THE SUN COMES UP

The Sun Comes Up


MGM, 1949, Color, 93 minutes, ***

General release May, 1949



When concert singer Helen Winter's son is killed in an accident, she takes time out from her tour to get away from it all. She rents a house in the Georgia mountains where she meets Jerry, an orphan (Claude Jarman). She becomes friends with the boy, and their feelings for each other grow, but their pride gets in the way and won't allow them to admit to each other that they need each other. Fine acting all around. Percy Kilbride's country psychology is especially entertaining. Somehow, the film falls a bit short of the warmth it seems to be striving for. But it's an entertaining outing with Jeanette in her final film.



This is a nice little film. It is pleasant and easy-going, and from today's perspective a bit sad in that it was Jeanette MacDonald's final film. One could say that her talents were wasted here, but it was a sweet goodbye to one of the greatest legends of the silver screen. The story is somewhat of a tearjerker, but it's brightened by Percy Kilbride and Margaret Hamilton's outstanding portrayals of quirky characters. Claude Jarman pulls his role off perfectly, and of course Jeanette does as well. Definitely worth watching!



Produced by: Robert Sisk

Directed by: Richard Thorpe

Screen Play by: William Ludwig and Margaret Fitts

Based on the Novel: "Mountain Prelude" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings)

Musical Score:: André Previn

Art Directors:: Cedric Gibbons and Randall Duell

Special Effects: Warren Newcombe

Set Decorations: Edwin B. Willis

Associate: Hugh Hunt

Miss MacDonald's Costumes by: Irene

Make-Up Created by: Jack Dawn

Recording Director: Douglas Shearer

Special Effects: Warren Newcombe

Director of Photography: Ray June

Color by: Technicolor

Technicolor Color Director: Natalie Kalmus

Associate: James Gooch

Film Editor: Irvine Warburton



Cast: Jeanette MacDonald [Helen Lorfield Winter], Lloyd Nolan [Thomas I. Chandler], Claude Jarman, Jr. [Jerry], Lewis Stone [Arthur Norton], Percy Kilbride [Mr. Willie B. Williegoode], Nicholas Joy [Victor Alvord], Margaret Hamilton [Mrs. Golightly], Hope Landin [Mrs. Pope, Orphanage Matron], Esther Somers [Susan], Lassie [Lassie], Additional Cast: Dwayne Hickman [Hank Winter], Teddy Infuhr [Junebug], Peter Roman [Love], Mickey McGuire [Cleaver], Tim Hawkins, Alan Dinehart, III, Michael Dill, Charles Bates Perry, Jimmy Crane, Robert Beyers [Orphans], Barbara Billingsley [Nurse], Charles Trowbridge [Dr. Gage], John Butler [Doorman], Ida Moore [Sally], Paul E. Burns [Dr. Sample], Guy Wilkerson [Man], Jessie Arnold [Woman], Henry Sylvester, John Beck, Edward Peil, Sr., Frank Pharr [Bits], A. Cameron Grant, John Sheffield, Douglas Carter, Wilson Wood, Barry Norton [Music Lovers], Cy Stevens, Cosmo Sardo, Stuart Holmes, George Calliga, Albert Pollet, Ed Agresti [Musicians], Cecil Stewart [Accompanist]



Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:02] Tes Yeux ("Thine Eyes") (sung by Jeanette MacDonald, interrupted by her son and Lassie, but continued at 0:04); [0:06] Un bel di, vedremo (from the opera MADAMA BUTTERFLY, sung by Jeanette MacDonald); [0:22] Cousin Ebeneezer (played on harmonica by Claude Jarman, Jr. onscreen); [0:33] Als die Alte Mutter ("Songs My Mother Taught Me") (excerpt sung in German by Jeanette MacDonald); [0:36] Songs My Mother Taught Me (sung in English by Jeanette MacDonald to Claude Jarman, Jr.); [0:44] Cousin Ebeneezer (sung by Jeanette MacDonald and the Orphans); [1:13] If You Were Mine ("Romance") (sung by Jeanette MacDonald)