User Reviews

For some reason or another, I'm none too hot on Rosalind Russell films. Oh, I "get" that she's one of the greatest comedic actresses ever, and I do like her, but to be honest none of her films are really favourites of mine. This was the case with "My Sister Eileen (1942)" a comedy revolving around two sisters, one an aspiring actress (Janet Blair) and one an aspiring writer (Russell), who come to New York with big hopes and dreams. But they find themselves stuck in a noisy flat, and Janet Blair's (the "Eileen" of the title) ditsy beauty invites the attentions of a succession of crazy male characters. I couldn't stand Eileen. Blair plays her well, and I don't mind the actress, it's just that Eileen is so incessantly annoying, putting poor Ros in one bad situation after the next. Even sisterly love wouldn't prevent me bitch-slapping her. The comedy is meant to flow from the crazy situations the gals find themselves in, but it just didn't work for me. Brian Aherne plays Ros's love interest, but really, why is she interested? He's bossy, has no comedic timing and she can't even get a word in edgeways! Ros sails through her role with ease, but the film falls flat as a classic comedy.

It's hard to watch this without comparing it to the 1955 musical directed by Richard Quine (who happens to play Frank in this version) and starring Janet Leigh, Betty Garret, Bob Fosse, and Tommy Rall. The stories are fundamentally similar -- two cheerful and ambitious sisters from Columbus, Ohio, the level-headed Ruth (here, Rosalind Russell) and the gorgeous blond Eileen (here, Janet Blair) come to New York to seek careers. They rent a preposterous basement apartment in Greenwich Village where they are constantly finagled with by a sly landlord (here, George Tobias) who is an artist manque. Their days are punctuated by occasional blasts from the subway that is being built beneath the building. There are an abundance of kooky characters. Their upstairs neighbor is a dopey, unemployed football player supported by his wife. All the men fall under the spell of the would-be actress, Eileen. The less flamboyantly sugary Ruth, who is an aspiring writer, is disregarded by men until one of her editors learns to appreciate her.

The story (or stories) must have great appeal. They first appeared in The New Yorker, I think. Then they were assembled into the play on which this film is based. Then there appeared the Leonard Bernstein musical, under a different name ("Wonderful Town"), then the 1955 musical. There have been several revivals.

Compared to the 1955 musical version, this seems more stage bound, which is not necessarily bad. And without the musical numbers, there's more room for various gags, some funnier than others. This version is so OVERFLOWING with characters that must have seemed colorful to the folks back in Columbus, Ohio, that at times it's crowded with them, all doing and saying kooky things. A hooker or, pardon me, a young woman (June Havoc) who used to "hold séances" and "read fortunes" in the apartment drops in to leave a stack of her new business cards for any former clients who happen to stop by -- and stop, they do. The door lock is broken so people can come and go without warning. There are myriad incidents involving misunderstandings, situationally based wisecracks, mixed identities, drunks, cops, pratfalls, explosions, congas, and dogs chasing cats through the barred window of the basement.

This film is amusing in its own right. It's as if the whole insane cast of "You Can't Take It With You" had been shoved into this little basement apartment. With the jokes abounding, they can't all miss.

Yet, for a couple of reasons, I prefer the 1955 musical, the only other version of this story that I've seen. For one thing, the 1955 plot is less confused. Bob Fosse and Tommy Rall are both ga-ga over Eileen. (In fact, Janet Leigh looks a lot like Janet Blair.) Both Fosse and Rall get more screen time than the same two characters here -- plus, they performances have more charm. Fosse is not the ridiculous goof that his character is in this earlier version. And Tommy Rall gives a better performance as his rival, Chick Clark. Rall was nobody's idea of a great actor but he's splendid as the fast-talking, underhanded suitor. Here, Allyn Joslin seems fagged out and not particularly interested in Eileen. And that's not to mention the hilarious "Give Me a Band" number or a synapse-fusing, blistering "Competition Ballet" between Fosse and Rall. The 1955 version is also more carefully paced, less forced and frenetic. The romance angle is taken a bit more seriously. One has a chance to breathe between manic episodes.

Not that this isn't very amusing, just that it was probably more so in 1942 than it might be today. We're less easily shocked. Odd characters living in Greenwich Village? Oh, yes -- much less easily shocked.

'My Sister Eileen' is based on true incidents. Ruth and Eileen McKenney were sisters from a small town in Ohio who came to New York City: Ruth intending to become an author, Eileen hoping to be an actress. Although Ruth McKenney sold a few magazine pieces, her most successful work was her series of fictionalised articles about the misadventures of her younger sister Eileen. The stories themselves have been out of print for many years, but they provided the basis for a popular play, 'My Sister Eileen' (NOT written by Ruth McKenney), which was a long-running Broadway hit and which has remained in print ever since. Ruth McKenney ironically gained fame and wealth from a play written by two other people, based on her stories.

