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''Four's a Crowd'' is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring
Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...
,
Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British and American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her tim ...
, Rosalind Russell and Patric Knowles. The picture was written by Casey Robinson and Sig Herzig from a story by Wallace Sullivan. This was the fourth of nine films in which Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland appeared.


Plot

Reporter Jean Christy works for a newspaper in danger of being thrown away by its young owner, Pat Buckley, after Buckley has a falling-out with the editor-in-chief, Robert Lansford. Meanwhile, Lansford hopes to gain tycoon John Dillingwell's business for his
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
firm, and uses his position at Buckley's paper to drum up good press for Dillingwell. In the process, he discovers that Dillingwell's granddaughter Lorri is Buckley's fiancée. Lansford decides to try to charm Lorri, while Christy makes a play for Buckley.


Cast

*
Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...
as Robert Kensington "Bob" Lansford *
Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British and American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her tim ...
as Lorri Dillingwell * Rosalind Russell as Jean Christy * Patric Knowles as Patterson "Pat" Buckley * Walter Connolly as John P. Dillingwell * Hugh Herbert as Silas Jenkins, Justice of the Peace * Melville Cooper as Bingham, Dillingwell's butler * Franklin Pangborn as Preston * Herman Bing as Herman, a barber * Margaret Hamilton as Amy, Dillingwell's housekeeper * Joseph Crehan as Butler Pierce * Joe Cunningham as Ed Young * Gloria Blondell as Gertrude, Lansford's 1st secretary * Carole Landis as Myrtle, Lansford's 2nd Secretary


Production

The film began with the working title of "All Rights Reserved", and was supposedly based on the career of noted public relations man Ivy Ledbetter Lee, who worked for the
Rockefeller family The Rockefeller family ( ) is an American Industrial sector, industrial, political, and List of banking families, banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the History of the petroleum industry in th ...
.LoBianco, Lorraine
"Four's a Crowd"
on TCM.com
The film's title was changed to ''Four's a Crowd'' in February. Warner Bros. borrowed Rosalind Russell from
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
for the film., replacing
Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...
, who wished to take six weeks of a holiday before starting on '' Comet Over Broadway''.
William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...
, originally slated to direct the film,"Notes"
on TCM.com
was also moved to ''Comet Over Broadway'' at the same time. Edmund Goulding directly turned down directing it, before it was finally assigned to Michael Curtiz. Although principal photography went 12 days over the allotted time due to this switching in directors, Curtiz still managed to bring it in $12,000 under budget.


Release

With the success of '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'', Errol Flynn was concerned about being typecast as a swashbuckler, and convinced Warner Bros. to cast him in other types of films, specifically screwball comedies. However, ''Four's a Crowd'' was not a success at the box office, and encouraged Warner Bros. to keep Flynn in action roles.Thomas, Tony; Behlmer, Rudy and McCarty, Clifford. ''The Films of Errol Flynn'', Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1969. p.69


References


External links

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Four's a Crowd
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Four's A Crowd 1938 films Warner Bros. films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Michael Curtiz 1938 romantic comedy films Films scored by Heinz Roemheld American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films 1930s American films English-language romantic comedy films