I Dream of Jeanie (film) - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from I Dream of Jeanie (1952 film)) 1952 film by Allan Dwan For other uses, see I Dream of Jeannie (disambiguation).

I Dream of Jeanie
Film poster
Directed by	Allan Dwan
Written by	Alan Le May (screenplay)
Starring	Bill Shirley Muriel Lawrence Ray Middleton Lynn Bari
Cinematography	Reggie Lanning
Edited by	Fred Allen
Music by	Robert Armbruster
Production company	Republic Pictures
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date	June 15, 1952 (1952-06-15) (United States)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

I Dream of Jeanie is a 1952 American historical musical film based on the songs and life of Stephen Foster, who wrote the 1854 song "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" from which the title is taken. The film was directed by Allan Dwan for Republic Pictures and was shot in Trucolor.

The film is also known as I Dream of Jeanie (with the Light Brown Hair).

Plot

In 1849, the song "Oh, Susannah" is a nationwide hit, but bookkeeper Stephen Foster has given his work to several music houses free of charge and without credit. His refined true love Inez McDowell, a classically trained singer, despises popular music, especially Stephen's songs. Foster's world changes when Edwin P. Christy educates him about the music business and launches his career as the author of the songs that the Christy Minstrels sing in their shows.

Cast

Ray Middleton as Edwin P. Christy
Bill Shirley as Stephen Foster
Muriel Lawrence as Inez McDowell
Eileen Christy as Jeanie McDowell
Rex Allen as Mr Tambo / Rex Allen / Narrator
Lynn Bari as Mrs. McDowell
Dick Simmons as Dunning Foster
Scott Elliott as Milford Wilson
Andrew Tombes as R.E. Howard
James Dobson as Spike
Percy Helton as Mr. Horker
Glen Turnbull as Glenn Turnbull / Speciality Dancer
Louise Beavers as Mammy
James Kirkwood as Doctor
Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as Freddie
Fred Moultrie as Chitlin

Soundtrack

All songs written by Stephen Foster unless otherwise indicated:

"Oh! Susanna"
"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair"
"On Wings of Song" (written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy)
"Lo, Hear the Gentle Lark" (music by H.R. Bishop, words by William Shakespeare from Venus and Adonis)
"Nelly Bly"
"My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night"
"Ring de Banjo"
"Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)"
"Beautiful Dreamer"
"Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming"
"Gwine to Rune All Night (De Camptown Races)"
"Queen of Mirth"
"Haunting My Dreams at Night"
"You Must Wear a Dainty Ribbon in Your Hair"
"Old Black Joe"
"Glendy Burke"
"I Can Still See Her in My Dreams"
"Old Dog Tray"

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Oscar Godbout wrote:

he music, with its universal appeal, was not enough for the creators of this bogus biography; the author of the script, Alan LeMay, with the director, Allan Dwan, succumbed to an urge to skewer the tunes with a vapid tale of the young musician being thwarted in love. They show him as a shallow, brainless bookkeeper who tinkered with tunes when he wasn't debasing himself before a supercilious Southern belle who would have him only if he stopped writing songs. That's the Stephen Foster Bill Shirley is forced to portray. ... But the songs are appealing and Mr. Middleton's portrayal of a famous minstrel compensates for much of the dullness.

References

Film title card. "I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (1952)", Internet Archive. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
Godbout, Oscar (June 26, 1952). "The Screen: Life of Stephen Foster". The New York Times. p. 26.

External links

v t e Stephen Foster
List of songs
Songs	Minstrel songs Angelina Baker (1850) Camptown Races (1850) The Glendy Burk (1860) My Old Kentucky Home (1853) Oh! Susanna (1848) Ring, Ring de Banjo (1851) Old Folks at Home (Swanee River) (1851) Massa's in De Cold Ground (1852) Parlor songs Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway Open Thy Lattice Love Beautiful Dreamer (1864) Hard Times Come Again No More (1854) Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (1854) Old Black Joe (1853) Willie Has Gone to War (1862)
History and biographers	The Stephen Foster Collection and archive Morrison Foster Horace Waters Harold Vincent Milligan Henrietta Crosman Evelyn Foster Morneweck
Films, musicals, recordings	Films Harmony Lane I Dream of Jeanie Swanee River Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (anime) Musicals Stephen Foster - The Musical Hard Times Recordings Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster
State Parks	My Old Kentucky Home State Park Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park Stephen C. Foster State Park
Family	Jane Foster Wiley (wife) Marion Foster Welch (daughter) William Foster (father) Eliza Foster (mother) Morrison Foster (brother)
Related	Stephen Foster Handicap Stephen Foster Memorial Stephen Foster Memorial Day Stephen Foster (sculpture) Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar

