''Reunion in Reno'' is a 1951 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Mark Stevens,

Peggy Dow Peggy Dow (born Peggy Josephine Varnadow; March 18, 1928) is an American philanthropist and retired actress who had a brief career in Hollywood had Universal Studios starring in films during the Golden Age Era in the early 1950s. She is perha ...

and

Gigi Perreau Gigi Perreau (born February 6, 1941) is an American film and television actress. Early years The daughter of French-born Robert and Eleanor Child Perreau-Saussine, she was born Ghislaine Elizabeth Marie Thérèse Perreau-Saussine. Career Perrea ...

.Quinlan p.143 The screenplay concerns a girl who hires an attorney to get her a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

from her parents. The film's sets were designed by the art directors

Bernard Herzbrun Bernard Herzbrun (January 10, 1891 – January 7, 1964) was an American art director. He was nominated an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''Alexander's Ragtime Band''. He worked on 275 films between 1930 and 19 ...

and

Nathan Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for ''How Green Was My Valley'', ...

Plot

A nine-year-old girl, Maggie Linaker, gets off a bus in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

and goes to find Norman Drake, a divorce lawyer there. Norman has just wrapped up a divorce case, after which Laura Carson, a stenographer in Judge Kneeland's court, scolds the lawyer for accepting payments over couples' breakups, rather than trying to steer them toward reconciliation. Maggie explains that she'd like to divorce her parents. She offers the lawyer all the money she has, $3.27. Norman accepts. Neither he nor Laura, however, can persuade the little girl to give them her parents' names or how they can be found. She just wants to divorce them. A clothing label mentioning a California town results in Norman finding the parents, Doris and Frederick Linaker, who are shocked to hear what their daughter has done. Maggie was supposed to be on a bus trip to a Nevada summer camp. It turns out Doris is pregnant and that she is not the birth mother of Maggie, who had been an abandoned child. A mock trial is held in Judge Kneeland's court, at which Maggie explains that she overheard her parents say they won't be able to afford to raise two children. Doris reassures her that it was merely a worry, not a reason to leave. They return home, whereupon Norman and Laura begin to think they might like to have a try at this parenthood thing.

Cast

* Mark Stevens as Norman Drake *

as Laura Carson *

as Margaret 'Maggie' Angeline Linaker *

Frances Dee Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American actress. Her first film was the musical ''Playboy of Paris'' (1930). She starred in the film '' An American Tragedy'' (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 ...

as Mrs. Doris Linaker * Leif Erickson as B. Frederick Linaker * Ray Collins as Judge Thomas Kneeland *

Fay Baker Fay Baker (born Fay Schwager; January 31, 1917 – December 8, 1987) was an American stage, film and television actress and writer. Using the pen name Beth Holmes, she wrote the novel, ''The Whipping Boy''. She also published, under her own nam ...

as Miss Pearson *

Myrna Dell Myrna Dell (born Marilyn Adele Dunlap; March 5, 1924 – February 11, 2011) was an American actress, model, and writer who appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs over four decades. A Hollywood glamour girl in the early p ...

as Mrs. Virginia Mason *

Dick Wessel Richard Michael Wessel (April 20, 1913 – April 20, 1965) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his only leading role, a chilling portrayal of strangler Harry "Cu ...

as Taxi Driver * Sid Tomack as Serge Field * Stuart Morgan Dancers as Dancing Ensemble

References

Bibliography

* Quinlan, David. ''The Film Lover's Companion: An A to Z Guide to 2,000 Stars and the Movies They Made''. Carol Publishing Group, 1997.

External links

* 1951 films 1951 comedy films American comedy films Films directed by Kurt Neumann Films set in Nevada Universal Pictures films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films {{1950s-comedy-film-stub