Mi adorable rival

When a senator dies in office, Congressman Morley and his fellow party leaders have to come up with a candidate to run in the election to replace him. Everyone is agreement, accept for Morley's second maid. A Swedish-American farm girl who came to the city to become a nurse, she had to take temporary jobs when she was conned out of her tuition money. Not nearly as naive or helpless as she appeared, she was quickly given a permanent position at the Morley household. She isn't one to hold back on expressing her own political views, and by the end of the movie she's running against the Morley political machine even as she is finding romance with Congressman Morley.

The movie is a bit dated, but because of the excellent script and acting it still manages to be a fresh and amusing comedy. The political satire is much more restrained then what modern audiences are used to, but the topics haven't aged at all. You've got two parties with no obvious ideological differences engaged in partisan bickering and mudslinging while a small group of wealthy and powerful men decide who is going to run for office. Integrity takes a back seat to party politics and favors. Even an unnamed white supremacy group rears its ugly head. When asked what type of politician she would be, the farmer's daughter tells us exactly what she would not be - a typical politician who only represents the wealthy people who financed their campaign and the powerful elite who backed them. Has anything actually changed in the last 50 years?

Not having seen the movie before, it was a complete surprise to watch it on cable the other night. This film shows that little, if nothing, ever changes in the world of politics. In fact, it could well be compared to this year's presidential contest. The only thing that has changed from the time where this film was done is that in order to win an election in this country, the candidate must be independently wealthy, or have benefactors that are willing to put up the money in exchange of favors down the line, or not be able to run at all.

H. C. Potter's film shows us a slice of what on the surface was an ideal time in America during the 40s, but deep down, this film speaks a lot of what was wrong then, in a subtle way.

Young Katrin Holstrom arrives in Capital City wanting to be a nurse. She has to change plans because when she arrives in the city, she has no money because an unscrupulous man had swindled her out of it. She begins working as a maid at the Morley's mansion. They are the local big name in politics. Mrs. Morley makes candidates, or destroys them. Her own son, Glenn is a Congressman.

All this atmosphere contributes to the growth of Katrin, or Katie, as she is called. She takes an interest in politics and she shows that she can speak and ask the right questions the candidates don't want to answer. The movie shows the dirty side of campaigns, in general, as is the case of with what's happening in 2004 in America.

Loretta Young was perfect as Katrin Halstrom. In this film she out charms everyone that she comes in contact with. Joseph Cotten is as effective as she always was in whatever he appeared in. Ethel Barrymore is Agatha, the rich woman behind the political machine. Charles Bickford is also excellent as Joseph, the butler.

Most movies from that period are sadly dated, but this one keeps the ideals of democracy in check. Bravo to Dory Schary for bringing this movie to the screen.

When Loretta Young beat out Rosalind Russell in the Academy Award sweepstakes of 1947 it was considered one of the great upsets in the history of Oscar. Russell had gotten a lot of acclaim for her dramatic breakthrough performance in Mourning Becomes Electra which was RKO's prestige picture of the year. The O'Neill drama flopped at the box office. Young was nominated almost as an afterthought to round out the field in 1947. Of course RKO didn't care because The Farmer's Daughter was also one of their films.

Young worked hard to get her proper Swedish accent for the film and the results would have made Greta Garbo proud. I can't see Garbo appearing in a film like The Farmer's Daughter though.

Young plays Katie Holstrum who leaves the family farm to study nursing and in an almost Forrest Gump like set of circumstances winds up working as a maid in Congressman Joseph Cotten's home. She's not working for just Cotten. Presiding over the home and the state of Minnesota itself is Cotten's mother Ethel Barrymore. Ethel's not only queen of her own roost, but she's a Senator's widow and still one formidable power in her state of Minnesota. And there's Charles Bickford the family butler who got an Oscar nomination himself in this film for Best Supporting Actor as Young's gruff, but kindly mentor.

Although at the time this film was made Young was 34 years old she does manage to convey youth here. It worked in this case because in 1947 a lot of people were starting their careers late. It's pointed out in the story that she stayed on the family farm while her beefcake brothers, James Arness, Keith Andes, and Lex Barker were all in the service during World War II.

A long running television series was adapted from this film with the tragic Inger Stevens in the lead and William Windom in Cotten's role. Cathleen Nesbitt was the grande political dame. The butler's role was dropped and Windom was made a widower with two boys. Even with a genuine Swede like Stevens playing Katie, Young still comes out the better.

Too bad Rosalind Russell never got an Oscar, but Loretta Young was one of the great survivors of Hollywood and her award was as much an award for a lifetime as for the still fresh and funny, The Farmer's Daughter.

Loretta Young and Joseph Cotten star in The Farmer's Daughter, a 1947 film also starring Ethel Barrymore and Charles Bickford.

Young, in a role originally intended for Ingrid Bergman, won an Oscar for her portrayal of Katie Holstrom, a young woman who lives on a farm with her family. She saves her money and goes off to the big city to become a nurse. Unfortunately, thanks to taking a ride from someone who once worked for her family, she ends up loaning him her money and he won't pay her back. So she takes a temporary job as a second maid in the house of a Congressman (Cotten) until she can save enough for school.

It turns out that Katie is pretty outspoken when it comes to politics and, not only that, knows her stuff. When a congressman dies, Katie goes to a rally for the replacement that the party has put forward and embarrasses him with her questions. Political leaders from the other side are impressed and want her to run against him.

It's always fascinating to me, and a little sad, that films with political themes, no matter how old they are, always seem timely. I guess that's where the term "politics as usual" comes from, though no one adds "for the last hundred years." In this film, 100$ American is described by Finley, the party's candidate, as "white, not foreign born, of the right religion." Now tell me that couldn't be a scene today. The search for dirt is in this film, as is all the back office manuevering.

Loretta Young as a blond is every bit as beautiful as she was as a brunette, and she is a delight as the efficient, intelligent Katie. One can easily see how Joseph Cotten could fall for her. Ethel Barrymore, as Cotten's mother and the widow of a political great, does a wonderful job, strong-willed, clever, and no-nonsense. Charles Bickford, as the family's butler and friend is excellent as tough taskmaster who is nevertheless very impressed with his new charge.

This is a very warm film with a terrific cast that will give you some chuckles and make you realize that the more things change, the more they remain the same - in politics. In movies - well, that's another matter.

The Farmer's Daughter is a disarmingly charming comedy from the late forties featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Loretta Young in the title role, as a farm-girl turned housemaid in a congressman's family who steals her boss's heart. The rest of the cast give nicely tuned performance, with no real hamming from anyone, which in the case of Ethel Barrymore as the family matriarch, is somewhat surprising, as she tended to overdo it with her eyes and that patrician voice,--but not here. Joseph Cotten's natural good natured goofiness works well in the film, and like Miss Barrymore, he reins himself in more than usual here. Charles Bickford as the butler is fine also. The best performance in the movie for my money, though, is that of Rhys Williams, as an amorous and amoral house-painter who is also the villain of the piece. Director Hank Potter paces the film well, and the sets are excellently designed and beautiful to behold, especially that of the main house. There's a lot of surface intelligence in the movie, if not much real braininess despite, near the end, its attempt to wring some Capraesque meaning from its slight story. A very good but not great film, this one's worth seeing for what passed for upper echelon if not quite top of the line entertainment a half century or more ago.