Take Care of My Little Girl
Encyclopedia
Take Care of My Little Girl is a 1951
drama film
directed by Jean Negulesco
. The film, shot in Technicolor
, is based on the 1950 novel of the same name written by Peggy Goodin.
) is a young, naive woman who has recently graduated from high school. Along with her best friend Janet Shaw (Beverly Dennis), she leaves her parental home to join the same college - Midwestern University - where her mother was once a legendary alma mater
. Liz and Janet dream of being pledged by the elite group of girls who call themselves Tri-U Sorority. Liz thinks that joining a sorority is more important than her education, and is surprised that her fellow roommate Adelaide Swanson (Mitzi Gaynor
) is not interested in Tri-U.
During her first weeks in college, Liz has no trouble befriending Tri-U's members, including Dallas Prewitt (Jean Peters
), Marge Colby (Betty Lynn
), Merry Coombs (Helen Westcott
) and Casey Krausse (Carol Brannon). Janet, on the other hand, does not make an impression on the snobbish girls. Neither does shy Ruth Gates (Lenka Peterson
), whose mother was a respected Tri-U, but she is - unlike Janet - admitted to the pledge due to her family name. Liz is pledged as well, and feels guilty for seeing her dream come true, while Janet, crushed by the rejection, is leaving the college.
Meanwhile, she meets Joe Blake (Dale Robertson
), a senior at college and once a member of the army who is opposed to sororities due to its snobbish cliques. Liz is also pushed by arrogant Dallas to date Chad Carnes (Jeffrey Hunter
), the most popular fraternity boy whose reputation as a drunken womanizer is not unnoticed by Liz. She initially does not take a liking in him, but Chad wins over her affection and convinces her to help him cheat at an important exam. Her sorority sisters acclaim her as a hero for her actions, but Joe feels disappointed in her lack of ethics.
Soon after, 'Hell Week' begins, which includes humiliating and taking pranks on the new pledges. On insistence of Dallas, Ruth is released from the pledge, while Liz is assigned to make silly errands. She runs into Joe, and agrees to accompany him to a party. Chad also attends this party, and chastises Liz for ignoring her duties. Joe sticks up for her, and gets into a fist fight with Chad. Realizing that Joe is the one she wants to be with, she rejects Chad and returns to Tri-U.
There, she is disgusted to find out that Ruth has been de-pledged. She goes out to look for her, and finds her wondering on the streets. Liz takes Ruth to the hospital, where she is diagnosed with pneumonia. Ashamed for being part of a clique that has done this to Ruth, Liz heads back to Tri-U to return her pin. The girls feel that she is out of her mind for doing this, but Liz castigates them for their hypocrisy and snobbishness. She leaves with Joe, wondering how her mother will react.
was set to direct and produce the film. Even before, in January, a press report was released in which it was revealed that either Susan Hayward
or Jeanne Crain
was set for the leading role. The role was eventually played by Crain.
Jean Negulesco
later took over the direction. Darryl F. Zanuck
was very enthusiastic about the film, and allowed for the budget to be increased so Negulesco could film additional scenes. Jean Peters
was cast in October 1950. She was given the role by Negulesco after impressing him with her sewing.
By late 1950, the film was the subject to much controversy. Along with another film critical of fraternities and sororities, For Men Only (1951), many sororities in the country protested against the film and pressured the studio, 20th Century Fox
, not to release it. One reviewer noted that "even before the film was made, het-up sorority sisters blasted it like fruit growers protesting The Grapes of Wrath
." Most of the complaints were later dropped due to the publicity it was receiving for the film.
complained that "no hint of the novel's objection to religious or racial prejudice sneaks into the movie."
Crain and Robertson later reprised their roles for a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast.
1951 in film
The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
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...
directed by Jean Negulesco
Jean Negulesco
Jean Negulesco was a Romanian-born American film director and screenwriter....
. The film, shot in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, is based on the 1950 novel of the same name written by Peggy Goodin.
Plot
Liz Erickson (Jeanne CrainJeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
) is a young, naive woman who has recently graduated from high school. Along with her best friend Janet Shaw (Beverly Dennis), she leaves her parental home to join the same college - Midwestern University - where her mother was once a legendary alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
. Liz and Janet dream of being pledged by the elite group of girls who call themselves Tri-U Sorority. Liz thinks that joining a sorority is more important than her education, and is surprised that her fellow roommate Adelaide Swanson (Mitzi Gaynor
Mitzi Gaynor
-Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...
) is not interested in Tri-U.
During her first weeks in college, Liz has no trouble befriending Tri-U's members, including Dallas Prewitt (Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
), Marge Colby (Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn is an American actress. She is best known for playing Thelma Lou in The Andy Griffith Show.-Career:...
), Merry Coombs (Helen Westcott
Helen Westcott
Helen Westcott was an American stage and screen actor and former child actor....
) and Casey Krausse (Carol Brannon). Janet, on the other hand, does not make an impression on the snobbish girls. Neither does shy Ruth Gates (Lenka Peterson
Lenka Peterson
Lenka Peterson is an actress of stage, film and television.On Broadway, Peterson's roles included Ella in Sundown Beach , Maude in The Grass Harp , Kitty in The Time of Your Life , Sally and Mary in All the Way Home , Rose in Nuts , and Sarah in Quilters ,...
