''Why Girls Leave Home'' is a 1945 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

William Berke William A. Berke (born October 3, 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – died February 15, 1958 in Los Angeles, California) was an American film director, producer, actor and screenwriter. He wrote, directed, and/or produced some 200 films over a ...

, written by Fanya Foss and Bradford Ropes, and starring Lola Lane,

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-clas ...

, and

Pamela Blake Pamela Blake (August 6, 1915 – October 6, 2009) was an American film actress who acted in almost 50 films. She is known primarily for her roles in western films and serials. Early years Blake was born in Oakland, California as Adele Pea ...

. The film's composer,

Walter Greene Walter Greene (January 23, 1910 – December 23, 1983) was a film and television composer who worked on numerous productions for over 30 years. Career Born and raised in Tarkio, Missouri, Greene attended Tarkio College and the Horner Institute ...

, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1945. Also, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans were nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The Cat and the Canary".

Cast

* Lola Lane as Irene Mitchell *

as Chris Williams *

as Diana Leslie *

Elisha Cook Jr. Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. (December 26, 1903 – May 18, 1995) was an American character actor famed for his work in films noir. According to Bill Georgaris of TSPDT: They Shoot Pictures, Don't They, Cook appeared in a total of 21 film ...

as Jimmie Lobo *

Paul Guilfoyle Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American television and film actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He retu ...

as Steve Raymond *

Constance Worth Constance Worth (born Enid Joyce Howarth; 19 August 1911 – 18 October 1963) was an Australian actress who became a Hollywood star in the late 1930s. She was also known as Jocelyn Howarth. Early life and career She was born in Sydney, Austral ...

as Flo * Claudia Drake as Marien Mason *

Virginia Brissac Virginia Brissac (June 11, 1883 – July 26, 1979) was a popular American stage actress who headlined theatre companies from Vancouver to San Diego during the heyday of West Coast Stock in the early 1900s. An ingénue and leading lady known for ...

as Mrs. Leslie * Thomas Jackson as Reilly *Peggy Lou Bianco as Peggy Leslie *Evelynne Eaton as Alice *

Fred Kohler Fred Kohler (April 20, 1888 – October 28, 1938) was an American actor. Career Fred Kohler was born in Kansas City, Missouri or in Dubuque, Iowa. As a teen, he began to pursue a career in vaudeville, but worked other jobs to support himself. ...

as Ted Leslie

Production

Philip Yordan Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 – March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCar ...

says he wrote the script in three days. He says he was approached by

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

who had set up the picture at Republic for which actors had been hired and sets built, but

Herbert Yates Herbert John Yates (August 24, 1880 – February 3, 1966) was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, who had western stars John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers under contract. Between the years 1935 and 1959, Republic, under Yates' l ...

head of the studio did not like the script. Small said Yates would finance if Yordan wrote the script, so he started on Friday, dictated it on Saturday and Sunday morning. Filming began on Monday.

References

External links

* 1945 films 1945 drama films American drama films American black-and-white films Producers Releasing Corporation films Films directed by William A. Berke 1940s American films {{1940s-drama-film-stub