The Girl Next Door (1953 film)
| The Girl Next Door | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Richard Sale |
| Written by | Isobel Lennart |
| Story by | Leslie Bush-Fekete Maria Fagyas |
| Produced by | Robert Bassler |
| Starring | June Haver Dan Dailey Dennis Day |
| Cinematography | Leon Shamroy |
| Edited by | Robert L. Simpson |
| Music by | Lionel Newman |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.2 million (US)[1] |
The Girl Next Door is a 1953 American musical comedy film directed by Richard Sale and starring June Haver, Dan Dailey, and Dennis Day. It was made and released by 20th Century Fox.
Plot
A popular performer, Jeannie Laird decides to buy her first house and celebrate with a big party. The guests' enjoyment is interfered with by the happenings at the home of the next door neighbor, Bill Carter.
Carter is a comic-strip artist. He prides himself on every story he tells being true to life, including that of 10-year-old son Joey, whom he is raising alone. When a relationship blossoms between Bill and Jeannie after a shaky start, a neglected Joey ends up blabbing to Bill's bosses that the comic strip's adventures have become far more fiction than fact.
Cast
- Dan Dailey as Bill Carter
- June Haver as Jeannie Laird
- Dennis Day as Reed Appleton
- Billy Gray as Joey Carter
- Cara Williams as Rosie Green
- Natalie Schafer as Evelyn, the maid
- Clinton Sundberg as Samuels, the butler
- Hayden Rorke as Henry Fields
- Mary Jane Saunders as Kitty
Background
This was June Haver's last film appearance. Haver had gained fame in the mid-to-late 1940s as a musical star for Fox; she starred in films like The Dolly Sisters, Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Where Do We Go from Here?, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now, Look for the Silver Lining, and I'll Get By. Haver departed from films to join a convent in 1952, but left the convent six months later and married actor Fred MacMurray.
When released, The Girl Next Door drew mixed press reviews; it did moderately well at the box-office.
References
- ^ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1953', Variety, January 13, 1954
Bibliography
- Dick, Bernard F. The Golden Age Musicals of Darryl F. Zanuck: The Gentleman Preferred Blondes. University Press of Mississippi, 2022.