''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' is a 1959

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sel ...

film starring

Clifton Webb Webb Parmelee Hollenbeck (November 19, 1889 – October 13, 1966), known professionally as Clifton Webb, was an American actor, singer, and dancer. He worked extensively and was known for his stage appearances in the plays of Noël Coward, i ...

and

Dorothy McGuire Dorothy Hackett McGuire (June 14, 1916 – September 13, 2001) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for '' Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actre ...

directed by Henry Levin in CinemaScope. The film is based on the 1953 Broadway play of the same, which ran for 221 performances:

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

starred as Horace Pennypacker and

Martha Scott Martha Ellen Scott (September 22, 1912 – May 28, 2003) was an American actress. She was featured in major films such as Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956), and William Wyler's '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), playing the mother of Charlto ...

as 'Ma' Pennypacker. At the turn of the 20th century, businessman Horace Pennypacker, Jr. has two families: one wife and eight children in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and nine children (by a deceased wife) in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. During the course of events, his

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

is uncovered, and he struggles to maintain the status quo.

Plot summary

In turn-of-the-20th-century Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, young Wilbur Fielding, the son of the Rev. Dr. Fielding, has been appointed vicar of a small Rhode Island parish. His position secured, Wilbur proposes to his sweetheart, Kate Pennypacker. As he must leave for his new post in one week, Kate wants to marry immediately, rather than endure a conventional extended engagement. Kate's father, Horace Pennypacker, Jr., the proprietor of the Pennypacker sausage factory, divides his business life between his factories in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, spending alternate months in each city. While Horace is in Philadelphia, his wife, Emily, summons him home to Harrisburg for the wedding. Horace motors to Harrisburg, narrowly avoiding the Philadelphia sheriff who has come to issue him a summons for promoting a book about Darwinism that prominently depicts the police chief as a monkey. Back in Harrisburg, Horace's blustery father, Horace, Sr. protests the impropriety of Kate's hasty marriage. Unknown to Horace Sr., Emily, and the eight Pennypacker children, Horace has a second family of nine children in Philadelphia. When Horace III, Horace's eldest Philadelphia son, learns of the sheriff's summons, he rushes to Harrisburg to warn his father. Horace III arrives in Harrisburg before his father, appearing on the Pennypacker doorstep. He introduces himself and inadvertently exposes Horace's unknown Philadelphia family. Soon after, Horace arrives home and is struck dumb by seeing Horace III. As Emily questions Horace about his secret life, Wilbur and his father arrive to discuss the wedding. This follows with Horace, Sr. announcing that his son is a bigamist. As Horace Sr. leaves, the sheriff arrives and serves him the summons meant for his son. Horace Sr. strikes the sheriff with his cane and is arrested. Kate, devastated, declares she cannot marry Wilbur to protect his reputation, but Emily resolves her daughter will be happily married. Horace defends himself to Rev. Dr. Fielding, arguing that morality is a matter of geography and that he is doing mankind a great service by propagating the species. Meanwhile, the younger Pennypacker children run away from home. As Emily removes her wedding ring, Horace searches for his brood but is arrested and jailed by the sheriff. The Rev. Dr. Fielding finds the Pennypacker children in his church, asleep in the pews. Locked in a cell with Horace, Sr., Horace is visited by eldest son, Henry, who informs him Emily has gone to Philadelphia to meet his other wife. At Horace's Philadelphia home, Emily learns that the other Mrs. Pennypacker died eight years earlier. Horace is released from jail after apologizing to the sheriff and returns home to a chilly reception. Emily returns to Harrisburg and declares their marriage is over. Horace steadfastly defends himself, declaring he did nothing wrong. The children say if it was not wrong then he would not have concealed his other family. Horace realizes he broke his own rule. Coming to her husband's defense, Emily tells the children that their stepfamily is motherless and reassures Kate there will be no public scandal as the other Mrs. Pennypacker died years ago. Chastened, Horace apologizes to his children and relinquishes their education to Emily. Jane, Horace's spinster sister decides to move to Philadelphia to care for her motherless nieces and nephews. As Horace packs his suitcases to leave, the children beg him to stay, and with Emily's permission, he unpacks. Soon after, Kate and Wilbur are married. Emily is so moved by the wedding that she asks the Rev. Dr. Fielding to renew her and Horace's vows. As the minister conducts the ceremony, Emily tells Horace to repeat the phrase, "forsaking all others."

Cast

as Mr. Horace Pennypacker, Jr. *

as Emily 'Ma' Pennypacker *

Charles Coburn Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American actor and theatrical producer. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award three times – in ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941), '' The More the M ...

as Grampa Pennypacker *

Jill St. John Jill St. John (born Jill Arlyn Oppenheim; August 19, 1940) is a retired American actress. She may be best known for playing Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl of the 007 franchise, in '' Diamonds Are Forever''. Additional performances i ...

as Kate Pennypacker *

Ron Ely Ronald Pierce Ely (born June 21, 1938) is an American actor and novelist born in Hereford, Texas, and raised in Amarillo. Ely is best known for having portrayed Tarzan in the 1966–1968 NBC series ''Tarzan'' and for playing the lead role in ...

as Wilbur Fielding *

Ray Stricklyn Lewis Raymond Stricklyn (October 8, 1928 – May 14, 2002) was an American film actor, stage actor, television actor, soap opera star and publicist. His acting career took off with B-movie Westerns that placed his boyish good looks playing opp ...

as Horace Pennypacker III * David Nelson as Henry Pennypacker *

Dorothy Stickney Dorothy Stickney (June 21, 1896 – June 2, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actress, best known for appearing in the long running Broadway hit ''Life with Father''. Early years Stickney was born in Dickinson, North Dakota, but ...

as Aunt Jane Pennypacker * Larry Gates as Rev. Dr. Fielding * Richard Deacon as Sheriff

Production

Walter Reisch Walter Reisch (May 23, 1903 – March 28, 1983) was an Austrian-born director and screenwriter. He also wrote lyrics to several songs featured in his films, one popular title is "Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne". He was married to the dancer and a ...

who worked on the script later recalled, "On the stage it was funny, but on the screen it didn't come off at all. Neither Clifton nor Brackett, the producer, nor Henry Levin, the director, really believed that Clifton would have a family in Philadelphia and another whole family in Harrisburg."

Adaptations

''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker'' was adapted into two Indian films: ''

Grahasti ''Grihasti'' is a family drama produced by Sphere Origins, that aired on Star Plus during weekday afternoons. The show premiered on 25 February 2008 and aired until 27 March 2009. Synopsis ''Grihasti'' is based upon the Khurana family. After t ...

'' (1963,

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

) and ''

Motor Sundaram Pillai ''Motor Sundaram Pillai'' is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by S. S. Balan and written by Veppathur Kittoo. A remake of the Hindi film '' Grahasti'' (1963), itself based on the American film '' The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker ...

'' (1966,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

References

External links

''The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...