Has Anybody Seen My Gal

Charles Coburn gives the family of the woman who rejected him $100,000 in "Has Anybody Seen My Gal," a delightful 1952 comedy set in the 1920s.

It's directed by Douglas Sirk and also stars Piper Laurie, Gigi Perreau, Lynn Bari, William Reynolds and Skip Homeier.

It seems that when Samuel Fulton was a young man, the young woman who turned him down spurned him on to great things. Now, with no heirs, he wants to leave her family his money. Despite his belief that he's dying, he heads to their hometown and moves in on them as a "Mr. Smith" in order to observe them when they are presented with a check for $100,000.

Rock Hudson has a supporting role in this film - he plays a soda jerk and the love interest of Piper Laurie. Dancing the Charleston, he is darn cute. And if you think the kid at the soda fountain giving old man Fulton a hard time is James Dean, you're right, it is. People often say that James Dean only made three films. Wrong. He only STARRED in three films.

Gigi Perreau is adorable without being cloying. Piper Laurie, in a Debbie Reynolds type of role, does a good job, though later on, she would shine more in drama. But at this point, she and Rock were just paying their dues along with William Reynolds, who became a TV actor.

This is Coburn's film all the way - he's a riot as an old codger who gets a dose of health and love from the family and gives some back in return.

"Has Anybody Seen My Gal" demonstrates the fine directing gifts of Douglas Sirk whose name would become synonymous with big budget soap operas. But in 1952, it was fun all the way with Coburn and Universal's stable of young players.

This wonderful film has often been described as a wonderful piece of Americana and so it is.

It is beautifully realized thanks to a wonderful cast, terrific pacing and a story line that we can repeat over and over: money isn't everything.

Charles Coburn gives another wonderful performance. This versatile actor, who moved from drama to comedy with ease, is fantastic as the elderly gentleman who visits the family of the woman who turned him down years before when he proposed to her. While the woman herself is now deceased, Coburn finds her family in the ideal American town of the 1920s.

Lynn Bari is wonderful as the status seeking mother married to a soda store owner-Larry Gates. Then there is Gigi Perreau who is as precocious as ever.

A young and beautiful Piper Laurie appears as their elder daughter who becomes engaged to Rock Hudson, a soda jerk at Gates' store.

When Coburn goes to live with family, posing as a border, all hell breaks loose when he gives them anonymously $100,000. The money changes all of them drastically.

There are wonderfully comic turns everywhere and there is a short but memorable Charleston done by Laurie and Hudson. Even, Coburn figures in the dancing.

You will be upset when the movie ends because Coburn, on the verge of being found out, announces to the family that he may never see them again as he leaves. Nevertheless, this is a feel good movie; it conveys the American ideal and values so well and with great comedy along the way.

This is part one of a trilogy of "Americana" movies Sirk made for Universal which are set in the early part of the 20th Century, ("Meet Me At the Fair" and "Take Me To Town" would follow). While critical of different aspects of American society, in this case the power of greed, they are movies that exude much affection for their characters and the country itself. At this point Sirk was still very enamoured with America. His future films would reflect the change of his perception of American society coming to fruition in the big melodramas that lay ahead.

"Has Anybody Seen My Gal" signals the beginning of the star building process which took the almost unknown Rock Hudson and over a period of a few years turned him into America's top box office star. Much has been written of the subversive subtexts of Sirk's movies. It would seem his most subversive action was that out of a hunky, gay, not especially talented actor, he created and icon of the prototype fifties American male; a wonderful analogy for appearances and unrevealed truths that are much a part of the fifties psyche. Although Hudson receives top billing in "Has Anyone Seen My Gal", his role is decidedly secondary. This is very much Charles Coburn's movie. Hudson has little to do although his screen presence is already charged with the goodness and charm that were to be his trademarks.

"Has Anybody Seen My Gal" has the quality stamp of Douglas Sirk. His eye for good camera work, lighting and art direction are all evident. But like the other films of the trilogy it's a very light weight affair.

This is simply a pure delight of a comedy movie that runs on that ages-old premise - what would you do if you suddenly came into a fortune?

Everything about this film gels into an 89-minute delight; the story, script, sets, atmosphere, colour and, above all, the performances of a disparate group of actors who ensemble into a highly believable American 1920s small-town family.

Veteran screen actor Charles Coburn is outstanding as the irascible but soft-hearted Samuel Fulton and the 'Temple-esque' Gigi Perreau should have won an Oscar for her portrayal of Roberta. Yes, James Dean makes his first (and ultra-brief) appearance as a bit-parter in one of the drug-store scenes but don't let this incidental occurrence put you off.

Has Anybody Seen My Gal never outstays its welcome - indeed it seems to be over all too soon. It has yet (as of Dec. 2005) to be issued on DVD and I, for one, am eagerly awaiting its well-overdue release.

Has Anybody Seen My Gal is directed by Douglas Sirk and written by Joseph Hoffman and Eleanor H. Porter. It stars Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie and Charles Coburn. Music is by Herman Stein and cinematography by Clifford Stine. It's 1928 and plot finds Coburn as wealthy Samuel Fulton, who now he is older and has no family of his own decides to leave his wealth to the family of his first love, the Blaisdells. Worming his way into the family's lives, he secretly grants them $100,000 and observes as money greatly changes the family. And not for the better!

Glorious Technicolor, sumptuous period detail and a funny picture laced with a caustic edge, Has Anybody Seen My Gal is a darn fine movie from the Sirk/Hudson stable. True, it's guilty of layering on the nostalgia, but the feel good factor that pulses throughout ensures the film remains a crowd pleaser. With song and dance also featuring, picture is frothy in its telling of how money can corrupt those who were once of sound standing. Yes, it's a message movie, but it's told with such an assuredness by Sirk and acted with fine ebullience by the cast, particularly the wonderful Coburn, that it becomes a movie comfortably recommended to those in need of a pick me up in this new and hurried world we live in. 7/10