Take Her, She's Mine

Take Her, She's Mine is a 1963 American comedy film starring James Stewart and Sandra Dee based on the 1961 Broadway comedy written by Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron. The film was directed by Henry Koster with a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson. It features an early film score by prolific composer Jerry Goldsmith.[3] The character of Mollie, played by Elizabeth Ashley on Broadway and in the film by Sandra Dee, was based on the then 22-year-old Nora Ephron. Ashley's performance won her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play and served as the launchpad for her career.

Take Her, She's Mine
Lobby card
Directed byHenry Koster
Produced byHenry Koster
Written byNunnally Johnson
Based onplay by Henry Ephron
Phoebe Ephron
StarringJames Stewart
Sandra Dee
Music byJerry Goldsmith
CinematographyLucien Ballard
Edited byMarjorie Fowler
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
November 13, 1963
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,435,000[1]
Box officeest. $3,400,000 (US/ Canada)[2]

Premise

A Los Angeles attorney is overprotective toward his teenage daughter as she leaves home to go to college and study art abroad in Paris. Concerned over the letters she has written home describing her beatnik friends and activist beliefs, he boards a plane to investigate her living situation. Comical situations ensue.

Cast

Original Play

The film was based on a popular play with Art Carney. It was written by Henry and Phoebe Ephron based on Phoebe's correspondence with their daughter Nora when the latter was at college. They wrote the script in six weeks and sent it to their agent. Both Josh Logan and Hal Prince wanted to produce it; the Ephrons decided to go with Prince as Logan wanted big stars.[5]

Production

Film rights were bought by 20th Century Fox who hired Nunnally Johnson to write the script. Johnson submitted a draft, but Fox was taken over by Darryl F. Zanuck. Zanuck demanded Johnson rewrite the script so that the last act would be set in Paris, giving the film more international appeal.[6] Johnson later called it "a very lousy third act, all taken on the back lot and the French didn't understand that any more than the Americans either, by that time. But he (Zanuck) insisted on it."[7]

Reception

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $6,100,000 in film rentals to break even and made $5 million, resulting in a loss.[8]

References
  • Johnson, Nunnally (1969). Recollections of Nunnally Johnson oral history transcript. University of California Oral History Program.

Notes
  1. Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p253
  2. "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
  3. Clemmensen, Christian. Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) tribute at Filmtracks.com. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  4. To Michaelson's annoyance, people repeatedly mistake him for "that, uh, actor" James Stewart. He laments that this has been happening "ever since Mr. Smith Goes to Washington came out."
  5. Ephron, Henry (1977). We thought we could do anything : the life of screenwriters Phoebe and Henry Ephron. Norton. p. 196-197.
  6. Johnson p 367-368
  7. Johnson p 369
  8. Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 323.


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