Invitation ** (1952, Dorothy McGuire, Van Johnson, Ruth Roman, Louis Calhern) – Classic Movie Review 12,173

Director Gottfried Reinhardt’s extravagant 1952 black and white romantic drama Invitation stars Dorothy McGuire, Van Johnson, Ruth Roman, and Louis Calhern. It is ‘The Story of a Borrowed Love!’

Invitation is a soppy but sleek MGM studios weepie in which rich, over-loving father Simon Bowker (Louis Calhern) pays Dan Pierce (Van Johnson) to marry his apparently dying daughter Ellen (Dorothy McGuire). Naturally, the young wife’s trust in her husband crumbles when she discovers the secret.

Ruth Roman plays a bitchy, other-woman type of role, as Maud Redwick.

It is contrived, daft stuff, but there is a pleasant cast giving pleasing performances, with McGuire quite touching and Ruth Roman excellent in a bitchy, other-woman type of role, as Maud Redwick. The actors all seem to believe every word of it, and the grand studio production makes a remarkably handsome-looking film of it.

The popular Bronislau Kaper piano theme music was first heard two years earlier in MGM’s in A Life of Her Own. As ‘Invitation’, it became a jazz standard, associated with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson.

The screenplay is by Paul Osborn, based on the short story R.S.V.P. by Jerome Weidman.

Also in the cast are Ray Collins, Michael Chekhov, Lisa Golm, Diane Cassidy, Stapleton Kent, Barbara Ruick, Norman Feld, Matt Moore, Pat Conway [Patrick Conway], Alex Gerry, Lucille Curtis, and Barbara Billingsley as Simon’s Secretary Miss Alvy.

Invitation is directed by Gottfried Reinhardt, runs 84 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Paul Osborn, based on the short story R.S.V.P. by Jerome Weidman, is shot in black and white by Ray June, is produced by Lawrence Weingarten, is scored by Bronislau Kaper, and is designed by Cedric Gibbons and Urie McClearie.

The film cost $1,020,000 and earned $1,455,000, yet resulting in a loss of $178,000.

The cast are Van Johnson as Dan Pierce [Daniel I Pierce], Dorothy McGuire as Ellen Bowker Pierce, Ruth Roman as Maud Redwick Louis Calhern as Simon Bowker, Ray Collins as Dr Warren Pritchard, Michael Chekhov as Dr Fromm, Lisa Golm as the maid Agnes, Barbara Ruick as Sarah, Norman Feld as the chauffeur Arthur, Matt Moore as the butler Paul, Pat Conway as Bill, Alex Gerry as Professor Redwick, Lucille Curtis as Mrs Redwick, Diane Cassidy, Stapleton Kent, and Barbara Billingsley as Simon’s Secretary Miss Alvy.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,173

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