Never a Dull Moment (1950 film)
| Never a Dull Moment | |
|---|---|
RKO Radio Pictures | |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release dates | |
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.2 million[2][page needed] |
| Box office | $1.4 million (US)[3] or $1.8 million[2][page needed] |
Never a Dull Moment is a 1950 American
Plot
At a rodeo in New York, visiting cowboy Chris Heyward is charmed to make the acquaintance of Kay Kingsley, a songwriter. They marry and move out west to his ranch in Wyoming. Here, she meets Chris' two daughters from a previous marriage, Nan and Tina, and his old romantic interest, Jean Morrow.
Kay tries to adjust to her new life in Wyoming, but it is hard: a windstorm threatens their home, and the children are leery of her. A rival rancher named Mears holds the water rights to his land; Kay accidentally humiliates him at a dance and kills his prize steer.
Kay is eventually offered a job back in New York that could help pay for the water rights. She takes it, but Chris is alienated; he needs to be persuaded by the kids to return east and win her back.
Cast
- Irene Dunne as Kay
- Fred MacMurray as Chris
- William Demarest as Mears
- Andy Devine as Orvie
- Gigi Perreau as Tina
- Natalie Wood as Nan
- Philip Ober as Jed
- Jack Kirkwood as Papa Dude
- Ann Doran as Jean
- Uncredited (in order of appearance)
- Jacqueline deWit as Myra Van Elson, Kay's sarcastic friend
- Lela Bliss as Mama Dude
- Irving Bacon as Tunk Johnson
- Gene Evans as Hunter
- Olin Howland as Hunter
- Paul Newlan as Hunter
- Chester Conklin as Albert
- Jimmy Hawkins as Chalmers
- Mason Alan Dinehart as Sonny Boy
- Dan White as Shivaree participant
- Victoria Horne as Shivaree participant
Songs by Kay Swift
- "Once You Find Your Guy" (sung by Dunne in the film's opening minutes)
- "The Man with the Big Felt Hat"
- "Sagebrush Lullaby"
Reception
The New York Times critic Bosley Crowther described the film as a "miserably tedious farce" whose "sole achievement as entertainment is the presentation of Irene Dunne in a series of rustic encounters that are about as funny as stepping on a nail."[4]
References
- ^ a b c "Never a Dull Moment: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
- ^ a b Charles Tranberg, Fred MacMurray: A Biography, Bear Manor Media, 2014
- ^ "The Top Box Office Hits of 1951", Variety, January 2, 1952
- ^ a b Bosley Crowther (November 22, 1950). "The Screen in Review; 'Never a Dull Moment,' New Film at the Rivoli, Stars Irene Danne, Fred MacMarray". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
- ISBN 9780692561348.