The real Eileen McKenney ended badly. A pretty actress with more looks than talent, she married the overrated screenwriter Nathanael West and she died alongside him in West's fatal car accident.

The 1942 film 'My Sister Eileen' is a faithful (and funny) version of the Broadway hit, although it bears only slight resemblance to the real-life exploits of sisters Ruth and Eileen McKenney (here renamed Sherwood). Rather unusually, this movie was made at Columbia Studios *during* the play's Broadway run. Two of the best performances here are given by actors repeating their stage roles: Gordon Jones as an obsessive football player named 'The Wreck', and Richard Quine as nice young man Frank Lippincott, who fancies Eileen.

Small-town sisters Ruth and Eileen come to the big city. Ruth (Rosalind Russell) is smart, cynical, and doesn't need a man. Eileen (Janet Blair) is naive and pretty and attracts all the lads. Because the sisters haven't got much money, the only place they can afford is a basement flat in Greenwich Village, owned by a crooked landlord named Appopolous (George Tobias, not up to his usual high standard here). The flat is directly above a subway tunnel, where construction workers are blasting with dynamite: at regular intervals, the whole building shakes. Worse luck, the previous tenant was a young lady who (ahem!) rented by the hour, and so Ruth and Eileen are constantly plagued with male visitors who assume that their apartment is still, erm, open for business. Ruth and Eileen have no end of misadventures while trying to start their careers as, respectively, a journalist and an actress.

BIG SPOILER STARTING NOW. The last gag in this movie is absolutely hilarious. All through the film, we hear the sounds of the subway navvies directly under Ruth's and Eileen's apartment. At the very end of this movie, a jackhammer pokes up through the floor and three construction workers emerge. When they pull off their helmets, we see that they're Moe, Larry and Curly! Moe lambastes his two 'knucklehead' workmates while the soundtrack starts playing the 'Three Stooges' theme tune!

In 1953, Betty Comden and Adolph Green approached Rosalind Russell to star in a Broadway musical version of 'My Sister Eileen' with music by Leonard Bernstein, to be called 'Wonderful Town'. (The original title wasn't legally available.) I really dislike 'Wonderful Town': it has a score which I consider extremely pretentious. Rosalind Russell, to her credit, had no illusions about her own song-and-dance abilities. 'Wonderful Town' was never filmed, because Columbia had retained the musical rights ... and they made their OWN musical version in 1955, with tunes by Jule Styne that are vastly better than anything "Lenny" Bernstein ever wrote. Interestingly, Richard Quine (who hed acted in the original film and the Broadway cast) directed the musical remake, and his role as Frank Lippincott was taken over by Bob Fosse, giving his best performance as an actor and choreographing some snappy dance numbers as well. I strongly recommend both film versions of 'My Sister Eileen', which is more than I can say for the overrated 'Wonderful Town'. I'll rate this 1942 version 9 points out of 10. Well done!

I saw it this evening and just had to say something. Of course, this play must have been fun...and at times you realize that the use of very few settings is kind of familiar. And so it had been a play and some of the supporting characters were in the original Broadway play.

But this is Rosalind's vehicle all the way. And she was rightfully nominated for an Oscar. It is the kind of performance that just sparkles. Her timing is positively impeccable. Everything she ever did had that unmistakable charm and flawless comedic timing that always makes you wonder if there is any other way to play a scene! There are many romps in this lively comedy and none is played to staleness. Not even the grand finale which I really shouldn't spoil because it came out of left field for me! I would have never ever expected it to end like this! Suffice it to say that I was literally jolted - as if something that didn't belong suddenly intruded into the movie. But it was a fitting if not slapstick ending that will bring a chuckle and a gasp to everyone.

See it! It's fun!

Rosalind Russell received a best actress nomination for playing Ruth Sherwood, a writer from Columbus, Ohio, who comes to the big apple with her sister Eileen.(Janet Blair). Up against the winner (Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver) or Bette Davis (Now, Voyager),Russell had little chance in winning and she didn't.

The film deals with the lunatic situations brought about when the sisters arrive here. Settling in a basement apartment which should have been condemned, the two encounter all sorts of strange people coming in and out of the apartment. We have a crazy landlord, (George Tobias) a publisher (Brian Aherne) who lacked any comic talent here, the former tenant, a seer (June Havoc) in a brief performance, neighbors who want the husband to sleep in the kitchen as her mother is coming, a suspicious policeman and Portuguese merchant marines who cause havoc as well.

