Mother Carey's Chickens (film)
Encyclopedia
Mother Carey's Chickens is a 1938
drama film
starring Anne Shirley and Ruby Keeler
. The film was directed by Rowland V. Lee
and based upon a 1917 play by Kate Douglas Wiggin
and Rachel Crothers
, which in turn was adapted from Wiggins' novel of the same title.
Originally Katharine Hepburn
was assigned to the lead role. She refused, however, and left RKO in order to avoid having to appear in the film.
), a captain in the United States Navy, dies during the Spanish-American War
. His wife Margaret, daughters Nancy and Kitty and sons Gilbert and Peter are left behind. They are now on their own with only Capt. Carey's pension for income. The family moves into a series of ever-smaller rented houses while Mrs. Carey works in a textile mill. When she is injured, they lease a broken down mansion for a year at a nominal fee, and invest the captain's small life insurance payment to fix it up into a boarding house. Both daughters fall in love, Kitty with a local teacher and Nancy with Tom Hamilton (Frank Albertson
), the son of the absentee owner.
When the Hamiltons put the house up for sale, the family is given an eviction order by Tom Hamilton, a doctor who wants the money from the sale to study in Europe. However fate intervenes and Tom saves Peter from a serious illness, then falls in love with Nancy. The new owners, the Fullers, move in to force the family to vacate. The Careys and their beaus try to avoid being put out of their house by scaring off the Fullers.
1938 in film
The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Anne Shirley and Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler
Ruby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street . From 1928 to 1940, she was married to singer Al Jolson...
. The film was directed by Rowland V. Lee
Rowland V. Lee
Rowland Vance Lee was a U.S. film director, writer, and producer....
and based upon a 1917 play by Kate Douglas Wiggin
Kate Douglas Wiggin
Kate Douglas Wiggin was an American educator and author of children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878...
and Rachel Crothers
Rachel Crothers
Rachel Crothers was a prolific and successful American playwright and theater director, known for her well-crafted plays. One of the most famous was Susan and God , which was made into a film by MGM in 1940 starring Joan Crawford and Frederic March.Crothers was born in Bloomington, Illinois, USA...
, which in turn was adapted from Wiggins' novel of the same title.
Originally Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
was assigned to the lead role. She refused, however, and left RKO in order to avoid having to appear in the film.
Plot
Mr. Carey (Frank MorganFrank Morgan
Frank Morgan was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
), a captain in the United States Navy, dies during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. His wife Margaret, daughters Nancy and Kitty and sons Gilbert and Peter are left behind. They are now on their own with only Capt. Carey's pension for income. The family moves into a series of ever-smaller rented houses while Mrs. Carey works in a textile mill. When she is injured, they lease a broken down mansion for a year at a nominal fee, and invest the captain's small life insurance payment to fix it up into a boarding house. Both daughters fall in love, Kitty with a local teacher and Nancy with Tom Hamilton (Frank Albertson
Frank Albertson
Frank Albertson was an American character actor who made his debut in a minor part in Hollywood at age 13....
), the son of the absentee owner.
When the Hamiltons put the house up for sale, the family is given an eviction order by Tom Hamilton, a doctor who wants the money from the sale to study in Europe. However fate intervenes and Tom saves Peter from a serious illness, then falls in love with Nancy. The new owners, the Fullers, move in to force the family to vacate. The Careys and their beaus try to avoid being put out of their house by scaring off the Fullers.
Cast
- Anne Shirley - Nancy Carey
- Ruby KeelerRuby KeelerRuby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street . From 1928 to 1940, she was married to singer Al Jolson...
- Katherine 'Kitty' Carey - James Ellison - Ralph Thurston
- Fay BainterFay BainterFay Okell Bainter was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Charles F. Bainter and Mary Okell. In 1910, she was a traveling stage actress...
- Mrs. Margaret Carey - Walter BrennanWalter BrennanWalter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
- Mr. Ossian Popham - Donnie DunaganDonnie DunaganDonald "Donnie" Roan Dunagan is a semi-retired American former child actor and United States Marine Corps drill instructor. He was a voice actor in the Bambi film, providing the voice of Young Bambi. A 28-page interview, his first after decades as a "lost Hollywood player," can be found in the...
- Peter Carey - Frank AlbertsonFrank AlbertsonFrank Albertson was an American character actor who made his debut in a minor part in Hollywood at age 13....
- Tom Hamilton Jr. - Alma KrugerAlma Kruger-Career:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kruger had a long career on stage before appearing in films. From 1907 to 1935, she starred in many theatre plays on Broadway, mostly in Shakespearean plays such as Hamlet , Twelfth Night , Taming of the Shrew , and The Merchant of Venice .She appeared in...
- Aunt Bertha - Jackie Moran - Gilbert Carey
- Margaret HamiltonMargaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
- Mrs. Pauline Fuller - Virginia WeidlerVirginia WeidlerVirginia Weidler was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life and career:...
- Lally Joy Popham - Ralph MorganRalph MorganRalph Morgan was a Hollywood film, stage and character actor, and the older brother of Frank Morgan .-Early life:...
- Captain John Carey