v t e Films directed by Allan Dwan
1910s	Woman's Honor (1913) Calamity Anne's Vanity (1913) Quicksands (1913) The Greater Love (1913) Her Big Story (1913) The Restless Spirit (1913) Back to Life (1913) Red Margaret, Moonshiner (1913) Bloodhounds of the North (1913) The Lie (1914) The Honor of the Mounted (1914) Remember Mary Magdalen (1914) Discord and Harmony (1914) The Menace to Carlotta (1914) The Embezzler (1914) The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf (1914) The End of the Feud (1914) The Tragedy of Whispering Creek (1914) The Unlawful Trade (1914) The Forbidden Room (1914) The Hopes of Blind Alley (1914) Richelieu (1914) The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch (1914) Wildflower (1914) The County Chairman (1914) The Straight Road (1914) The Conspiracy (1914) The Dancing Girl (1915) A Small Town Girl (1915) David Harum (1915) The Love Route (1915) The Commanding Officer (1915) May Blossom (1915) The Pretty Sister of Jose (1915) A Girl of Yesterday (1915) Jordan Is a Hard Road (1915) The Habit of Happiness (1916) The Good Bad-Man (1916) An Innocent Magdalene (1916) Manhattan Madness (1916) Fifty-Fifty (1916) Accusing Evidence (1916) Fighting Odds (1917) A Modern Musketeer (1917) Panthea (1917) Headin' South (1918) Mr. Fix-It (1918) Bound in Morocco (1918) He Comes Up Smiling (1918) Cheating Cheaters (1919) Soldiers of Fortune (1919)
1920s	The Luck of the Irish (1920) The Scoffer (1920) The Forbidden Thing (1920) A Splendid Hazard (1920) A Perfect Crime (1921) The Sin of Martha Queed (1921) A Broken Doll (1921) The Hidden Woman (1922) Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (1922) Lawful Larceny (1923) Zaza (1923) Big Brother (1923) A Society Scandal (1924) Manhandled (1924) Her Love Story (1924) Wages of Virtue (1924) Argentine Love (1924) The Coast of Folly (1925) Night Life of New York (1925) Stage Struck (1925) Sea Horses (1926) Padlocked (1926) Tin Gods (1926) Summer Bachelors (1926) The Music Master (1927) The Joy Girl (1927) East Side, West Side (1927) French Dressing (1927) The Big Noise (1928) The Iron Mask (1929) Tide of Empire (1929) The Far Call (1929) Frozen Justice (1929) South Sea Rose (1929)
1930s	What a Widow! (1930) Man to Man (1930) Chances (1931) Wicked (1931) While Paris Sleeps (1932) Her First Affaire (1932) Counsel's Opinion (1933) I Spy (1934) Black Sheep (1935) Navy Wife (1935) Song and Dance Man (1936) Human Cargo (1936) High Tension (1936) 15 Maiden Lane (1936) Woman-Wise (1937) That I May Live (1937) One Mile from Heaven (1937) Heidi (1937) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) Suez (1938) Josette (1938) The Three Musketeers (1939) The Gorilla (1939)
1940s	Frontier Marshal (1939) Sailor's Lady (1940) Young People (1940) Trail of the Vigilantes (1940) Look Who's Laughing (1941) Rise and Shine (1941) Friendly Enemies (1942) Here We Go Again (1942) Around the World (1943) Abroad with Two Yanks (1944) Up in Mabel's Room (1944) Brewster's Millions (1945) Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) Rendezvous with Annie (1946) Calendar Girl (1947) Northwest Outpost (1947) Driftwood (1947) The Inside Story (1948) Angel in Exile (1948) Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
1950s	Surrender (1950) Belle Le Grand (1951) The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) I Dream of Jeanie (1952) Montana Belle (1952) Woman They Almost Lynched (1953) Sweethearts on Parade (1953) Flight Nurse (1953) Silver Lode (1954) Passion (1954) Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) Escape to Burma (1955) Pearl of the South Pacific (1955) Tennessee's Partner (1955) Slightly Scarlet (1956) Hold Back the Night (1956) The River's Edge (1957) The Restless Breed (1957) Enchanted Island (1958)
1960s	Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961)

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