Centennial Summer *** (1946, Jeanne Crain, Cornel Wilde, Linda Darnell, William Eythe, Walter Brennan, Constance Bennett, Dorothy Gish) -Classic Movie Review 11,946

Producer-director Otto Preminger’s 1946 film Centennial Summer is based on a novel by Albert E Idell, and stars Jeanne Crain, Cornel Wilde, Linda Darnell, William Eythe, Walter Brennan, Constance Bennett, and Dorothy Gish.

Centennial Summer is a nice, cosy and comfy 20th Century Fox Technicolor musical comedy about a family and the Great Exposition celebrating the US Centennial of 1876 in Philadelphia. It is Fox’s reply to MGM’s 1944 hit Meet Me in St Louis.

Crain and Darnell star as sisters Julia and Edith Rogers growing up in Philadelphia in the 1870s, who are both strangely wild about the irritating Wilde, as a Frenchman called Philippe Lascalle, whose job it is to prepare the pavilion for the Centennial Exposition. But oldsters Brennan and Gish (as the sisters’ parents Mr and Mrs Rogers) and Bennett as Zenia Lascalles are far more interesting. This well-produced film cannot boast much in the way of story, and, with some dreary dialogue, the actors are hard pressed to give it the charm it needs, while the cynical Preminger was scarcely the right choice as director.

The highlight is definitely the tuneful songs from Jerome Kern (his final score) with lyrics by E Y Harburg, Leo Robin and Oscar Hammerstein II, including the Oscar-nominated showstopper ‘All Through the Day’, ‘In Love in Vain’, ‘The Right Romance’ and ‘Up with the Lark’.

You would think they would have cast singers in the star roles, but no! Jeanne Crain’s singing voice was dubbed by Louanne Hogan, Cornel Wilde’s singing voice was dubbed by Ben Gage and Linda Darnell’s singing voice was dubbed by Kay St Germain Wells.

Also in the cast are Barbara Whiting, Larry Stevens, Kathleen Howard, Buddy Swann [Buddy Swan], Charles Dingle, Eddie Dunn and Lois Austin.

It had two Oscar nominations: for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture (Alfred Newman) and Best Original Song ‘All Through the Day’, written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Kern’s nomination was posthumous as he died on 11 November 1945.

The cast are Jeanne Crain as Julia Rogers, Cornel Wilde as Philippe Lascalles, Linda Darnell as Edith Rogers, William Eythe as Ben Phelps, Walter Brennan as Jesse Rogers, Constance Bennett as Zenia Lascalles, Dorothy Gish as Mrs Rogers, Barbara Whiting as Susanna Rogers, Larry Stevens as Richard Lewis, Kathleen Howard as Deborah, Buddy Swan as Dudley Rogers, Charles Dingle as J.P. Snodgrass, Avon Long as Specialty Dancer Cinderella Sue, Gavin Gordon as Railway president Mr Trowbridge, Reginald Sheffield as President Ulysses S Grant, Eddie Dunn and Lois Austin.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,946

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