bombersflyup Casanova Brown is an extremely dated and unfunny comedy with a great cast.Sam Wood like this film, directed "The Pride of the Yankees" with these two great leads which I love and I'm completely shocked this collaboration produced such nothingness. Much like "Bringing Up Baby" with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, but that had plenty more going for it than this. It isn't just dated though, it is not of this world, no base point with which to stand. The scene where Cass goes to the Maternity Hospital started out funny, him just doing what he is told without asking what is going on or getting up, like there is a mix-up as he just said I'm Brown, but then it is just a medical examination and that was suppose to happen.

blanche-2 "Casanova Brown" is a 1944 comedy, based on a play that ran on Broadway. Apparently Warner Brothers filmed this story something like two times previously. In those days, the studios many times would do an "A" movie and then do it again as a "B" movie. This apparently is an RKO movie.I can't believe if it was done so many times, no one bothered to fix the script.The play was done in 1929, but this was 1944. I don't suppose it occurred to anyone to mention World War II.Gary Cooper plays Cas Brown, who is about to marry Madge Ferris (Anita Louise), receives a letter from a maternity hospital in Chicago. It really doesn't say anything, just that he should contact a certain doctor. Nervous, he confides in his father-in-law to be (Frank Morgan) that he had been married previously, very briefly, to Isabel (Teresa Wright). Her parents had it annulled because she did not have their consent. However, this all took place in New York, not Chicago.Mystified, Cas heads for Chicago before his wedding. When he arrives at the hospital, he finds out that his former wife has given birth to his child, a girl, and is giving the baby up for adoption. He falls in love with the baby the minute he sees her (and who wouldn't - she's adorable). In a panic, he kidnaps her and goes to a hotel. Enlisting the help of a maid there, he cares for the baby while everyone looks for him.The film had some very funny moments but the script was not tight. No war, as I mentioned, but also, I don't know my adoption law for every state, but wouldn't the father have had to sign off on the adoption as well? The baby wasn't illegitimate. The other problem is that Cas seems to just forget about his wedding, which was to take place I believe the day after he went to Chicago. We don't really find out the effects of that. And what about the adoptive parents? It's mentioned the baby was going to a great family, but there's no mention of them either.Still, it's a pleasant and occasionally fun film with a scene that is probably one of the best ever. Wright's mother is her mother in Shadow of a Doubt, Patricia Collinge. Her character is batty, a believer in astrology and a strict code of behavior which includes no smoking. After they elope, Isabel brings Cas to meet her family. He takes a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and when Isabel's mother disapproves, he says someone gave him the pack. Then she says worse than a smoker is a liar. To cover the fact that he was smoking, Cas has a cigarette in his suit jacket pocket which starts to burn. Ultimately he burns their house down. I'm talking razed to the ground. It's absolutely hilarious. If only the whole movie had been like that.Excellent performances from all involved, with Frank Morgan playing a curmudgeon very well. Cooper is incredibly handsome and delightful as the determined father, and Teresa Wright is lovely as the conflicted mother. Collinge is a riot.I recommend this - it doesn't deserve all the bad reviews. It's not great but it's far from awful. And who can beat tall, dimpled Cooper and that baby?

Jeff Moczygemba There are a lot of negative reviews for this movie. But I have to disagree with most of them. While it is not the best movie you will ever see it is not as bad as everyone says it is. Gary Cooper is one of his lovable characters that he always is. While sure nowadays this movie would seem almost criminal but the movie not meant to be taken seriously it is a comedy. There is no amazing performances or outstanding direction. But their is something lovable about Cooper's character. I saw a review once that said this was a pathetic attempt at screwball comedy. Well I have to say that is a little harsh I can think of at least 5-10 movies that are worse at screwball comedies than this. So in my opinion don't skip this one you might just enjoy it.

bkoganbing Gary Cooper in the first half of the Forties made four films for director Sam Wood. Three of them were big budget items, Pride of the Yankees, For Whom The Bells Toll, and Saratoga Trunk. The fourth is a pleasant and innocuous little comedy called Casanova Brown.The film was adapted by Floyd Dell who wrote the novel and play it was based on called Accidental Father. It had previously been filmed twice by Warner Brothers and once by the French cinema. It ran on Broadway in the 1929 season and probably got closed with the stock market crash.All the names were changed in this adaption, but the plot line remained essentially the same. Gary Cooper is about to get married to Anita Louise when he gets a cryptic note from Teresa Wright. He confides in Anita's father, Frank Morgan who is a fellow colleague at the college where Cooper is an English professor. Morgan also seems to function more as a western sidekick for Cooper than a father of the bride for Louise.Cooper's little secret is that he was ever so briefly married to Teresa Wright. Her cryptic note says he should go to a maternity hospital in Chicago and see a certain doctor there. Cooper of course arrives at some logical conclusions. Teresa of course has an agenda of her own and I can't say too much more as both women fight for Cooper. Of course with that baby, Ms. Wright definitely has the upper hand.Casanova Brown was the second of two films Cooper and Wright did together, the first being the highly acclaimed Pride of the Yankees. This film isn't anything like the epic story of Lou Gehrig, but it is definitely a pleasant enough diversion. It's an opportunity to see Frank Morgan in a rare appearance outside the MGM studio. He has some very good moments in Casanova Brown as Cooper's confidante.However Casanova Brown has one claim to immortality. There is a flashback sequence where Cooper is telling Morgan about the relationship with Wright. After they've eloped Wright brings Cooper to meet her parents who are played by Edmond Breon and Patricia Collinge. Collinge is a believer in astrology and no smoking. Cooper in an effort to hide the fact he smoked a cigarette in their house, manages to burn their house down. It is one of the most hilarious things ever put on film.The rest of the film is good and entertaining, but it doesn't match up to that scene. See Casanova Brown for that alone.