''Irene'' is a 1940 American
musical film produced and directed by
Herbert Wilcox
Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director.
He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wif ...
. The screenplay by
Alice Duer Miller is based on the
libretto of the 1919 stage musical ''
Irene'' by James Montgomery, who had adapted it from his play ''Irene O'Dare''. The score features songs with music by
Harry Tierney
Harry Austin Tierney (May 21, 1890 – March 22, 1965) was an American composer of musical theatre, best known for long-running hits such as ''Irene'' (1919), Broadway's longest-running show of the era (620 performances), ''Kid Boots'' (1923) and'' ...
and lyrics by
Joseph McCarthy.
Plot
Upholsterer
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.
''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...
's assistant Irene O'Dare meets wealthy Don Marshall while she is measuring chairs for Mrs. Herman Vincent at her
Long Island estate. Charmed by the young girl, Don anonymously purchases Madame Lucy's, an exclusive
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
boutique, and instructs newly hired manager Mr. Smith to offer Irene a job as a model. She soon catches the eye of socialite Bob Vincent, whose mother is hosting a ball at the family mansion. In order to promote Madame Lucy's dress line, Mr. Smith arranges for his models to be invited to the soiree.
Irene lets her friend Jane dance around holding up the gown she was given to wear, the “Flaming Rosebud”. Jane collides with Granny and a potful of Irish stew, ruining the dress. She substitutes a blue satin costume that belonged to her mother, and it creates a sensation. Irene is mistaken for the niece of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
's Lady O'Dare and, in order to publicize his collection, Mr. Smith decides to exploit the error. He moves Irene into a
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
apartment. Dressed in furs and draped with diamonds while escorted around town by Bob, Irene's appearance prompts
gossip columnist Biffy Webster to suggest she is a kept woman. Outraged, Irene demands Madame Lucy protect her reputation by revealing the truth, only to discover Don is the owner of the shop.
Irene agrees to marry Bob, but on the night before the wedding, Bob confesses he still loves former fiancée Eleanor Worth, and Irene realizes she loves Don. The couple decides to make things right by reuniting with their rightful partners.
Cast
*
Anna Neagle
Dame Florence Marjorie Wilcox (''née'' Robertson; 20 October 1904 – 3 June 1986), known professionally as Anna Neagle, was an English stage and film actress, singer, and dancer.
She was a successful box-office draw in the British cinema ...
as Irene O'Dare
*
Ray Milland as Donald ″Don″ Marshall
*
Roland Young
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
as Mr. Smith
*
Alan Marshal as Bob Vincent
*
May Robson
Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19t ...
as Granny O'Dare
*
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...
as Mrs. Herman Vincent
*
Arthur Treacher
Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet c ...
as Bretherton
*
Marsha Hunt as Miss Eleanor Worth
*
Isabel Jewell
Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were '' Ceiling Zero'', ''Marked Woman'', ''A Tale of Two Cities (1935 film), A Tale ...
as Jane McGee
*
Juliette Compton as Emily Newlands Grey
*
Nella Walker
Nella Walker (March 6, 1886 – March 22, 1971) was an American actress and vaudeville performer of the 1920s through the 1950s.
Biography
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Walker, she was born and raised in Chicago. In 1910, she marrie ...
as Mrs. Marshall, Dons' mom
*
Louis Jean Heydt
Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles.
Early life
Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sou ...
as ″Biffy″ Webster, columnist
Production
For nearly two decades following its original 1919 production at the
Vanderbilt Theatre
The Vanderbilt Theatre was a New York City Broadway theatre, designed by architect Eugene De Rosa for producer Lyle Andrews. It opened in 1918,[Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...]
history. In addition to the 1926 silent film ''
Irene'', the musical also was adapted for a June 1936 ''
Lux Radio Theatre
''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...
'' production starring
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', '' Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow'' and '' On ...
and
Regis Toomey
John Francis Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor.
Early life
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey, and attended Peabody High ...
.
The film was shot in black and white with the exception of a
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
sequence that begins at Mrs. Vincent's society ball when Bretherton's jaw drops as he looks up to see Irene coming downstairs. Don and Irene dance to an instrumental version of "
Alice Blue Gown "Alice Blue Gown" is a popular song written by Joseph McCarthy and Harry Tierney. The song, which was inspired by Alice Roosevelt Longworth's signature gown, was first performed by Edith Day in the 1919 Broadway musical ''Irene''. In 1920 the song ...
," and the sequence ends at the O'Dare's apartment, where Irene sings the song to her grandmother and friend. The return to black and white shows the Vincent mansion and the text: “Came the cold grey dawn.”
The song is replayed as an installment of ''Rex Gordon's Moviebone News'', a spoof of the ''
Movietone News
Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Australia and New Zealand until 197 ...
'' shorts that were popular at the time. Irene's dress—and the song—have become world-famous, and performers from Peoria to Paris, from Hawaii to Harlem give their versions of the song. According to the theater program displayed on screen, the Moviebone News features “
Martha Tilton
Martha Tilton (November 14, 1915 – December 8, 2006) was an American popular singer during America's swing era and traditional pop period. She is best known for her 1939 recording of " And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman.
Tilton was born ...
, Hattie Noel, The Rocketts, the
Dandridge Sisters The Dandridge Sisters were an American all-girl singing trio, started in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, and ended in 1940, comprising the sisters Vivian and Dorothy Dandridge together with their friend Etta Jones (not the more well-known jazz vo ...
and Chorus of Fifty.”
Johnny Long and His Orchestra make cameo appearances in the film.
This version downplays the "Madame Lucy" character. Other versions of ''Irene'' present "Lucy" as a very campy
gay man
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
.
Song list
# "Castle of Dreams"
# "You've Got Me Out on a Limb"
# "Alice Blue Gown"
# "Irene"
# "Worthy of You"
# "Something in the Air"
# "Sweet Vermosa Brown"
Reception
The film made a profit of $367,000.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
''Irene''at
TCM
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irene (1940 Film)
1940 films
1940 romantic comedy films
Films set in New York City
Films directed by Herbert Wilcox
1940s romantic musical films
Films based on musicals
Films based on adaptations
American black-and-white films
1940 musical comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American romantic musical films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films