Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Frank Morgan, Anita Louise, Patricia Collinge
Release Year: 1944
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
Plot
When he finds out his ex-wife has just had his child and plans to give her up for adoption, a timid English instructor dashes to the child's rescue and attempts to care for her in a hotel room. Before too long, however, his new fiancee and his ex confront him and he must decide what he will do. This light comedy starring Gary Cooper, Theresa Wright and Anita Louise garnered Oscar nominations for Sound and Art Direction and was previously filmed under the title Little Accident in 1930 and 1939. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
Review
Casanova Brown starts out like a house afire and shows every indication of being a marvelously fun romantic comedy. But about halfway through it hits a bump that throws it off course, with the result that Brown ends up only partially satisfying. That "bump" is the major plot point in which the title character absconds from the hospital with his daughter, because his ex-wife is threatening to give the child up for adoption. This derails the picture on a couple of counts: one, the mother (played by Teresa Wright) is only making this threat as a way of getting hubby Gary Cooper back (and not letting him marry his new love interest). Two, the picture then becomes about Cooper's "on the lam" attempt to take care of the baby without getting caught by the police. To modern audiences, at least, this second factor will be very uncomfortable, as Cooper's actions seems obsessive and could easily have put the baby into serious danger. The screenplay's tone changes at this point and the film never recovers, which is a shame, as it had been a bright, lively and thoroughly engaging picture up to that point. Cooper is in absolutely delightful form, and Wright is as lovely and appealing as ever. There's also the bonus of a hilarious turn from Frank Morgan as the father of Cooper's new fiancé, who has some acerbic opinions regarding the state of matrimony. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Perry Ferguson - Art Director, Muriel King - Costume Designer, John Sherwood - First Assistant Director, Sam Wood - Director, Thomas Neff - Editor, Art Lange - Composer (Music Score), John F. Seitz - Cinematographer, Nunnally Johnson - Producer, Julia Heron - Set Designer, Nunnally Johnson - Screenwriter, Thomas Mitchell - Play Author, Floyd Dell - Play Author
Double Speed •Excuse My Dust •The Dancin' Fool •Sick Abed •What's Your Hurry? •A City Sparrow •Her Beloved Villain •Her First Elopement •The Snob •Peck's Bad Boy •The Great Moment •Under the Lash •Don't Tell Everything •Her Husband's Trademark •Her Gilded Cage •Beyond the Rocks •The Impossible Mrs. Bellew •My American Wife •Prodigal Daughters •Bluebeard's Eighth Wife •His Children's Children •The Next Corner •Bluff •The Female •The Mine with the Iron Door •The Re-Creation of Brian Kent •Fascinating Youth •One Minute to Play •Rookies •A Racing Romeo •The Fair Co-Ed •The Latest from Paris •Telling the World •So This Is College •It's a Great Life
