Everybody Does It *** (1949, Paul Douglas, Celeste Holm, Linda Darnell, Charles Coburn) – Classic Movie Review 11,937

Director Edmund Goulding’s 1949 20th Century Fox black and white film Everybody Does It stars Paul Douglas, Celeste Holm, Linda Darnell and Charles Coburn. Undeservedly, a forgotten star and a forgotten film but it was a different world when Paul Douglas became a star. It is based on a story by James M Cain, who is not forgotten thanks to his thriller works.

While businessman Leonard Borland (Douglas) helps his wife Doris Blair Borland (Holm) to become an opera star, failing miserably because of her lack of talent, he meets successful opera singer Cecil Carver (Darnell), who tells him he has a great singing voice himself. Leonard and Cecil share a passionate kiss, and she assigns him to her production. Doris becomes furious when it turns out that the untrained Leonard indeed has a marvellous singing voice and goes on tour under the name of Logan Bennett.

Everybody Does It is an entertaining, well-done sophisticated comedy, with a funny script, bright handling and much good acting, led by a particularly charismatic Douglas performance.

It is a remake of Wife, Husband and Friend, with Nunnally Johnson rewriting his original script, based on a James M Cain story. Malcolm St Clair is an uncredited contributing writer.

Darnell sings stretches of an imaginary opera, L’Amore di Fatima, whose music is written by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Douglas sings some well-known songs, including a musical setting of the Rudyard Kipling poem Mandalay and the Toreador Song from Carmen. The opera scenes are staged by Vladimir Rosing.

James M Cain, noted for his mystery novels, was paid $8,000 for the film rights to his story Two Can Sing.

Paul Douglas and Linda Darnell appeared together in two other films: A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and The Guy Who Came Back (1951).

The Screen Guild Theater broadcast a 30-minute radio adaptation on 2 March 1950, also with Paul Douglas and Linda Darnell.

It is the final film of Jane Hamilton (as secretary, uncredited).

Paul Douglas is best remembered for two baseball comedy movies, It Happens Every Spring (1949) and Angels in the Outfield (1951), as well as Panic in the Streets, A Letter to Three Wives (1949), The Big Lift (1950), When in Rome (1952) The Maggie (1954), and Executive Suite (1954).

Paul Douglas Fleischer (April 11, 1907 − September 11, 1959).

The main cast are Paul Douglas as Leonard Borland (aka Logan Bennett), Linda Darnell as Cecil Carver, Celeste Holm as Doris Borland, Charles Coburn as Major Blair, Millard Mitchell as Mike Craig, Lucile Watson as Mrs. Blair, John Hoyt as Wilkins, Leon Belasco as Professor Hugo, George Tobias as Rossi, Tito Vuolo, Geraldine Wall, Ruth Gillette, Gilbert Russell, Aubrey Mather, and Jane Hamilton.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 11,937

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