jjnxn-1 This was John Garfield's introduction to the public and along with Doris Day in Romance on the High Seas and Katharine Hepburn in A Bill of Divorcement one of those instances where in just one role an unknown makes the leap to full fledged star by sheer force of personality and talent. The film itself is an enjoyable enough comedy/drama of four sisters and their various travails but is faulted by the miscasting of the male lead. All four of the women are supposedly swept away by love for Jeffrey Lynn's character Felix. The problem being that while he is very handsome he is beyond bland making the attraction of all four a puzzler. This is especially true as soon as Garfield's Mickey shows up loaded with bruised charisma to burn and pulling the focus of the story to him without even trying. Even though he and Priscilla Lane, in the first of several pairings, are supposed to be mismatched they make far more sense together than she and Felix. That bit of miscasting aside the film does offer two very fine actors, Claude Rains and May Robson, as the heads of the family, they inject a great deal of pleasure into their scenes. As far as the sisters go it's easy to see why Priscilla had the biggest career. She has a certain quality that the others are missing although they aren't bad just unexceptional. Lola is a bit out of place, she was always better when playing a hard luck dame. Her look was more suited to those parts. Of course Gale Page wasn't really one of their real life sisters but favors them enough to be believable but both she and Rosemary don't really stand out. Good of its type but without Garfield in the cast this would be forgotten.

wes-connors The musically inclined "Four Daughters" of the title are charmed by the arrival of composer Jeffrey Lynn (as Felix Deitz), who seems most taken with pretty blonde Priscilla Lane (as Ann Lemp). A marriage seems probable, but gruff pianist John Garfield (as Mickey Borden) is also in love with Ms. Lane... Original writer Fannie Hurst's "Sister Act" would have been better a better title as this film is mostly about Lane's "Ann" character, and her courtship by Mr. Lynn and Mr. Garfield. The screenplay is too obvious, but the production really excels in the direction by Michael Curtiz. He gets a responsive cast to convey believable emotions with words, posturing, and fleeting glances; orchestrated to elicit feelings and relationships we've all experienced.******** Four Daughters (8/9/38) Michael Curtiz ~ Priscilla Lane, John Garfield, Jeffrey Lynn, Claude Rains

preppy-3 Story about a widowed father (Claude Rains) bringing up his four daughters. Emma (Gale Page) is loved by big hunky Ernest (Dick Foran). Thea (Lola Lane) is romanced by an old but wealthy man. Kay (Rosemary Lane) wants to become a singer. Ann (Priscilla Lane) is a romantic. Drop dead handsome Felix Deitz (Jeffrey Lynn), a business associate of their father, comes to stay with them. All the sisters fall in love with him. Then tough cynical Mickey (John Garfield) enters the picture...Very entertaining movie was a big hit and nominated for five Academy Awards. It's beautifully directed by Michael Curitz, has a pretty good (if predictable) script and a VERY attractive cast (especially Lynn). Also this was John Garfield's first film and made him a star. This was so popular there were three or four sequels (which I never saw). This is an engrossing, entertaining, big budget soap opera--well worth seeing.

Eric Chapman Lovingly crafted and terribly interesting to watch Garfield's gritty, breakthrough performance (introducing a new kind of rebellious acting style that would carry over to the Brandos and Clifts and so on after the war) but all that sisterly affection is a bit suffocating. Priscilla Lane is a bright, engaging performer but the other sisters don't really register (though they're all allowed to be tart and witty) and I just had a hard time buying any of the other male characters besides Garfield. Jeffrey Lynn is a pleasant enough actor, but he lacks the movie star weight to match up with Garfield's hard luck Mickey Borden and that throws the film a bit out of whack. (Imagine a Jimmy Stewart or someone in the part.) Also, I was not convinced that Garfield would make the pivotal (to say the least) final decision that he made. The film needed another half hour of running time to better explain that action; it feels awfully rushed and under-motivated.Still, it's not hard to understand how anybody who grew up with this picture would remember it fondly. It falls short of being a classic, but it does contain a few classic moments. The two gate swinging scenes are pure movie magic.