554:, Craig Butler called it "a moderately entertaining mini-musical simply because of the charming presence of Deanna Durbin." Butler saw the film as an unsuccessful attempt at creating a romantic screwball comedy of the classic type, lacking the necessary keen eye on detail, organization, character, and wit. According to Butler, the screenplay lacks all of these. The main "gimmick", of the President of the United States getting personally involved in straightening out the love life of a switchboard operator, is "obnoxiously cute and simply too unbelievable." Butler does applaud de Cordova's direction and the acting—Harry Davenport is especially good as a Supreme Court justice—but it is not enough to salvage a poor script and unbelievable story. Butler concludes:
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young man arrested for illegally entering the country. Elwood soon discovers, however, that the
Pacific island on which David was born and holds the deed to, is now home to a $ 300 million strategic U.S. Naval base. If David is declared an alien, the Navy could be forced to move. Later that day, everyone arrives at Gustav's restaurant to try to resolve the issue. After meeting with the President's advisors, David fashions a Senate resolution for the American annexation of his island if Phillip and Tom are given appointments far from Washington, and he and Gustav are made United States citizens. The government readily agrees, and when Mary calls the President with the good news, David interrupts her conversation with a kiss, causing both of them to hiccup.
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President sends his executive secretary, Harvey Elwood, to check on her condition and offers her a paper bag to breathe into. Phillip calls, expecting to drive her to
Justice Peabody's party that night, but she declines, not wanting to resume their relationship. Later, as she is leaving work, Mary must drive David off the White House grounds to prevent his arrest. Mary asks David to escort her to the party, offering to introduce him to the President's secretary in exchange for the favor.
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she will arrange a meeting for him with
Phillip, who can help him with his political issue. That afternoon at the Peppertree home, Tom arrives with presidential orders to take Mary to a White House movie screening. When Phillip learns that Mary is with Tom, he questions David about his relationship with Mary. The frustrated marine biologist announces he is leaving town and that everyone in Washington seems to have a "Mary Peppertree fixation."
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singing around the piano, Tom escorts Mary home, where she notices they're being watched by her father from an upstairs window. After she kisses Tom goodnight and he leaves, she is confronted by David, who's been waiting on the porch all night. David kisses a startled Mary, who starts to hiccup again.
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That night, at Elwood's request, David takes Mary out on a date in Tom's place. Afterwards, back home in front of her house, upon kissing David, Mary breaks out in hiccups again, a sign that she is in love. Then both
Phillip and Tom show up, and Phillip says these circumstances are being contrived by
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The next day, when the
President learns that Mary was upset about not keeping her date with David, he calls the fish expert himself to express his regrets, but then decides David's 'obsession' with fish means he is a nut. Later over lunch, after David explains his situation in full, Mary tells David
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Meanwhile, the
President, having overheard Mary telling Phillip that she would rather stay home than attend the party with him, sends Lt. Tom Farrington, a naval aide at the White House, to escort Mary. At the party, they cause a stir and not a little jealousy in Phillip. After a pleasant evening of
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The next morning, Mary receives calls from Gustav and the
Supreme Court justices congratulating her on her engagement to Phillip, and a call from the President congratulating her on her engagement to Tom! When Elwood learns that David is not technically a citizen of the United States, he has the
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Meanwhile, Tom's friend, newspaper publisher Samuel
Litchfield, complains to Elwood about Tom's involvement with Mary, a mere switchboard operator. When Mary and Tom arrive together at the restaurant, the owner, Gustav Heindel, tells Elwood he saw Mary kissing David. Elwood decides to handle the
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According to
Crowther, the filmmakers, whom he called "propagandists", manipulate the viewer into drawing negative conclusions about Washington and its leaders. The film also fails on an entertainment level, with "painful attempts at humor" and "flat jokes" about the "woefully lax and quixotic
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The next morning at the White House gate, David apologizes for his actions the night before, and attempts to bribe Mary with flowers and candy, only to have them thrown back into his face. Later, at the switchboard, Mary receives a call from the
President. When Mary hiccups into the phone, the
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Later that night, Mary meets Justice Peabody at a restaurant to discuss her breakup with Phillip, who is also there. After resisting their efforts to reunite her with Phillip, Mary tells Phillip that she broke their engagement not because she saw him with another woman, but because she was not
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Mary Peppertree starts a new job as a telephone switchboard operator at the White House, where her father Timothy has been working as a guard for many years. A former Supreme Court telephone operator, Mary takes her first call from David Paxton, an ichthyologist who insists on speaking to the
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But it's Durbin who has to carry the movie, and she does a wonderful job, skipping through the messes of the plot without a care for how silly the whole thing is. And, of course, she sounds wonderful when she sings as well. Pretty much by herself, she makes Mary something really pretty
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President about a political issue involving a small Pacific island. After hanging up on him twice, Mary spends the rest of her day fielding calls from various Supreme Court justices who attempt to reconcile her with her former fiancé, Phillip Manning, a Justice Department attorney.
