Public Domain Movies

Public Domain Movies

Classic Movies in the Public Domain

Menu
  • Home
  • Public Domain Movies list
    • Drama movies
    • Comedy films
    • Action movies
    • Horror movies
    • Western films
    • Thriller movies
    • Sci-Fi movies
    • Romantic movies
    • Propaganda films
    • Film Noir movies
  • Android Apps
    • Classic Cartoons
    • Buster Keaton Movies
    • Film Noir Movies
    • Sci-Fi Movies
    • Public Domain Movies
    • Horror Movies App Free
  • Cartoons & Animation
Home ∼ Penny Serenade, 1941 starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

Penny Serenade, 1941 starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

Published by PublicDomainMovies on October 29, 2020

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Penny_Serenade_%281941%29.webm
Penny Serenade, 1941 starring Irene Dunne and Cary GrantPenny Serenade is a 1941 film melodrama starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Beulah Bondi, and Edgar Buchanan. The picture was directed by George Stevens, written by Martha Cheavens and Morrie Ryskind, and depicts the story of a loving couple who must overcome adversity to keep their marriage and raise a child. Grant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance.

Plot summary:
Applejack Carney pulls from a shelf an album of records entitled “The Story of a Happy Marriage” and places the song “You Were Meant for Me” on the Victrola. Julie Adams, Applejack’s old friend and owner of the album, asks him to turn off the tune and announces that she is leaving her husband Roger.

After glancing at the nursery, Julie restarts the song and remembers meeting Roger years earlier: The same ballad is playing over the loudspeakers at the Brooklyn music store where Julie works. When the record begins to skip, passerby Roger Adams enters the store and meets Julie. The two begin to date, and while at the beach one day, Julie breaks open a fortune cookie, which reads “you will get your wish –a baby.” Roger, a confirmed bachelor who has no patience with children, hides his fortune, which predicts a “wedding soon,” and replaces it with “you will always be a bachelor.”

Roger, a reporter, changes his mind, however, when he bursts into a New Year’s Eve party with the news that his paper is assigning him to a post in Japan and asks Julie to marry him that evening. Knowing that they will not see each other for three months until Roger can earn enough money for Julie’s passage to Japan, the newlyweds kiss goodbye in Roger’s train compartment. As they embrace, the train pulls out, and as a result, Julie stays in Roger’s compartment until the train stops the next morning.

Three months later, when Julie is reunited with Roger in Japan, she reports that she is pregnant. Julie becomes concerned for the future of her family when she learns that Roger has lavishly furnished their house by spending advances on his salary. Later, when Roger inherits a small sum of money and announces that he has quit his job so that they can travel the world, Julie, disturbed by her husband’s financial irresponsibility, goes upstairs to pack. At that moment, a violent earthquake strikes, demolishing the house and causing Julie to lose the baby.

Roger and Julie return to San Francisco, and while hospitalized there, Julie learns that she will never be able to have children. Roger tries to console her by telling her that he wants to settle down and buy a small town paper, but Julie responds that a baby is all she ever wanted. Soon after, Roger buys the Rosalia Courier Press, and the couple moves into the apartment above the newspaper office, which is equipped with a small nursery. Roger hires their friend Applejack to manage the paper, but despite their hard work, circulation remains low.

Two years later, while Roger is working late one night, Applejack encourages Julie to adopt a child, and when Roger returns home, Applejack prods him into agreeing to consider adoption. When Julie writes to the orphanage to request a two-year-old boy with curly hair and blue eyes, Mrs. Oliver, the administrator, interviews the prospective parents and later pays a surprise visit to their home. At first disapproving because the Adams house is a cluttered mess, Mrs. Oliver is charmed by the little nursery and tells Julie that a five-week-old baby girl is available for adoption. When Julie and Roger protest that they wanted a two-year-old boy, the age their own baby would have been, Mrs. Oliver assures them that this is the child for them. Roger and Julie consent to see the infant, and when Julie falls in love with the baby, Mrs. Oliver allows them to take her home for a one-year probation period.

One year later, as the time for the adoption hearing approaches, Mrs. Oliver visits the family to update her records. When Julie admits that the paper has gone out of business and that Roger has no income, Mrs. Oliver solemnly caps her pen. Steeling themselves to return their baby, whom they have named Trina, to the orphanage, Roger bundles up the infant and proceeds to the judge’s chambers. When the judge denies the adoption, Roger, near tears, begs to keep the little girl, pleading that she is like his own child. Moved by Roger’s plea, the judge relents and grants the adoption, prompting Julie cheerily to proclaim that nothing can take Trina from them now.

