AFI|Catalog

Cinderella Jones (1946)

90 mins | Comedy | 9 March 1946

Director:

Busby Berkeley

Writer:

Charles Hoffman

Producer:

Alex Gottlieb

Cinematographer:

Sol Polito

Editor:

George Amy

Production Designer:

John Hughes

Production Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
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HISTORY

The film's working title was Judy Adjudicates. A 4 Nov 1943 HR news item notes that Faye Emerson replaced Jane Wyman, who was re-assigned to the Warner Bros. film Make Your Own Bed (see below), but Emerson does not appear in the film, and the role was finally played by Joan Leslie. A press release announced Dennis Morgan as the star. The MPH review states that although this film was made before Rhapsody in Blue, which also stars Robert Alda (see below), Warner Bros. delayed its release in the hope that Rhapsody in Blue would establish Alda as a box office draw. According to modern sources, one result of this delay was that a number of wartime references had to be edited out of the film. This film marked Busby Berkeley's last directorial effort for Warner Bros., the studio where he was the dance director on a number of musicals made in the 1930s. ...

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The film's working title was Judy Adjudicates. A 4 Nov 1943 HR news item notes that Faye Emerson replaced Jane Wyman, who was re-assigned to the Warner Bros. film Make Your Own Bed (see below), but Emerson does not appear in the film, and the role was finally played by Joan Leslie. A press release announced Dennis Morgan as the star. The MPH review states that although this film was made before Rhapsody in Blue, which also stars Robert Alda (see below), Warner Bros. delayed its release in the hope that Rhapsody in Blue would establish Alda as a box office draw. According to modern sources, one result of this delay was that a number of wartime references had to be edited out of the film. This film marked Busby Berkeley's last directorial effort for Warner Bros., the studio where he was the dance director on a number of musicals made in the 1930s.

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SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
16 Feb 1946
---
Daily Variety
12 Feb 1946
p. 3
Film Daily
15 Feb 1946
p. 6
Hollywood Reporter
18 Oct 1943
---
Hollywood Reporter
4 Nov 1943
p. 6
Hollywood Reporter
3 Dec 1943
p. 9
Hollywood Reporter
12 Feb 1946
p. 3
Hollywood Reporter
18 Mar 1946
p. 12
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
5 Feb 1944
p. 1746
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
9 Feb 1946
p. 2838
Motion Picture Herald Product Digest
16 Feb 1946
p. 2849
New York Times
16 Mar 1946
p. 9
Variety
13 Feb 1946
p. 10
CAST
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
Ed Gargan
Ann Goldthwaite
Mike Gaddis
Lawrence Williams
Marjorie Kane
+
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
PRODUCTION COMPANY
PRODUCTION TEXT
BRAND NAME
A Warner Bros.--First National Picture
A Warner Bros.--First National Picture
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTOR
PRODUCERS
Exec prod
WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dir of photog
ART DIRECTOR
Art dir
FILM EDITOR
Film ed
SET DECORATOR
Set dec
COSTUMES
MUSIC
Orch arr
Orch arr
Vocal arr
SOUND
VISUAL EFFECTS
MAKEUP
Makeup artist
STAND INS
Singing voice double for Joan Leslie
SOURCES
LITERARY
Based on the short story "Judy Adjudicates" by Philip Wylie in Red Book Magazine (Apr 1943).
LITERARY SOURCE AUTHOR
SONGS
"Cinderella Jones," "If You're Waitin'," "When the One You Love" and "You Never Know Where You're Goin'," words and music by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn.
SONGWRITER/COMPOSER
DETAILS
Alternate Title:
Judy Adjudicates
Release Date:
9 March 1946
Production Date:
mid Dec 1943--17 May 1944
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
9 March 1946
LP136
Physical Properties:
Sound
RCA Sound System
Black and White
Duration(in mins):
90
Country:
United States
PCA No:
9820
SYNOPSIS

