Main Cast: Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Anne Francis, Alvy Moore, Glenda Farrell
Release Year: 1954
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
Plot
Susan Slept Here is the only feature film in Hollywood history ever to be narrated by an Academy Award. After introducing itself, the Oscar statuette invites us into the apartment home of its owner, screenwriter Mark Christopher Dick Powell. Knowing that Mark is working on a script about juvenile deliquency, policeman Sam Hanlon Herb Vigran deposits teenaged troublemaker Susan Landis Debbie Reynolds on Mark's doorstep. Somewhat terrified by Susan's erratic behavior, Mark vows to keep their relationship platonic, but his fiancee Isabella Anne Francis suspects the worst. Director Frank Tashlin aims his satiric barbs at psychiatry, conspicuous consumption and Hollywood itself. The spirited supporting cast includes Glenda Farrell, Alvy Moore, Horace McMahon and Les Tremayne. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Dick Powell's last feature film, Susan Slept Here is moderately enjoyable, although modern audiences may feel some discomfort over the May-December romance that forms the core of the plot. There's nothing wrong with using an older man-younger woman relationship as the basis of a comedy, of course, but it has to be handled either more tactfully or more audaciously than it is here. Director Frank Tashlin is somewhat off his form here; although there are moments that are marked with his trademark abandon, too much of the film feels restrained. Part of this is due to Powell, playing a straight man part and not investing much effort into it. Tashlin is also hemmed in by the screenplay, which is not inventive enough. However, he is enormously helped by Debbie Reynolds, whose performance is so perky and energetic that the screen has a hard time holding her. Anne Francis is also an asset, bringing depth to what could have been a cardboard cutout character, and Glenda Farrell brings expert timing and comic delivery to her role. Susan is not really a good movie, but it's also too silly and sweet to dislike. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Carroll Clark - Art Director, Albert S. D'Agostino - Art Director, Robert Sidney - Choreography, Michael Woulfe - Costume Designer, Frank Tashlin - Director, Harry Marker - Editor, Leigh Harline - Composer (Music Score), Richard Myers - Composer (Music Score), Jack Lawrence - Composer (Music Score), Constantin Bakaleinikoff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Richard Myers - Songwriter, Jack Lawrence - Songwriter, Mel Berns - Makeup, Nick Musuraca - Cinematographer, Harriet Parsons - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Al Orenbach - Set Designer, Frank McWhorter - Sound/Sound Designer, Clem Portman - Sound/Sound Designer, Steve Fisher - Screenwriter, Alex Gottlieb - Screenwriter, Steve Fisher - Play Author, Alex Gottlieb - Play Author
Mark Christopher (Dick 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 cop Sergeant Sam Hanlon (Herb Vigran) brings Mark seventeen-year-old Susan Landis (Debbie Reynolds). Susan had been abandoned by her mother and was arrested for vagrancy. 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) and offers to let her stay in Mark's luxurious apartment 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 Isabella Alexander (Anne Francis), a demanding senator's daughter whom Mark has been dating for years. 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.
When Harvey lets slip that Susan will likely serve three or four months in a juvenile detention facility, Mark impulsively takes her to Las Vegas and marries her. The marriage, he explains to his friends, will last for just long enough to convince the judge that Susan has made good. The love-struck Susan has other ideas. With the encouragement and support of Maude, who still regrets leaving her childhood love behind for a career in Hollywood, Susan fights to make the marriage permanent. She refuses to sign the annulment papers.
When Susan is seen eating strawberries and pickles, Mark's friends assume the worst: that she is pregnant. Susan eventually confesses to Mark that she just likes that combination. Mark has his own confession: he is in love with his wife.
