One of Michael Curtiz’s less distinguished films, I’ll See You in My Dreams is a musical biopic, starring Doris Day and Danny Thomas lyricist Gus Kahn.
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Theatrical release poster
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This conventional biopic of lyricist Gus Kahn contains several of his popular songs, including the title song.
The story, which suppresses Kahn’s Jewish origins, is told from the point of view of Kahn’s wife Grace, who was still alive when the film was made (Kahn died some ten years earlier).
I’ll See You in My Dreams was a big hit, Warner’s second-highest-grossing film of 1952.
Warner reteamed Curtiz and Thomas in the 25th-anniversary remake of the first talking film, The Jazz Singer (1927), with Thomas in the Al Jolson role, The Jazz Singer.
Gus Kahn (Danny Thomas), a prolific tunesmith meets and falls in love with Grace LeBoy (Doris Day). Kahn’s career ascends to spectacular heights via such hits as “Pretty Baby,” “My Buddy,” “Toot, Toot, Tootsie,” and “Makin’ Whoopee,”
His career all but vanished, when he lost his savings in the 1929 stock-market crash.
Cast
Doris Day as Grace LeBoy Kahn
Danny Thomas as Gus Kahn
Frank Lovejoy as Walter Donaldson
Patrice Wymore as Gloria Knight (singing voice dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams)
James Gleason as Fred Thompson
Mary Wickes as Anna
Julie Oshins as Johnny Martin
Jim Backus as Sam Harris
Minna Gombell as Mrs. LeBoy
Harry Antrim as Mr. LeBoy
William Forrest as Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Credits:
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Produced by Louis F. Edelman
Screenplay by Jack Rose and Melville Shavelson, based on The Gus Kahn Story
book by Louis F. Edelman and Grace Kahn
Music by Gus Kahn
Cinematography Ted D. McCord (b/w)
Edited by Owen Marks
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date: December 6, 1951
Running time: 110 minutes
Box office $2.9 million (US rentals)
Note:
TCM showed the movie on March 8, 2021.