Luckily, the film ends when The 3 Stooges drill a hole in the floor. By that time, I had it.

Rosalind Russell proved that she had excellent comic timing and Janet Blair is good as well, but the written material they were given leaves a lot to be desired.

Those lyrics from the 1953 Broadway musical version of the play and this film version echo through my head as I watched this again. Rosalind Russell repeated her character in that musical as the Columbus Ohio writer Ruth Sherwood who comes to the Big Apple to make it in the magazine business. She turns lack of success in the city that never sleeps into a delightful farce, whether through the lunatic landlord she rents from, the professional football player she and sister Eileen allow to sleep on their kitchen floor, a fortune teller who seems to do more for business than read tea leaves, and a slew of Portugese sailors on leave who follow Ruth home and involve Eileen in an international incident involving a conga line. With these and other weirdos, she's got enough material for a dozen articles...at least.

Unlike the later two musical versions, this film features appearances by Ruth and Eileen's square papa (Grant Mitchell) and delightfully lively grandma (Elizabeth Patterson) who have totally different opinions about these two unattached ladies heading to "sin city". Patterson gets some great lines, showing that not all non-New Yorkers are as babbity and provincial as Ruth suggested through Adolph Green and Betty Comden's later lyrics. Russell shines in her comic performance, whether making a funny face behind the back of an unwelcome guest or dealing with the fact that the sailors who followed her home loose complete interest the moment they spot Eileen.

Janet Blair adds a touch of "unawareness" to Eileen's lack of conceit. Check out her reaction to the sudden replacement chosen to take her role of "A Doll's House" at the Columbus Little Players, another addition not seen in other versions on stage or screen, or in the TV version of "Wonderful Town".

Russell's career devoted women were a mixed bag with "My Sister Eileen" a stand-out of the multitude of these projects. Russll's Ruth is attractive enough to turn men's eyes (until they see Eileen), although her comical no-nonsense attitude might scare some of them off. Here, she's a lot closer to her future role of Mame Dennis, albeit one amusingly perplexed by the wacky circumstances she finds herself in.

The supporting cast shines, particularly George Tobias as the shady Appopolous. Brian Aherne's Robert Baker has some great singular moments that stand out, proving that while this may be about "My" (Ruth) and Eileen, it is without a doubt an ensemble piece, and a smartly written one at that.

From the day Ruth and Eileen Sherwood move into their basement apartment in Greenwich Village, they have no time of their own. The two sisters left their home in Ohio to make it in New York City. That's where all the publishing houses were located. Rosalind Russell is the big sister, Ruth, who's going to New York in the hopes of making it as a writer. She was fired from the Columbus Ohio Courier for a phony theater review of her sister starring in a local stage play. Janet Blair is the young sister, Eileen, who gets to go with her parents' approval only because Ruth will be there to watch over her.

And, watching over, one might think Eileen needs. She is a magnet to young men with her natural beauty and almost naïve innocence. But her charm and many attributes belie a common sense girl who, while she relishes all the attention, nevertheless is able to keep the wolves at bay.

The Sherwood's apartment is also a magnet for neighbors, wolves, job interviewers, the building owner, and people just passing by on the street. Even a contingent of cadets from the Portuguese Navy make it into the apartment. And it's not Eileen, but Ruth, who draws them there.

This is a funny movie of mayhem and motion. There's hardly a quiet moment in the film. Besides the crazy situations, Ruth gets in mildly caustic comments here and there about the goings on to provide some humorous dialog. All of the cast are good in their roles. The film is fun but not among the funniest or best comedies.

The movie is based on the adventures of two real sisters - Ruth and Eileen McKenney from Cleveland, Ohio. Ruth first serialized her short stories in The New Yorker magazine, and then published her book by the same title in 1938. This movie just uses the last two stories in the book. It was about their growing up together and then moving to Greenwich Village. The story was made into a play, two movies, and a TV series. Judging from Ruth's biography and the stories she wrote, the two sisters and their experiences were not as lily white innocent as things are portrayed in this film.

McKenney wrote other comedy works and numerous articles for several magazines. Her life was somewhat tragic. Eileen married author Nathanael West in 1939, and both were killed in a car accident in 1940. She was just 26 years old. In 1937, Ruth had married writer Richard Bransten, and they had a son and daughter. But on Ruth's 44th birthday in 1955, while they were living in London, England, Branston committed suicide. Ruth returned to New York but stopped writing. Her daughter, Eileen, said that her mother never recovered from her sister's death. Ruth suffered from diabetes and heart disease and died in New York on July 25, 1972, at age 60.