''He Stayed for Breakfast'' is a 1940 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film directed by

Alexander Hall Alexander Hall (January 11, 1894 – July 30, 1968) was an American film director, film editor and theatre actor. Biography Hall acted in the theatre from the age of four through 1914, when he began to work in silent movies. Following his milit ...

, based on the 1934 play ''Ode to Liberty'' by

Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ''Gone with the Wind''. ...

, itself adapted from the French play ''Liberté provisoire'' by

Michel Duran Michel Duran, pen name of Michel Joseph Durand (22 April 1900, in Lyon – 18 February 1994, in Rambouillet) was a French actor, author, dialoguist and screenwriter. He was the son of Michel Jacques Durand and Marie Exbrayat.Archives municipales d ...

Plot

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, Marianne meets a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

named Paul who is attempting to hide in her apartment to avoid the law. Interested in the man, she lets him take refuge in her place. Marianne soon finds out that Paul attempted to assassinate her banker husband, Maurice. Paul becomes trapped in the apartment due to guards surrounding the building. Paul and Marianne slowly fall in love. Their newfound love becomes endangered when Paul is asked to surrender himself by the communist party he is involved with, but knowing blame would be placed on Marianne, he refuses. Paul is then shortly after discovered by Marianne's husband, who turns him over to the police. To get the charges dropped, Marianne agrees to stay with her husband, but this does not last long, as Marianne, annoyed by her husband, flees to Paul's. The couple then head for the United States.

Cast

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

as Marianne Duval *

Melvyn Douglas Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his performance in the romantic comedy ''Ninotchk ...

as Paul Boliet * Alan Marshal as Andre Dorlay *

Eugene Pallette Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946. After an early career as a slender leading man, ...

as Maurice Duval * Una O'Connor as Doreta *

Curt Bois Curt Bois (born Kurt Boas; April 5, 1901 – December 25, 1991) was a German actor with a career spanning over 80 years. He is best remembered for his performances as the pickpocket in ''Casablanca'' (1942) and the poet Homer in ''Wings of Desi ...

as Comrade Tronavich *

Leonid Kinskey Leonid Kinskey (1893/1894 – September 8, 1998) was a Russian-born American film and television actor, best known for his role as "Sascha" in the film ''Casablanca'' (1942). His last name was sometimes spelled Kinsky. Life and career Kinskey ...

as Comrade Nicky * Trevor Bradette as police lieutenant *

Grady Sutton Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films. Early years Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sutton was raised ...

as salesman * Frank Sully as butcher * Evelyn Young as secretary *

Ethelreda Leopold Ethelreda Leopold (July 2, 1914January 26, 1998) was an American film actress. She appeared credited in approximately 65 films between 1934 and 1972. She also appeared in commercials. Leopold is familiar to modern viewers for her roles in seve ...

as secretary :Uncredited: * Ernie Adams as Workman *

George Beranger George Beranger (27 March 1893 – 8 March 1973), also known as André Beranger, was an Australian silent film actor and director in Hollywood.Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central ...

as Maitre d'hotel *

William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...

as Policeman *

Vernon Dent Vernon Bruce Dent (February 16, 1895 – November 5, 1963) was an American comic actor, who appeared in over 400 films. He co-starred in many short films for Columbia Pictures, frequently as the foil and the main antagonist and ally to The Thr ...

as Chef * Lenard Mudie as communist secretary * William Newell as waiter * Nestor Paiva as gendarme *

Harry Semels Harry Semels (November 20, 1887 – March 2, 1946) was an American film actor. He appeared in over 315 film between 1917 and 1946. Career Semels appeared in his first film in 1917. He began to achieve fame after arriving at Columbia Pictu ...

as comrade *

Charles Wagenheim Charles Wagenheim (February 21, 1896 – March 6, 1979) was an American actor who appeared in over 250 films. On television, Wagenheim appeared in an episode of ''Barnaby Jones'' titled "The Murdering Class", portraying a cemetery groundskeeper ...

as timid waiter * Frederick Worlock as communist president

Reception

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), ...

'' gave a lukewarm review:

Lacking a sustained pace, and with several slow spots that might have been lifted by better direction, picture will roll through the key spots as bill topper for moderately satisfactory biz. ... With most of the action confined to the apartment, picture has its weak moments with series of repetitious happenings that might not be so apparent with better direction that would have smacked over toppers to the gags and situations at hand. These rather dull passages prove a burden to the bright and sparkling comedy that is liberally sprinkled throughout, and prevent the picture from reaching the laugh hit class.

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' stated, "It may lack the ideal smoothness of the Ernst Lubitsch production as a comedy: but its hilarities are immense."

References

External links

* * * * {{Alexander Hall 1940 films 1940 romantic comedy films 1940s American films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films American films based on plays American romantic comedy films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Alexander Hall Films set in Paris English-language romantic comedy films