), whose mother was a respected Tri-U, but she is - unlike Janet - admitted to the pledge due to her family name. Liz is pledged as well, and feels guilty for seeing her dream come true, while Janet, crushed by the rejection, is leaving the college.
Meanwhile, she meets Joe Blake (Dale Robertson
Dale Robertson
Dayle Lymoine "Dale" Robertson is an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but...
), a senior at college and once a member of the army who is opposed to sororities due to its snobbish cliques. Liz is also pushed by arrogant Dallas to date Chad Carnes (Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
), the most popular fraternity boy whose reputation as a drunken womanizer is not unnoticed by Liz. She initially does not take a liking in him, but Chad wins over her affection and convinces her to help him cheat at an important exam. Her sorority sisters acclaim her as a hero for her actions, but Joe feels disappointed in her lack of ethics.
Soon after, 'Hell Week' begins, which includes humiliating and taking pranks on the new pledges. On insistence of Dallas, Ruth is released from the pledge, while Liz is assigned to make silly errands. She runs into Joe, and agrees to accompany him to a party. Chad also attends this party, and chastises Liz for ignoring her duties. Joe sticks up for her, and gets into a fist fight with Chad. Realizing that Joe is the one she wants to be with, she rejects Chad and returns to Tri-U.
There, she is disgusted to find out that Ruth has been de-pledged. She goes out to look for her, and finds her wondering on the streets. Liz takes Ruth to the hospital, where she is diagnosed with pneumonia. Ashamed for being part of a clique that has done this to Ruth, Liz heads back to Tri-U to return her pin. The girls feel that she is out of her mind for doing this, but Liz castigates them for their hypocrisy and snobbishness. She leaves with Joe, wondering how her mother will react.
Cast
- Jeanne CrainJeanne CrainJeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
as Elizabeth 'Liz' Erickson - Dale RobertsonDale RobertsonDayle Lymoine "Dale" Robertson is an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the role of Jim Hardie in the TV series, Tales of Wells Fargo, and the owner of an incomplete railroad line in ABC's The Iron Horse, often appearing as the deceptively thoughtful but...
as Joe Blake - Mitzi GaynorMitzi Gaynor-Life and career:Gaynor was born as Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber in Chicago, Illinois to Pauline Fisher, a dancer, and Henry von Gerber, a violinist, cellist, and music director. The family first moved to Detroit and when she was eleven to Hollywood, California.She trained as a ballerina...
as Adelaide Swanson - Jean PetersJean PetersJean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
as Dallas Prewitt - Jeffrey HunterJeffrey HunterJeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
as Chad Carnes - Betty LynnBetty LynnBetty Lynn is an American actress. She is best known for playing Thelma Lou in The Andy Griffith Show.-Career:...
as Marge Colby - Helen WestcottHelen WestcottHelen Westcott was an American stage and screen actor and former child actor....
as Merry Coombs - Lenka PetersonLenka PetersonLenka Peterson is an actress of stage, film and television.On Broadway, Peterson's roles included Ella in Sundown Beach , Maude in The Grass Harp , Kitty in The Time of Your Life , Sally and Mary in All the Way Home , Rose in Nuts , and Sarah in Quilters ,...
as Ruth Gates - Carol Brannon as Casey Krausse
- Natalie SchaferNatalie SchaferNatalie Schafer was an American actress, best known as Eunice "Lovey" Wentworth Howell on CBS's sitcom Gilligan's Island .-Early life and career:...
as Mother Cookie Clark - Beverly Dennis as Janet Shaw
- Kathleen HughesKathleen HughesKathleen Hughes is an American film, stage, and television actress from Hollywood, California.Kathleen's ambition as an actress came from two sources. She saw a film with actor Donald O'Connor, which gave her the idea that acting looked like fun. Also, her uncle was playwright F...
as Jenny Barker - Peggy O'Connor as June
- Marjorie Crossland as Olive Erickson
- John LitelJohn LitelJohn Litel was an American film actor. During World War I, Litel enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery....
as John Erickson
Production
In February 1950, it was announced that Anatole LitvakAnatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
was set to direct and produce the film. Even before, in January, a press report was released in which it was revealed that either Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
or Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
was set for the leading role. The role was eventually played by Crain.
Jean Negulesco
Jean Negulesco
Jean Negulesco was a Romanian-born American film director and screenwriter....
later took over the direction. Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
was very enthusiastic about the film, and allowed for the budget to be increased so Negulesco could film additional scenes. Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
was cast in October 1950. She was given the role by Negulesco after impressing him with her sewing.
By late 1950, the film was the subject to much controversy. Along with another film critical of fraternities and sororities, For Men Only (1951), many sororities in the country protested against the film and pressured the studio, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
, not to release it. One reviewer noted that "even before the film was made, het-up sorority sisters blasted it like fruit growers protesting The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962....
." Most of the complaints were later dropped due to the publicity it was receiving for the film.
Reception
The film received generally favorable reviews, although it was discredited by some reviewers for being "too one-sided". In addition, a critic of NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
complained that "no hint of the novel's objection to religious or racial prejudice sneaks into the movie."
Crain and Robertson later reprised their roles for a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast.