''The Young in Heart'' is a 1938 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 ...

produced by David O. Selznick, directed by Richard Wallace, and starring

Janet Gaynor Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later ...

, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and

Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress notable for her film career in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born in Manhattan and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Goddard initially began her career a ...

. The supporting cast features

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 ...

and

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 ...

. This was Richard Carlson's feature film debut, preceding ''

The Duke of West Point ''The Duke of West Point'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Louis Hayward, Joan Fontaine and Tom Brown. It was described as "''A Yank at Oxford'' in reverse". Plot An American diplomat's son, Steven Early, ...

'' by a month. The screenplay by

Paul Osborn Paul Osborn (September 4, 1901 – May 12, 1988) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Osborn's original plays are '' The Vinegar Tree'', ''Oliver Oliver'', and ''Morning's at Seven'' and among his several successful adaptations, ''On Borr ...

was adapted by Charles Bennett from the serialized novel, ''The Gay Banditti'' by I. A. R. Wylie, as appearing in ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' from February 26 to March 26, 1938.

Plot

A family of con artists led by "Colonel" Anthony "Sahib" Carleton and his wife "Marmy" are working the French Riviera in search of wealthy potential mates for their daughter George-Anne and son Richard. Sahib, a former actor, passes himself off as an officer who served with the Bengal Lancers in India. George-Anne flirts with her Scottish suitor, Duncan Macrae, whom she dismisses when she learns that he is not rich. Richard has managed to get himself engaged to the wealthy, but rather plain Adela Jennings. Meanwhile, Sahib cheats her American senator father out of a large sum of money at poker. The local police find out about the Carleton family, provide them with complimentary train tickets to London, courtesy of Mr. Jennings, and order them to leave the country. On the train, George-Anne meets a lonely old spinster named Miss Ellen Fortune, who inherited a fortune from her former fiancé, with whom she had quarreled in her youth. The kindhearted Miss Fortune invites George-Anne and her family to her first-class compartment, and the penniless family eagerly accepts, hoping to swindle her out of some of her money. While Miss Fortune treats them to dinner, the train derails, and they manage to extricate the old woman from the wreckage. Grateful, she invites them to stay with her at her London mansion. Seeing an opportunity to make their way into Miss Fortune's will, they treat her with kindness and spend evenings with her. Sahib and Richard also go out looking for jobs in order to persuade both her and her suspicious lawyer, Felix Anstruther, that they can be trusted. Meanwhile, Duncan looks up George-Anne, whom he still loves, despite her repeated rejections and her family's continued shady activities. He finds Sahib a job as a Flying Wombat car salesman. The initially reluctant colonel is soon applying his con artist skills so successfully that he is promoted to manager of the London branch. Richard also takes a job, as a mail clerk at an engineering firm when he sees Leslie Saunders working there. She is also attracted to him, despite his completely frank admissions about his flawed character. Soon he is planning to take night courses in engineering. Gradually the two men begin to find the value of honest work and start to feel guilty about taking advantage of Miss Fortune. George-Anne and Marmy also honestly care about the old woman, but all four believe the others are still only after the inheritance. Miss Fortune eventually learns about the Carletons' background from Anstruther, but she informs George-Anne that she is going to have a new will written, leaving everything to the Carletons. At a dinner party, Miss Fortune collapses, leaving the family legitimately distressed. Gathered in worried watch outside her sick room, they dismiss Anstruther's news that she no longer has any money and she will even lose her house. Marmy, Sahib and Richard retort she will never lack for a home or their care, much to Anstruther and George-Anne's surprise. Sometime later, a recovered Miss Ellen drives Anstruther uncomfortably fast in her Flying Wombat to the Carletons' house, where she now lives. George-Anne is married to Duncan, and Richard to Leslie.

