Without Reservations
| Without Reservations | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mervyn LeRoy |
| Produced by |
Jesse L. Lasky Walter MacEwen |
| Written by | Andrew Solt |
| Based on |
Thanks, God! I'll Take It From Here by Jane Allen Mae Livingston |
| Starring |
Claudette Colbert John Wayne Don DeFore |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | Milton R. Krasner |
| Edited by | Jack Ruggiero |
Production company | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,683,000 (estimated)[1][2] |
| Box office | $3,000,000 (US rentals)[3] |
Without Reservations is a 1946 American comedy film starring Claudette Colbert and John Wayne, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was adapted by Andrew Solt from the novel Thanks, God! I'll Take It From Here by Jane Allen and Mae Livingston.
The opening shot shows "Arrowhead" Pictures motion picture studio. This is the actual RKO Radio Pictures building at 780 Gower Street in Hollywood, retouched with "Arrowhead" replacing the RKO signs on the building. It remains a historic structure on the corner to this day.
Plot
Successful author Christopher "Kit" Madden (Claudette Colbert) travels to Los Angeles to work on the film adaptation of her best-selling book Here is Tomorrow. It is supposed to star Cary Grant as the hero Mark Winston and Lana Turner, but Grant has just dropped out and the producer thinks they need an unknown actor to play Winston. On a train to Hollywood Kit meets two Marines, Captain "Rusty" Thomas (John Wayne) and 1st Lieutenant "Dink" Watson (Don DeFore). She considers Rusty the best choice to play Mark Winston, but he is dismissive of her book: she wrote a political allegory and he does not believe Cary Grant would refuse Lana Turner for 400 pages. Unsure how he will react if he discovers she is a famous writer, she keeps her identity secret (saying her name is "Kitty Kloch"). During their journey across the country on trains and cars the trio end up in various comedic and dramatic situations. When Rusty finally learns the truth, he thinks that she has been using him just so he would be in the motion picture. Nonetheless, after a number of missteps, the couple eventually are able to resolve their differences.
Cast
- Claudette Colbert as Christopher "Kit" Madden
- John Wayne as Capt. "Rusty" Thomas
- Don DeFore as 1st Lt. "Dink" Watson
- Anne Triola as Consuela "Connie" Callaghan
- Phil Brown as Soldier
- Frank Puglia as Ortega
- Thurston Hall as Henry Baldwin
- Dona Drake as Dolores Ortega
- Fernando Alvarado as Mexican boy
- Charles Arnt as Salesman
- Louella Parsons as Herself
- Frank Wilcox as Jack
Jack Benny, Dolores Moran[4] and Cary Grant make uncredited cameo appearances, as does director Mervyn LeRoy.
Production
The film was originally budgeted at $1.1 million and had the title Thank God, I'll Take it From Here.[5]
Reception
The film made a profit of $342,000.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ "Box office / business for Without Reservations". imdb.com. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
- ↑ Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p211
- ↑ "60 Top Grossers of 1946", Variety 8 January 1947 p8
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0602834/
- ↑ Variety 12 September 1945 p 12
- ↑ Richard B. Jewell, Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures, Uni of California, 2016
External links
- Without Reservations at the Internet Movie Database
- Without Reservations at AllMovie
- Without Reservations at the TCM Movie Database