| Seven Sweethearts | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Frank Borzage |
| Written by | Ferenc Herczeg play |
| Screenplay by | Walter Reisch Leo Townsend |
| Produced by | Frank Borzage Joe Pasternak |
| Starring | Kathryn Grayson Marsha Hunt Cecilia Parker Van Heflin |
| Cinematography | George J. Folsey Leonard Smith |
| Edited by | Blanche Sewell |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | November 13, 1942 |
Running time | 98 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $752,000[1] |
| Box office | $1,686,000[1] |
Seven Sweethearts is a 1942 musical film directed by Frank Borzage, starring Kathryn Grayson, Marsha Hunt and Van Heflin. Seven Sweethearts generated a bit of legal trouble seven years later. In 1949, Hungarian playwright Ferenc Herczeg sued MGM, Pasternak, and screenwriters Walter Reich and Leo Townsend for $200,000, claiming they had plagiarized his play Seven Sisters, which he had written in 1903 and which Paramount had adapted into The Seven Sisters a 1915 movie starring Madge Evans. Herczeg was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp in Hungary when Seven Sweethearts was produced and released, and consequently he didn't learn of the film's existence until 1948. The suit was settled out of court for a substantial amount.[2]
Kathryn Grayson's real-life sister, Frances Raeburn, played "Cornelius."
Plot summary
Mr. Van Maaster (S.Z. Sakall) is a hotelier in Little Delft, Michigan. By family tradition, the oldest of his seven daughters must marry first. But Regina (Marsha Hunt) wants to go to New York, to become an actress. The youngest, Billie (Kathryn Grayson), has the sweetest singing voice, and it is she who ends up with the first husband Henry Taggart (Van Heflin).[3]
Cast
- Kathryn Grayson as Billie Van Maaster
- Marsha Hunt as Regina 'Reggie' Van Maaster
- Cecilia Parker as Victor Van Maaster
- Peggy Moran as Albert 'Al' Van Maaster
- Dorothy Morris as Peter Van Maaster
- Frances Rafferty as George Van Maaster
- Frances Raeburn as Cornelius Van Maaster
- Van Heflin as Henry Taggart
- Carl Esmond as Carl Randall
- Michael Butler as Bernard Groton, Peter's Beau
- Cliff Danielson as Martin Leyden, Victor's Beau
- William Roberts as Anthony Vreeland, Cornelius' Beau
- James Warren as Theodore Vaney, Albert's Beau
- Dick Simmons as Paul Brandt, George's Beau
- S.Z. Sakall as Mr. Van Maaster, the Father
Reception
According to MGM records the film made $638,000 in the US and Canada and $1,048,000 elsewhere (a rarity for MGM as most movies earned more money domestically); this gave the studio a profit of $364,000.[1]
References
- ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
- ^ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2833/Seven-Sweethearts/articles.html
- ^ http://www.allmovie.com/movie/seven-sweethearts-v109574