Cast

as George-Anne Carleton * Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Richard Carleton *

as Leslie Saunders *

as Col. Anthony "Sahib" Carleton *

as Marmy Carleton *

Minnie Dupree Minnie Dupree (January 19, 1875 – May 23, 1947) was an American stage, film, and radio actress. During the Great Depression, she helped organize the Stage Relief Fund to assist unemployed actors and actresses. Biography Born in San Francis ...

as Ellen Fortune *

Henry Stephenson Henry Stephenson (born Harry Stephenson Garraway; 16 April 1871 – 24 April 1956) was a British actor. He portrayed friendly and wise gentlemen in many films of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his roles were Sir Joseph Banks in ''Mutiny on the Bo ...

as Felix Anstruther * Richard Carlson as Duncan Macrae *

Lawrence Grant Percy Reginald Lawrence-Grant (30 October 1870 in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England – 19 February 1952 in Santa Barbara, California, USA) was an English actor known for supporting roles in films such as ''The Living Ghost'', '' I'll Tell ...

as Mr. Hutchins, the Flying Wombat managing director *

Walter Kingsford Walter Kingsford (born Walter Pearce; 20 September 1882 – 7 February 1958) was an English stage, film and television actor. Early years Kingsford was born in Redhill, Surrey, England. Career Kingsford began his acting career on the Lo ...

as Inspector *

Eily Malyon Eily Malyon (born Eily Sophie Lees-Craston; 30 October 1879 – 26 September 1961) was an English character actress from about 1900 to the 1940s. She had a stage career in Britain, Australia and America before moving to Hollywood to perfo ...

as Sarah, Miss Fortune's servant *

Tom Ricketts Thomas B. Ricketts (15 January 1853 – 19 January 1939) was an English-born American stage and film actor and director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the first American film adaptation of ''A Christm ...

as Andrew, Miss Fortune's butler * Irvin S. Cobb as Mr. Jennings *

Lucile Watson Lucile Watson (May 27, 1879 – June 24, 1962) was a Canadian actress, long based in the United States. She was "famous for her roles of formidable dowagers." Early years Watson was born in Quebec and raised in Ottawa, the daughter of an off ...

as Mrs. Jennings *

Margaret Early Margaret Early (December 25, 1919 – November 29, 2000) was an American film actress who was active in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. She is best remembered for her endearing Southern charm. Life and career Born on Christmas Day 19 ...

as Adela Jennings 1938 Phantom Corsair (9402801968)

Production

The Broadway stars

Maude Adams Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production ...

and

Laurette Taylor Laurette Taylor (born Loretta Helen Cooney; April 1, 1883Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1119; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 859; FHL microfilm: 1241119. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1900 Un ...

originally screen tested for the part of Miss Fortune, which eventually went to Minnie Dupree. The screen tests of Adams and Taylor, made by David Selznick, survive and are the only audio-visual record of the actresses (although Taylor did star in a couple of silent films). Taylor's screen test can be seen on the DVD of '' Broadway: The Golden Age''. This was Gaynor's final film role before retiring while at the height of her career (she did make one more film, 1957's '' Bernardine''). Principal photography on ''The Young in Heart'' took place from May 2 to June 26, 1938. The six-passenger 2-door sedan Flying Wombat featured in the film was actually the one-of-a-kind prototype

Phantom Corsair The Phantom Corsair is a prototype automobile built in 1938. It is a six-passenger 2-door sedan that was designed by Rust Heinz of the H. J. Heinz family and Maurice Schwartz of the Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilding company in Pasadena, Californ ...

. The Phantom Corsair

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

was built in 1938 and designed by Rust Heinz of the

H. J. Heinz Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur of Palatine descent who, at the age of 25, co-founded a small horseradish concern in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. This business failed, but his second business exp ...

family and Maurice Schwartz of the

Bohman & Schwartz Bohman & Schwartz was a coach building business in Pasadena, California. It was established after the collapse of the Walter M Murphy Company Walter M Murphy Company was a manufacturer of custom bodies for top quality car chassis which operate ...

coachbuilding company in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

.Melissen, Wouter
"Phantom Corsair."
''Ultimatecarpage.com'', December 1, 2004. Retrieved: November 26, 2014.

Reception

''The Young in Heart'' was reviewed in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', where the film received a positive review; "This is a beautiful and deeply touching picture, skilfully adapted from I.A.R. Wylie's poignant magazine story." Despite favorable critical reviews, the film lost $517,000 at the box office.Thomson 1992, p. 268.

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', '' Rebecca'', ...

received two

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given n