Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1944 American comedy/romance film starring Simone Simon, James Ellison, William Terry, and featuring Robert Mitchum in an early role. Produced by King Brothers Productions, it was co-written by Philip Yordan and directed by the German-American director Joe May, and constitutes the final film directed by Joe May.[1] It was based on a short story purchased by the King Brothers.[2]

Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Directed byJoe May
Produced byMaurice King (producer)
Frank King (associate producer)
Written byAlice Means Reeve (original story)
CinematographyIra H. Morgan
Distributed byMonogram Pictures
Release date
  • July 8, 1944 (1944-07-08)
Running time
79 min.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A young defense worker Kathie Aumont (Simone Simon) comes to Washington, D.C. only to find that her friend Sally, with whom she was going to live, is newly married. This leaves Kathie with nowhere to sleep. Luckily she falls in love with a newly inducted Marine, who gives her the key to his apartment. Unluckily he's also given keys to all his friends.

The wartime housing shortage in various large urban areas was a recurrent subject for American comedies during World War II. This film was distinctive in that it was a comedy-fantasy. On a train headed from her home province of Quebec to New York City at the film's beginning, Kathie accidentally spills salt. Deeply superstitious, she believes this condemns her to seven weeks of bad luck. She is correct, as she is thereafter pursued by a mischievous "Bad Luck Gremlin named B.O. Rumpelstilzken (Jeremy Maren, voiced by an uncredited Mel Blanc) whom only she can see who does things such as tamper with her alarm clock.

The film's interest and charm derives in large part from its extremely varied cast of supporting players. Although Robert Mitchum's role in the film has come to be emphasized for marketing purposes, he was not yet a star and only appears in the last twenty minutes or so of the movie. Horror film staple Rondo Hatton speaks no lines and gets a laugh merely by appearing on screen briefly in a surprise appearance. Billy Laughlin, playing a child who lives in Simon's apartment building, was far better known at the time as "Froggy" in the Our Gang shorts, his only other film work.

Cast

References
  1. Turner Classic Movies
  2. "Of Local Origin". New York Times. July 3, 1943. p. 11.
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