''The Gift of Love'' is a 1958 American
CinemaScope
CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...
drama romance film directed by
Jean Negulesco and starring
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Aw ...
and
Robert Stack.
The film's screenplay was based on the short story "The Little Horse" by Nelia Gardner White, originally published in a 1944 issue of ''Good Housekeeping'', and previously made into the film ''
Sentimental Journey'' (1946), with
John Payne and
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural ...
.
Plot
A brilliant scientist, Bill Beck, ends up happily married to Julie, his doctor's receptionist. Five years after their wedding, the same doctor treats Julie for a heart condition that she decides to keep secret from her husband, who is doing serious work as a physicist developing guided missiles.
Not wishing him to be left alone if she dies, Julie suggests they adopt a child. An orphan called Hitty has been rejected many times, but Julie takes a shine to her. Bill, a pragmatist, does not understand the little girl's fantasy world, and he is angered when Hitty, meaning well, erases a chalkboard, wiping out hours of Bill's hard work.
Bill's superior at work, Grant Allan, urges him to give the girl more patience and time, but the Becks believe it could be best that Hitty be returned to the orphanage. Julie's heart gives out. After her death, Hitty tries to win over her heartbroken foster father, but Bill is inconsolable.
Hitty is returned to the orphanage. She goes missing one night and is caught in a storm. Bill and Grant hurry there to assist in a search, and when they find Hitty and save her, Bill realizes he never wants to be apart from her again.
Cast
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Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Aw ...
as Julie Beck
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Robert Stack as William "Bill" Beck
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Evelyn Rudie
Evelyn Rudie (born March 28, 1949) is an American playwright, director, songwriter, film and television actress, and teacher. Since 1973, she has been the co-artistic director of the Santa Monica Playhouse. As a costume designer, she uses the pseu ...
as Hitty
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Lorne Greene as Grant Allan
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Anne Seymour as Miss McMasters
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Edward Platt as Dr. Jim Miller
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Joseph Kearns as Mr. Rynicker
See also
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List of American films of 1958
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gift of Love, The
1958 films
1958 romantic drama films
20th Century Fox films
Remakes of American films
American romantic drama films
Films about adoption
Films based on American short stories
Films directed by Jean Negulesco
Films produced by Charles Brackett
Films scored by Cyril J. Mockridge
Films scored by Alfred Newman
CinemaScope films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films