Janie is a 1944 film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on a 1942 Broadway play by Josephine Bentham and Herschel V. Williams Jr.[1] The play was adapted from Bentham's 1940 novel by the same name.

Janie
Directed byMichael Curtiz
Screenplay byCharles Hoffman
Agnes Christine Johnston
Based onJanie (1942 play)
by Josephine Bentham
Herschel V. Williams Jr.
Produced byAlex Gottlieb
StarringJoyce Reynolds
Robert Hutton
Narrated byAlex Gottlieb
CinematographyCarl E. Guthrie
Edited byOwen Marks
Music byHeinz Roemheld
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • September 2, 1944 (1944-09-02)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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Janie is a free-spirited teenager living in a small town. But her father, the local newspaper publisher, opposes the establishment of an army camp nearby. Janie and her bobby soxer friends are excited at the prospect of having so many young soldiers nearby. She dates one of them, which makes her boyfriend jealous.

Cast

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Unbilled players include Keefe Brasselle, Jimmie Dodd, Sunset Carson, Julie London, Virginia Sale and the Williams Brothers with Andy Williams.

Reception

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In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "The authors of Janie, play and picture, have simply cut a theatrical farce with some kids. And the bluntness with which they have done so provides very little warm appeal ... The performance of Joyce Reynolds in the title role is completely surface and pretentious; she had nothing with which to work."[1]

The film was followed two years later by the sequel Janie Gets Married.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Crowther, Bosley (August 5, 1944). "Janie (1944) 'Janie', a Juvenile Comedy, Starring Joyce Reynolds, Opens at Strand -- 'The Falcon in Mexico' at Rialto". The New York Times.
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