Main Cast: Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Charles Coburn, Lynn Bari
Release Year: 1952
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
Plot
Douglas Sirk directed this frothy musical comedy set in the 1920s starring Charles Coburn as Samuel Fulton, an elderly man with a multi-million dollar fortune. With no family of his own to whom he can leave his money, Fulton is pondering what to do with his estate. Years ago, he was in love with a woman named Harriet, whom he asked to marry. She turned him down and married another someone else, but he's still fond of her and considers leaving his millions to her family. However, Fulton decides to first give them a test. Posing as an eccentric and threadbare artist, he rents a room from Harriet (Lynn Bari) and her husband Charles (Larry Gates). He then arranges for an anonymous gift of $100,000 to be presented to them so that he can watch their reactions. Sadly, things don't go well; Harriet browbeats the rest of the family into moving into a mansion and tries to convince her daughter Millicent (Piper Laurie) to break up with her boyfriend, poor but good-hearted soda jerk Dan (Rock Hudson), in favor of a wealthier and more socially prominent man. Songs include "Tiger Rag," "When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along," "It Ain't Gonna Rain No More," and "Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?" James Dean has a tiny part as a customer at the soda fountain; it was his first appearance onscreen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
An incredibly lightweight piece of period Americana, Has Anybody Seen My Gal? seems an odd choice for future soap meister par excellenceDouglas Sirk. Indeed, aside from its obvious observations on greed and the power of money to corrupt, there's little to suggest the subversive criticism of 1950s America that one finds in so much of Sirk's work. Of course, that's no crime; a director isn't required to have (and rarely should have) the same identifiable marks in all his films. Besides, Sirk watchers can still find plenty to study in his use of color, his attention to art direction and set décor, and the way the camera captures it all. That said, it's all in the service of a pretty negligible script -- and one which has, at its core, a bit of a sadistic streak in the manner in which the millionaire plays with and judges the lives of his potential beneficiaries. Fortunately, Gal has the expert Charles Coburn on hand, given one of his rare chances to play the lead and proving that he could carry a picture. Piper Laurie and Rock Hudson look stunning, Gigi Perreau steals several scenes, and Lynn Bari does the best she can with a character that's simply too much. It's not enough to make Has Anybody Seen My Gal? a very good film, but it does make it easy enough to watch. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Rosemary Odell - Costume Designer, Douglas Sirk - Director, Russell Schoengarth - Editor, Joseph E. Gershenson - Composer (Music Score), Henry Mancini - Composer (Music Score), Herman Stein - Composer (Music Score), Joseph E. Gershenson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Hilyard M. Brown - Production Designer, Bernard Herzbrun - Production Designer, Clifford Stine - Cinematographer, Ted Richmond - Producer, John P. Austin - Set Designer, Russell A. Gausman - Set Designer, Joseph Hoffman - Screenwriter, Eleanor H. Porter - Short Story Author
