Friday, March 16, 2012

So Goes My Love(1946).


So Goes My Love(1946). Directed by Frank Ryan. Cast: Myrna Loy, Don Ameche. Comedy based on A Genius in the Family, the memoir of Hiram Percy Maxim, and focusing on the relationship between Maxim and his father, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim.



Jane Budden, looking for husband, takes the money from selling the family pigs and travels south to Brooklyn, to follow her dreams. On her way to visit her cousin, Garnet Allison, Jane meets the eccentric handsome, Hiram Stevens Maxim, a poor inventor.

Garnet, invites several of the local matrons to her home to help Jane, find a suitable husband. They become concerned, when she says she does not really care who she marries just as long as he is, intelligent and wealthy. Hiram's landlady Mrs. Meade, warns him of the "designing woman" who is his new neighbor. Hiram, with flowers in hand, goes to visit Jane, to ask about why she moved to Brooklyn .

The next day,  smoke is seen coming from Mrs. Meade's boardinghouse. The volunteer fire brigade, arrives but are unable to find the source of the smoke, which was caused from a curling iron, Hiram's latest invention.

Jane, soon becomes popular with many of the young men and while dancing, she notices Hiram, saying negative comments on each of her potential suitors. Especially, on Josephus, who, is a wealthy lawyer. When, Hiram attends Jane and Josephus, engagement party uninvited and predicts she will never be happy with Josephus. Hiram's predictions begin to become true when, Josephus asks Jane to sign a pre-wedding contract and how he expects her to behave. Jane, breaks off their engagement and goes looking Hiram and proposes to him. He accepts after warning her that he is poor and has nothing to offer her.

Soon, they have a son Percy and Hiram's inventions begin to become successful. The House of Science decides to honor Hiram as inventor and engineer of the times and ask that he sit for a formal portrait.

Jane, now pregnant with their second child, wants to see Hiram's picture along side other world famous inventors, but Hiram refuses. Jane hires a scatterbrained artist, Magel, to come to the house to do the portrait.

While Hiram's is having his portrait painted.. Jane, is chasing after Percy's dog who is wearing the new babies bonnet, falls and becomes seriously ill. Will Jane and the new baby recover?

I just finished watching this charming film. Ameche and Loy do a wonderful job with their light comedy roles, so much so that I could almost ignore that they were too old for the parts they were playing.


The Universal International back lot was used for the wagon ride scene. The two houses used in the film were constructed on stage 12. In 1950, the stock units from the sound stage sets were reconstructed on the new colonial street. The "Maxim house" was used in the movie " One Desire" (1955) and the "Allison Home" used in the movie "Harvey" (1950) In 1964 Universal studios tour guides called the sets the "Munster House" (Maxim house) and the "Harvey house" . Today the sets are located on Wisteria Lane - 4349 Wisteria Lane (Allison Home) - 4351 Wisteria Lane (Maxim house)

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