Susan Slept Here | |
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original film poster
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Directed by | Frank Tashlin |
Produced by | Harriet Parsons |
Written by | Steve Fisher (play) Alex Gottlieb (play and screenplay) |
Starring |
Dick Powell Debbie Reynolds |
Music by |
Leigh Harline Richard Myers |
Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
Edited by | Harry Marker |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2.25 million (US) |
Susan Slept Here is a 1954 American romantic comedy film starring Dick Powell (in his last film role) and Debbie Reynolds. Shot in Technicolor, the film was based on the play of the same name by Steve Fisher and Alex Gottlieb. The film's plotline was later used again by director Frank Tashlin for 1962's Bachelor Flat.
Mark Christopher (Powell) is a successful thirty-five-year-old Hollywood screenwriter who has suffered from partial writer's block since winning an Academy Award and has been unable to produce a decent script. One Christmas Eve, he receives an unexpected and very unwanted surprise present.
Vice Squad Sergeant Sam Hanlon (Herb Vigran) brings seventeen-year-old Susan Landis (Reynolds) to Mark's luxurious apartment. Susan had been abandoned by her mother and was arrested for vagrancy and hitting a sailor over the head with a beer bottle. Not wanting to keep her in jail over the holidays and aware that Mark was interested in writing a script about juvenile delinquency, the kindhearted cop decides to bend the rules (much to the disapproval of his partner). Hanlon suggests that Susan stay with Mark until her arraignment the day after Christmas.
Mark is naturally appalled, but is eventually persuaded to take the girl in. This doesn't go over too well with his long-time fiancée, Isabella Alexander (Anne Francis), the demanding daughter of a U.S. Senator. Isabella's jealousy grows when Susan develops a crush on Mark. Mark's secretary Maude Snodgrass (Glenda Farrell), his best friend Virgil (Alvy Moore), and his lawyer Harvey Butterworth (Les Tremayne) do their best to keep the situation under control.