Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More
| Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Joe May |
| Produced by | Maurice King (producer) Frank King (associate producer) |
| Written by | Alice Means Reeve (original story) |
| Cinematography | Ira H. Morgan |
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Release date
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Running time
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79 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More is a 1944 American comedy/romance film starring Simone Simon, James Ellison, William Terry, and featuring Robert Mitchum in an early role. Produced by King Brothers Productions, it was co-written by Philip Yordan and directed by the German-American director Joe May, and constitutes the final film directed by Joe May. It was based on a short story purchased by the King Brothers.
A young defense worker Kathie Aumont (Simone Simon) comes to Washington DC only to find that her friend Sally, with whom she was going to live, is newly married. This leaves Kathie with nowhere to sleep. Luckily she falls in love with a newly inducted Marine, who gives her the key to his apartment. Unluckily he's also given keys to all his friends.
The wartime housing shortage in various large urban areas was a recurrent subject for American comedies during The Second World War. This film was distinctive in that it was a comedy-fantasy. On a train headed from her home province of Quebec to New York City at the film's beginning, Simon 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 gremlin whom only she can see who does things such as tamper with her alarm clock.
The film's interest and charm derives in large part from its extremely varied cast of supporting players. Although Robert Mitchum'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 movie. Horror film staple Rondo Hatton speaks no lines and gets a laugh merely by appearing on screen briefly in a surprise appearance. Billy Laughlin, playing a child who lives in Simon's apartment building, was better known at the time as Froggy in the Our Gang shorts.
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