making last minute changes that he does not have time to talk with his teenage son Jerry. Jerry and his schoolmate, David McKenzie, wait patiently to see Jordan, even when he is at home rehearsing a new number with his star, Carolina Hill. At the end of the private session, Jordan, a longtime widower, admits his love to Carolina, and she responds with a kiss. After all but promising Carolina a marriage proposal after the opening, Jordan says goodnight but is intercepted by Jerry and David. Excited, Jerry and David tell Jordan about the musical revue they put on at Spaulding, their preparatory school, and ask to audition one of the songs. Jordan listens politely to Jerry's composition, but when Jerry asks for $240 to have a fly-by-night company publish it, Jordan tells him that the song is trite and hackneyed. Jerry, who is secretly in love with Carolina, is crushed by his father's words and bristles when Jordan states that Jerry is not old enough to know loneliness. Although Jordan assures his son that he will become a better songwriter once he has experienced life, Jerry is despondent and fails to show up for opening night. Concerned, Jordan leaves the theater during the performance and drives to Spaulding. There, Jerry accuses Jordan of neglecting him as a child, a charge Jordan does not deny. Before Jordan can discuss the situation any further, however, he gets a call from his chauffeur, informing him that Jordan's teenage daughter Barbara has been arrested. Jordan and Jerry race back to New York, where, in night court, Barbara explains that her governess, the alcoholic Mrs. Angevine, got her involved in a fight with a policeman. After Jordan dismisses Mrs. Angevine, Barbara laments her departure, as she had hoped that the matron could help her get into St. Hilary's, an exclusive finishing school. Upset by the evening's events, Jordan tells Carolina during an opening night party that the "question" he was going to ask her will have to wait until he sorts matters out with his children. To accomplish that, Jordan takes both children to a mountain resort, intending to spend time alone with them. Fearful that Jerry has been spying on some girls, Jordan has a heart-to-heart talk with him, but Jerry, who is unaware of Carolina's relationship with his father, assures him that he has a girl friend in the city. Barbara then informs her father that the St. Hilary's summer camp is across the lake, and Jordan, who has just met Allida de Bronkhart, an older woman who works at the camp, offers to help get an introduction to the headmistress. Barbara declines the offer, however, as she fears that the exclusive school will frown on an entertainer. To Jordan's relief, Carolina flies in for a visit and agrees to have a talk with Jerry. During a boat ride with Jerry, Carolina brings up the subject of marriage, and Jerry, assuming that she is referring to them, gives his enthusiastic approval. Believing that Jerry has endorsed her marriage to his father, Carolina reassures Jordan and returns to New York. Later, Jordan drops by the girls's camp and, not realizing that she is the headmistress, asks Allida for tips on how to get accepted to St. Hilary's. In response, Allida invites him and Barbara to an upcoming summer tea. Later, in New York, Jerry asks Carolina out to dinner, and Carolina happily takes him to a diner. Still oblivious to his feelings, Carolina is startled when a very earnest Jerry brings up their "May-December romance." Carolina leaves suddenly, and after she refuses to see him at the theater, Jerry goes home and starts to write a melancholy song. In the mountains, meanwhile, Jordan and Barbara attend the St. Hilary's tea, where Jordan performs one of his old vaudeville tunes, to the bemusement of the trustees. Sure that her chances of acceptance have been ruined, Barbara runs from the party in tears. Chagrined, Jordan apologizes to Barbara and Allida, who reveals that she is St. Hilary's headmistress and assures him that Barbara has been admitted to the school. Back in New York, Carolina finally tells Jerry that she is in love with another man, but declines to say who. Carolina then meets Jordan at the train station and, after accepting his proposal, which is overheard by a reporter, informs him about Jerry's romantic plight. Jordan tries to comfort his heartbroken son and offers to publish his new song, which is genuinely good. Jerry rejects Jordan's overtures, however, and is devastated when Barbara calls, having heard the news of their father's engagement on the radio. Jerry runs away and enlists in the Air Force. Months later, Jordan, in an attempt to reconcile with his son, begins a U.S.O. tour and winds up at Jerry's base in Alaska. Unaware that Jerry is in the audience, Jordan delivers a moving speech about the wonders of parenthood, then is delighted when both Jerry and Carolina appear at his side.
Director
Elliott Nugent
Cast
Bing Crosby
Jane Wyman
Ethel Barrymore
Bob Arthur
Natalie Wood
Cora Witherspoon
Ben Lessy
Regis Toomey
Art Smith
Leon Tyler
Willis Bouchey
Herb Vigran
Daniel Nagrin
Florence Lessing
Miriam Pandor
Nancy Hale
Ralph Montgomery
Robert Rockwell
Douglas Evans
Tony Kent
Karen Kester
Franklyn Farnum
Brick Sullivan
Buck Harrington
Dave Willock
Joel Marston
Ed Lucitt
Vern Hollingsworth
Charles O. Simms
Irwin R. Title
Karl R. Reinecker
Glenn P. Mccormick
John Beckner
Mark Linnes
Herbert Lytton
Dick Keene
Max Keith
Susan Kester
June Hedin
Sandra Lee Richards
Doreen Mccann
Dickie June Williams
Stuart Holmes
Roy Gordon
Harold Miller
Bess Flowers
Edith Leslie
Arthur Gould-porter
Jack Pepper
Eddie Magill
Edward Clark
Irene Martin
Tim Taylor
Claudette Thornton
Foster Phinney
Mary Castle
Dick Wessel
Bill Meader
Sam Finn
Herschel Graham
Hal Rand
Bob Scott
Roy Darmour
Alex Akimoff
George Nardelli
Larry Arnold
Jimmie Dundee
Mike Mahoney
Robert S. Scott
Jack Mulhall
Phyllis Godfrey
Lula Mae Bohrman
Felice Richmond
Mary Bayless
Crew
Roland Anderson
George Barnes
Art Black
Robert Carson
Sam Comer
John Cope
Pat Duggan
Farciot Edouart
Doane Harrison
Edith Head
Ellsworth Hoagland
Gordon Jennings
Paul Lerpae
Joseph J. Lilley
Harry Lindgren
Curtis Mick
Ray Moyer
Richard Mueller
Emil Newman
Hal Pereira
Leo Robin
Helen Tamiris
James Vincent
Harry Warren
Wally Westmore
Yvonne Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Song
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Famous. Stephen Vincent Benét's short story "Famous" was also published in his collection The Last Circle (New York, 1946). According to a February 1951 Los Angeles Times news item, producer-writer Charles Brackett worked on the script of the picture, writing specifically for Bing Crosby, before leaving Paramount for Twentieth Century-Fox. Crosby reportedly wanted Judy Garland to sing several songs in the film. In the same item, Celeste Holm was announced as Crosby's probable co-star. Crosby and Jane Wyman had appeared together in Frank Capra's popular 1951 Paramount release Here Comes the Groom .
Dick Simmons, Kit Carson, Dick Pribor and Richard Monahan are listed in Hollywood Reporter news items and production charts as cast members, but their appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. Patsy Moran also is listed, but her appearance in the film is doubtful. Location shooting took place in Lake Arrowhead, CA, according to Hollywood Reporter production charts. Although Paramount publicity materials list the Harry Warren-Leo Robin songs "The Ol' Spring Fever" and "Flight of Fancy" as being in the picture, they were not heard in the viewed print. Warren and Robin's "Zing a Little Zong" became a radio hit prior to the picture's release and was nominated for an Academy Award. On April 13, 1953, Jane Wyman reprised her role for a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast of the story, co-starring with Dick Haymes.