Years pass, and Trina’s proud parents watch their daughter sing the echo to “Silent Night” in her school’s Christmas play. When Trina slips on a platform while onstage, she worries that she will not be allowed to play an angel in the play the following year.

The next Christmas, Mrs. Oliver receives a tragic letter from Julie, notifying her of Trina’s death after a sudden, brief illness. Julie confides that Roger is punishing himself for Trina’s fate and behaves like a stranger to her. At the Adams home, as Julie and Roger sit wordlessly in their living room, they hear a knock at the door. Julie answers it and finds a mother, frantic because her car is stalled and her son is due to perform in the school play. Julie and Roger offer to drive the mother and child to the play, and when the car arrives to the sound of children singing “Silent Night,” Roger gets out and proclaims that he never again wants to see anybody or anything that reminds him of Trina.

Julie’s thoughts return to the present, and she takes the record off the turntable just as Applejack climbs the stairs to deliver her train ticket. At that moment, Roger returns, despondent, but as he picks up Julie’s suitcase to drive her to the train station, the phone rings. It is Mrs. Oliver, calling to offer the couple a two-year-old boy, who is the image of the youngster they requested years earlier. Their faith and hope restored, Julie and Roger begin planning a new life with their son.

Penny Serenade, 1941 starring Irene Dunne and Cary Grant

By George Stevens (YouTube) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Info.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Telegram
  • Email
  • More
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
Posted in Drama movies Tagged 1941, Beulah Bondi, Cary Grant, Edgar Buchanan, George Stevens, Irene Dunne
← Previous Next →

Public Domain Movies

Movies in the Public Domain

Subscribe via email ✉️

Join 9,887 other subscribers

Movie genres

  • Action movies
  • Adult films
  • Comedy films
  • Documentary & Animation
  • Drama movies
  • Fantasy films
  • Film Noir movies
  • Horror movies
  • Movies
  • Musicals
  • Propaganda films
  • Romantic movies
  • Sci-Fi movies
  • Thriller movies
  • Western films

Search movie database:

Google Workspace

  • Try Google Workspace Business Free
  • Google Workspace Promo code

Events

  • Networking events platform online
  • Web Services

  • Domains
  • WordPress Hosting
  • NordVPN
  • Virtual Events

  • Host your Virtual Event
  • Virtual Events Platform
  • Telegram Virtual Events Channel
  • RSS subscribe Android App
    Creative Commons License
    This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

    Our Android Apps

    Classic Cartoons

    Cartoons - Classic Cartoons in a new Android App

    Film Noir Movies

    Film Noir Movies Android App

    Buster Keaton Free Movies

    Buster Keaton Free Movies

    Sci-Fi Movies

    Sci-Fi Movies - Free Science Fiction B Movies

    Google Workspace en Español

    • Prueba Google Workspace
    • Google Workspace
    • Código promocional descuento Google Workspace

    1914 1915 1916 1917 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1930 1931 1932 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1949 1951 1953 1954 1959 1960 1963 Bela Lugosi Buster Keaton Cecil B. DeMille Charlie Chan Charlie Chaplin D. W. Griffith Douglas Fairbanks Joe Roberts John Wayne Lon Chaney Lon Chaney Jr. Mary Pickford Rudolph Valentino serial silent movie Virginia Fox Wallace Beery

    Prime Video Channels

    Prime Video Channels

    Secondary Menu

    • Home
    • Public Domain Movies list
      • Drama movies
      • Comedy films
      • Action movies
      • Horror movies
      • Western films
      • Thriller movies
      • Sci-Fi movies
      • Romantic movies
      • Propaganda films
      • Film Noir movies
    • Android Apps
      • Classic Cartoons
      • Buster Keaton Movies
      • Film Noir Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Public Domain Movies
      • Horror Movies App Free
    • Cartoons & Animation

    Copyright © 2021 Public Domain Movies.

    Powered by WordPress and Path. Back to Top

    • Contact
    • Free movies in your email
    • Android App Free Movies
    • Best Public Domain Movies
    • All the actors
    • Privacy & Cookies
    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled

    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

    Non-necessary

    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.