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jealous about it. Their conversation about her hard day at the White House fending off calls from the "fish peddler" is overheard by David, also in the restaurant, who then assures Mary that he will speak to the President, despite her interference. He then storms out.
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For no one could possibly have cooked up such a horribly-quaint and coy romance in which not only the President of the United States but four Supreme Court Justices play cupid to a telephone girl without deliberately intending to make those gentlemen appear terrific
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Frederick de Cordova knew Durbin socially and says she approved him as director. He later said "she was comfortable although she was getting to the point where she was uncomfortable making pictures at all."
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and was replaced by Don Taylor. Karl Turnberg was replaced as producer by Robert Arthur. Jeffrey Lynn and Edmond O'Brien joined the cast in March (O'Brien was withdrawn from the cast of
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others, claiming Tom is a 'patsy' for him, and David is a 'patsy' for Tom. David, further confused and jealous, leaves the three of them in frustration.
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Durbin's third husband Charles David said she "hated" making her last three films and that she would watch all her old movies except those three.
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matter with the Navy personally. Phillip offers to put the Justice Department on the case and promises to clear up the matter in two days.
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was the last film by Deanna Durbin, who withdrew from the entertainment business the following year to live a private life in France.
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Filming started 15 March 1948 and finished by May. In August Universal sued Durbin for $ 87,083 being money they advanced her.
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at MGM, based on a story by Ruth Finney, about a telephone operator at the White House.
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Carole Lombard to Star With Jack Benny in Film - New York Times 15 Oct 1941: 25.
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ON THE TRAIL OF DEANNA DURBIN Paskov, David. Los Angeles Times 25 Apr 1982: m3.
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Kathryn Grayson Wins Pasternak Film Lead: Los Angeles Times 15 Oct 1941: A10.
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Deanna Durbin and cinematographer William H. Daniels on the set of the film.
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Looking at Hollywood Hopper, Hedda. Chicago Daily Tribune 3 Mar 1948: 24.
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MISS DURBIN SUED BY U-I FOR $ 87,083 New York Times 23 Aug 1948: 14.
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MISS DURBIN TO DO 'FOR LOVE OF MARY' New York Times 7 Dec 1946: 27.
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Hedda Hopper: LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD Los Angeles Times6 Sep 1947: A5.
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M'DONALD TO STAR IN METRO PICTURE New York Times 16 Mar 1948: 36.
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TWO WILL PRODUCE OWN STORY AS FILM New York Times 3 Sep 1947: 31.
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NUGENT REPLACES FARROW ON MOVIE New York Times 13 Feb 1948: 26.
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METRO ACQUIRES J.D. BROWN NOVEL New York Times 31 Jan 1948: 14.
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were working on the script and the film would be known as
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809:. University Press of Mississippi. p. 8.
