Centennial Summer

1946

1h 42m

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

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Music

Comedy

History

In 1876 Philadelphia, two sisters vie for the affections of a Frenchman who's come to town to prepare the French pavilion for the Centennial exposition.

Directors

Otto Preminger

Writers

Michael Kanin(writer by)

Albert E. Idell(novel by)

Stars

Jeanne Crain

Cornel Wilde

Linda Darnell

See production, box office & company info

Top cast

Julia Rogers

Philippe Lascalles

Edith Rogers

Ben Phelps

Jesse Rogers

Zenia Lascalles

Mrs. Rogers

Susanna Rogers

Deborah

Dudley Rogers

Senator (uncredited)

Specialty

J.P. Snodgrass

Richard Lewis Esq

Governor's Wife

Directors

Otto Preminger

Writers

Michael Kanin(writer by)

Albert E. Idell(novel by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Right from the outset, this film mis-fires. Walter Brennan comes across as a fish out of water and Cornel Wilde, with his rather ropey French accent, just doesn't work at all well, either. The latter man, having just arrived in Philadelphia from France for the US Centennial Exposition, soon becomes the object of the affections of two sisters - Jeanne Craine ("Julie") and Linda Darnell ("Edith"). Which of them will win his affections? The problem with this film is that, though colourful - there is absolutely no chemistry anywhere to be seen. The songs from Jerome Kern are pleasant enough, but there is no showstopper - and the singing, well those are either ensemble efforts or solos from actors who, frankly, aren't very good singers. The execution of the story is not without the odd bit of humour, but the presentation looks frequently quite stagey with plenty of set piece choreography that, again, might have looked fine in a theatre but is somehow rather dated and stilted on a big screen. It is watchable, and Darnell steals the show, if anyone does, but I struggled with this rather procedural and stilted melodrama.

Geronimo196707 Jul, 2022