Having failed to locate heiress Judy Jones, the law firm of Minland, Mahoney and Krencher decide to advertise. One of the many people who sees the ad is band leader Tommy Coles, whose girl friend, an addlepated singer, is named Judy Jones. Tommy has proposed many times to Judy, but she refuses to marry him until they have more money. After Judy makes a comment about her rich uncle Jonas Jones, Tommy realizes that she is really the missing heiress. By showing the lawyers a shrunken head that Jonas left to her, Judy proves her claim to his ten million dollars, but in order to inherit, she must marry a man with an I.Q. of 150 by a certain date. Using a man's name, Judy enrolls in an all-male school for geniuses. Her ruse is quickly discovered, but because she is attractive, and because she offers to pay for a new chemistry laboratory with part of her inheritance, professor Gabriel Popik allows her to stay in school. Younger professor Bartholomew Williams is not as susceptible to Judy's charms, however, and insists that she leave the campus. A horrified Popik demands that Williams beg Judy to return, but thanks to taxi driver Camille, she has already taken a waitress job at the campus coffee shop and refuses. After Judy accidentally serves Williams a sandwich made with a bar of soap, he angrily tells her that she epitomizes everything he hates about women. Tommy, who is also in the coffee shop, tries to defend Judy, but Williams knocks him unconscious, impressing Judy with his virility. Because Popik knows that Judy must marry a ...

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Having failed to locate heiress Judy Jones, the law firm of Minland, Mahoney and Krencher decide to advertise. One of the many people who sees the ad is band leader Tommy Coles, whose girl friend, an addlepated singer, is named Judy Jones. Tommy has proposed many times to Judy, but she refuses to marry him until they have more money. After Judy makes a comment about her rich uncle Jonas Jones, Tommy realizes that she is really the missing heiress. By showing the lawyers a shrunken head that Jonas left to her, Judy proves her claim to his ten million dollars, but in order to inherit, she must marry a man with an I.Q. of 150 by a certain date. Using a man's name, Judy enrolls in an all-male school for geniuses. Her ruse is quickly discovered, but because she is attractive, and because she offers to pay for a new chemistry laboratory with part of her inheritance, professor Gabriel Popik allows her to stay in school. Younger professor Bartholomew Williams is not as susceptible to Judy's charms, however, and insists that she leave the campus. A horrified Popik demands that Williams beg Judy to return, but thanks to taxi driver Camille, she has already taken a waitress job at the campus coffee shop and refuses. After Judy accidentally serves Williams a sandwich made with a bar of soap, he angrily tells her that she epitomizes everything he hates about women. Tommy, who is also in the coffee shop, tries to defend Judy, but Williams knocks him unconscious, impressing Judy with his virility. Because Popik knows that Judy must marry a man with a high I.Q., he convinces Williams to romance her until she agrees to return to school. A few days later, Popik is sure that the stormy relationship between Judy and Williams is a sign that they love each other. When Judy joins Tommy and his band at a lakeside resort the night before her marriage deadline, Popik conspires with the lawyers, who are also at the resort, to bring Judy and Williams together. While the lawyers row Judy out to the middle of the lake, Popik brings a drunken Williams to the lakeshore. The lawyers overturn the boat and Williams swims out to rescue Judy. He confesses that he loves her, and she accepts his marriage proposal, to the dismay of Tommy and Camille, who loves Williams. Judy and Williams, together with the lawyers, Tommy, Camille and Popik, hurry to Nevada to be married. On the way, the police stop them for speeding and take them to jail. In their defense, Tommy reels off a lot of legal terminology and is forced to admit that he is a law school graduate and a former quiz kid. After Williams reveals that he has a low I.Q., but has worked hard to succeed, Tommy proposes again to Judy, whom he truly loves, and Camille proposes to Williams. The marriage plans are again interrupted when the wedding party is stopped by a convoy of returning soldiers, but everything is happily resolved when the army chaplain unites the two couples.

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Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

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