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1216:English-language romantic comedy films
1201:Films directed by Frederick de Cordova
509:which had been the original title of
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16:1948 film by Frederick de Cordova
679:Post, Pete (January 16, 1950).
350:James Todd as Justice Van Sloan
1176:American black-and-white films
1171:American romantic comedy films
494:The Wonderful Race of Rim Rock
1:
1196:Films scored by Frank Skinner
1181:Films set in Washington, D.C.
876:"For the Love of Mary Review"
784:"For the Love of Mary: Notes"
589:"For the Love of Mary (1948)"
1211:1940s English-language films
1186:Films set in the White House
1042:The Countess of Monte Cristo
922:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
160:September 1, 1948
1232:
1166:1948 romantic comedy films
1058:The Gal Who Took the West
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805:Davis, Ronald L. (2005).
686:The Oakland Post Enquirer
505:The title was changed to
422:as Asst. Attorney General
33:Theatrical release poster
26:
1191:Universal Pictures films
591:. Movies & TV Dept.
786:. Turner Classic Movies
659:Internet Movie Database
625:Internet Movie Database
533:In his 1948 review for
621:"For the Love of Mary"
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1122:Bonzo Goes to College
1114:Here Come the Nelsons
512:Something in the Wind
341:as Timothy Peppertree
305:as Lt. Tom Farrington
290:
1206:1940s American films
1050:For the Love of Mary
940:For the Love of Mary
929:For the Love of Mary
916:For the Love of Mary
905:For the Love of Mary
507:For the Love of Mary
362:as Samuel Litchfield
237:For the Love of Mary
213:Frederick de Cordova
204:For the Love of Mary
43:Frederick de Cordova
22:For the Love of Mary
1010:That Way with Women
601:on January 30, 2013
386:as Justice Hastings
380:as Justice Williams
345:Katharine Alexander
207:is a 1948 American
1138:Frankie and Johnny
980:Films directed by
934:TCM Movie Database
849:The New York Times
807:Just making movies
594:The New York Times
550:In his review for
535:The New York Times
473:was to direct and
467:Up in Central Park
335:as Justice Peabody
317:as Phillip Manning
299:as Mary Peppertree
293:
147:Universal Pictures
137:Universal Pictures
102:William H. Daniels
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1090:Bedtime for Bonzo
994:Too Young to Know
378:Raymond Greenleaf
329:as Gustav Heindel
211:film directed by
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477:was to co star.
463:White House Girl
442:In October 1941
408:Beatrice Roberts
384:Charles Meredith
347:as Miss Harkness
323:as Harvey Elwood
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311:as David Paxton
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788:. Retrieved
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360:Frank Conroy
315:Jeffrey Lynn
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229:Jeffrey Lynn
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176:Running time
153:Release date
89:Jeffrey Lynn
692:December 1,
321:Ray Collins
112:Ted J. Kent
59:Produced by
39:Directed by
1161:1948 films
1155:Categories
1034:Wallflower
564:References
456:Dan Dailey
438:Production
410:as Dorothy
396:Mary Adams
309:Don Taylor
225:Don Taylor
180:90 minutes
164:1948-09-01
129:Production
84:Don Taylor
49:Written by
529:Reception
482:Mary Loos
374:as Bertha
327:Hugo Haas
108:Edited by
945:AllMovie
880:Allmovie
552:Allmovie
404:as Hilda
398:as Marge
193:Language
118:Music by
67:Starring
932:at the
919:at the
368:as Igor
196:English
185:Country
162: (
131:company
1141:(1966)
1133:(1965)
1125:(1952)
1117:(1952)
1109:(1952)
1101:(1951)
1093:(1951)
1085:(1950)
1077:(1950)
1069:(1949)
1061:(1949)
1053:(1948)
1045:(1948)
1037:(1948)
1029:(1947)
1021:(1947)
1013:(1947)
1005:(1946)
997:(1945)
559:merry.
542:dopes.
227:, and
910:IMDb
887:2012
856:2012
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