''Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' is a 1944 American romantic comedy film starring Simone Simon, James Ellison, William Terry, and featuring

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...

in an early role. Produced by King Brothers Productions, it was co-written by Philip Yordan and directed by the Austrian director

Joe May Joe May (born Joseph Otto Mandl; 7 November 1880 – 29 April 1954) was an Austrian film director and film producer and one of the pioneers of Cinema of Germany, German cinema. Biography After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he b ...

, and constitutes the final film directed by Joe May. It was based on a short story purchased by the King Brothers. The film has fantasy elements, with the main character being followed by a

gremlin A gremlin is a mischievous fictional creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft, and later in other machinery, processes, and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. ...

. The film's interest and charm derives in large part from its extremely varied cast of supporting players. Although

's role in the film has come to be emphasized for marketing purposes, he was not yet a star and only appears in the last twenty minutes or so of the film. Horror film staple Rondo Hatton gets a laugh in a brief cameo as an undertaker. Billy Laughlin, known at the time as "Froggy" in the ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' shorts, plays a set of twins who live in Simon's apartment building; it is his only non-''Our Gang'' role and one of the few times he speaks in his natural voice on film.

Plot

On a train headed from her home

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Kathie Aumont accidentally spills salt. Deeply superstitious, she believes this condemns her to seven weeks of bad luck. She is correct, as she is thereafter pursued by a mischievous bad luck Gremlin named B.O. Rumpelstilskin ( Jerry Maren, voiced by an uncredited

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

). When she arrives at her destination, she finds that her friend Sally, with whom she was going to live, is newly married. This leaves Kathie with nowhere to sleep. Luckily she meets a newly inducted Marine, Johnny. He gives her the key to his apartment and says she can stay there while he is away. Unluckily Johnny has also given keys to all his friends. Confusion, comedy and romance follows. The wartime housing shortage in various large urban areas was a recurrent subject for American comedies during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This film was distinctive in that it was a comedy-fantasy.

Cast

* Simone Simon as Kathie Aumont * James Ellison as Mike Burke * William Terry as Johnny Moore *

Minna Gombell Minna Marie Gombell (''née'' Gombel; May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress. Early years She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father was ...

as Mrs. Collins *

Chick Chandler Fehmer Christy "Chick" Chandler (January 18, 1905 – September 30, 1988) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 130 films from 1925 through the mid-1950s. Chandler was known for his starring role as Toubo Smith in ...

as Jack *

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

as Judge * Gladys Blake as Sally *

as CPO Jeff Daniels *

Dorothy Granger Dorothy Karolyn Granger (November 21, 1911 – January 4, 1995) was an American actress best known for her roles in short subject comedy, comedies in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. Career Granger, with her parents, two brothers, ...

as Irene *

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 Sutton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the son ...

as George * Chester Clute as Mr. Collins * Fern Emmett as Shrew * Jerry Maren as Gremlin * Janet Shaw as Gladys * Charles Williams as Court Recorder * Rondo Hatton as B. Graves, Undertaker * Billy Laughlin as Jerry Malone and Jerry's Brother *

Fred Toones Fred "Snowflake" Toones (January 5, 1906 – February 13, 1962) was an American actor and comedian. He appeared in over 200 films in his career spanning 23 years. Career He appeared in over 200 films between 1928 and 1951. His standard cha ...

as Train Porter (uncredited)

References

External links

* * * 1944 films Films directed by Joe May Monogram Pictures films 1944 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American black-and-white films Films about gremlins 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language romantic comedy films Films scored by W. Franke Harling {{romantic-comedy-film-stub