The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker

Director: Henry Levin Henry Levin

Overview

Based on a successful stage play, The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker loses in this adaptation to film by becoming more serious than an all-out farce. The setting is the end of the 1800s and the intrepid Pennypacker (Clifton Webb) runs a sausage company with two thriving plants in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. He shuttles back and forth between the cities and with equal aplomb, between two households. He maintains one wife (Dorothy McGuire) and eight children in one city, and another wife (Jill St. John) and nine children in the other. When one of the Mrs. Pennypackers finds out about his deception, the unruffled businessman sees no reason for her emotional reaction. Victorian inhibitions and rigidities are set against ultra-modern thinking, embodied in the people the bigamist admires -- like Darwin, the feminists (!), and free-thinkers.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/16/2013
UPC:	0024543877998
Original Release:	1959
Source:	ALLIED VAUGHN
Presentation:	[Letterbox]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00
Sales rank:	27,259

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Clifton Webb	Pa Pennypacker
Dorothy McGuire	Ma Pennypacker
Jill St. John	Kate Pennypacker
Charles Coburn	Grampa
Ron Ely	Wilbur Fielding
Ray Stricklyn	Horace Pennypacker III
David Nelson	Henry Pennypacker
Dorothy Stickney	Aunt Jane
Larry Gates	Rev. Dr. Fielding
Richard Deacon	Sheriff
Mary Jane Saunders	Laurie Pennypacker
Mimi Gibson	Elizabeth Pennypacker
Donald Losby	Benny
Chris Van Scoyk	David,Edward
Terry Rangno	Teddy
Nora O'Mahoney	Mrs. McNair
Doro Merande	Miss Haskins
Harvey Dunn	The Verger
Ralph Sanford	The Fire Chief
Joan Freeman	Mary Pennypacker
David Harrison	Twin,Twin
Pamela Baird	Nancy
Nancy DeCarl	Ann
Anna Maria Nanasi	Babs
Diane Mountford	Trudy
Ray Ferrell	Charlie

Technical Credits

Charles Brackett	Producer
Henry Levin	Director

Editorial Reviews

It's a shame that The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker is not a remarkable little film. In fact, it's rather a disappointing little film, given its premise: that a man in the 1890s has led two lives, simultaneously marrying one woman and raising a family in Harrisburg and marrying another woman and raising another family in Philadelphia. There's fodder for some interesting possibilities here, and surely the least one can expect of such a set-up is an exceptionally lively story, and hopefully one in which the title character is as exceptional as this story would suggest. But that's not the case with Pennypacker. Yes, technically Pennypacker is an unusual fellow, and we're shown that all of his ideas are rather advanced for the time period in which he lives. But we don't really and truly get into the characteristics that create a man who willfully deceives his wife (or wives) and then pretends he never mentioned it because he assumed they thought as he did and would therefore approve. Instead, we're treated to some typical shenanigans and hi-jinks involving citizens outraged at his immorality, paper dragons that the creators can defeat without even taking a deep breath. Clifton Webb does well as the title character, Dorothy McGuire is a lovely spouse and Charles Coburn takes advantage of what few opportunities the screenplay gives him. As a matter of fact, the whole cast is just fine. If only they had a script that was as interesting as its premise.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler