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Make Your Own Bed
1944 Jump to Synopsis and Details
 
Make Your Own Bed #1
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Make Your Own Bed #2
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Make Your Own Bed #3
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Make Your Own Bed #4
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Make Your Own Bed #5
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Description

Walter and Vivian live in the country and have a difficult time keeping servants. Walter hires an private detective who has been fired for arresting the District Attorney. They only way that Walter can get Jerry to work for him is to tell Jerry that his life is in danger; the neighbor is trying to take his wife; and that Nazi spies are everywhere. Jerry needs a cook for his 'cover' so he gets his fiancée Susan to work with him. To keep Jerry working, Walter sends the threatening letters to himself and hires actors to play the spies. It soon becomes apparent that Susan cannot cook and Jerry could not find a spy if he tripped over him. Written by Tony Fontana

Synopsis

After several years' faithful service in supporting roles, Jack Carson was awarded his first Warner Bros. starring vehicle with 1944's Make Your Own Bed. Carson's costar is the pert Jane Wyman, with whom he'd previously been felicitously teamed in Princess O'Rourke. The nonsensical story is set in motion by wealthy industrialist Walter Whirtle (Alan Hale), who believes himself to be the target of a Nazi spy ring. Whirtle hires private detective Jerry Curtis (Carson) to protect him-intending to get full "value for money" by having Curtis double as the family butler. Coming along for the ride is Jerry's girlfriend Susan Courtney (Jane Wyman), who agrees to pose as Whirtle's maid. The problem is that Jerry and Susan are assumed to be a married couple, leading to all sorts of risque complications. Meanwhile, Whirtle's scatterbrained wife Vivian (Irene Manning) allows herself to be swept off her feet by obnoxious house guest Boris Murphy (George Tobias). After several slaptick setpieces, the plot rushes to a conclusion when the Whirtle household is invaded by those pesky Nazi spies (remember?) The film's level of humor can be ascertained by the fact that the comedy highlight occurs when practically everybody in the cast is bound and gagged. Relentlessly silly, Make Your Own Bed nonetheless served its purpose in establishing Jack Carson as a bankable leading man. ~ Hal Erickson

Cast

Jack Carson as Jerry Curtis

Jane Wyman as Susan Courtney

Irene Manning as Mrs. Vivian Whirtle

Alan Hale as Walter Whirtle

George Tobias as Boris Fenilise

Robert Shayne as Lester Knight

Tala Birell as Miss Marie Gruber

Ricardo Cortez as Wilson - aka Fritz Alden

Marjorie Hoshelle as Miss Elsa Wehmer

Kurt Katch as Herr von Ritter

Leah Baird as John's Wife

Marie Blake as Woman Jerry Mistakes for Susan

Harry C. Bradley as Mr. Brookin - Whirtle's Assistant

Gertrude Carr as Woman Waiting at Employment Agency

William B. Davidson as Stanley - Whirtle's Advertising Man

Edgar Dearing as Police Desk Sergeant

Ernest Hilliard as Man Waiting at Employment Agency

Robert Homans as Cop Ticketing Whirtle

Fred Kelsey as Turnkey

Bill Kennedy as George - FBI Agent

George Kirby as Man Waiting at Employment Agency

Barry Macollum as Employment Agency Manager

Jack Mower as John - Whirtle's Chauffeur

Jack Norton as Drunk in Jail with Jerry and Walter

Eddie Parks as Smith

Harry Semels as Pedestrian Bystander Extra

Charles Sherlock as Pedestrian Asking for Dime

Joan Winfield as Miss Worthington - Jerry's Secretary

Clay Womack as Fat Man

  
 

Directed by
Peter Godfrey

Writing credits
Harvey J. O'Higgins and Harriet Ford (play "On the Hiring Line")
Richard Weil (adaptation)
Francis Swann & Edmund Joseph (screenplay)

Produced by
Alex Gottlieb - producer
Jack L. Warner - executive producer

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld
William Lava
Frank Perkins

Cinematography by
Robert Burks - director of photography

Film Editing by
Clarence Kolster

Art Direction by
Stanley Fleischer

Set Decoration by
Frank Steensen

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson (gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore - makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lester D. Guthrie - assistant director

Sound Department
Charles Lang - sound

Special Effects by
Willard Van Enger - special effects

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein - musical director

 


 
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