My Foolish Heart
Brief Synopsis
A young innocent's life is shattered when she falls for a World War II flyer.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Mark Robson
Director
Dana Andrews
Walt Dreiser
Susan Hayward
Eloise Winters [Wengler]
Kent Smith
Lew Wengler
Lois Wheeler
Mary Jane
Jessie Royce Landis
Martha Winters
Film Details
Also Known As
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
Genre
Romance
Drama
Release Date
Jan
21,
1950
Premiere Information
Los Angeles premiere: 25 Dec 1949
Production Company
Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" by J. D. Salinger in The New Yorker (20 Mar 1948).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 39m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,868ft
Synopsis
On a rainy afternoon in Connecticut, Mary Jane visits her former college roommate, Eloise Winters Wengler, whom she has not seen for seven years. Eloise, who has been drinking, speaks bitterly of her affluent suburban lifestyle and her husband, Lew Wengler, and admits that she has difficulty relating to her young daughter Ramona. When Eloise comments that Ramona looks just like Lew, Mary Jane questions how such a resemblance could be possible. Just then, Lew comes home and informs Eloise that he is leaving her and plans to sue for custody of Ramona. In a rage, Eloise begins throwing her clothes into a suitcase, but when she comes across her favorite dress from college, she tearfully remembers the "nice girl" she used to be: At a dance at Woodley College in New York, Eloise meets the charming Walt Dreiser, and although she has been dating Lew, is immediately taken with him. Several days later, Walt asks her to dinner, and Mary Jane helps her sneak out of the dorm to meet him. A month later, Eloise receives a telegram from Walt asking her to meet him at the train station, and when she arrives she is surprised to find him in an Army uniform. Walt escorts Eloise back to the dorm, and they are kissing goodnight in the elevator when Dean Whiting discovers them. Eloise is expelled, and her distraught parents, Henry and Martha, come to take her home to Boise. On the train, Eloise tells her father of her strong feelings for Walt, and he impulsively agrees to send her back to New York. Eloise gets off at the next stop and returns to the city, where she gets a job in a department store. Mary Jane is now happily dating Lew, who is also in the service. When Pearl Harbor is bombed, Walt is called to duty, and Eloise agrees to spend the night with him before he returns to camp. Later, Henry comes to town on his way to Baltimore for medical tests, and confesses that he and Martha married hastily before he went overseas in World War I, only to discover when he returned that they were strangers trapped in an unhappy marriage. When Eloise returns home, she finds Walt waiting for her with a seven-day pass. Near the end of Walt's leave, Eloise receives confirmation of her pregnancy, but despite Mary Jane's urging, refuses to tell Walt, hoping that he will propose on his own. Walt does not propose, however, and Eloise bids him an emotional farewell at the train station. A week later, Walt is killed when his plane crashes during an aerial maneuver, and Eloise is given a letter that Walt wrote just before the accident, in which he asks her to marry him at once. Later, Eloise decides to speak to her father, who is in town for more medical tests, but her mother tells her that Henry has a serious heart problem and must avoid excitement or shock. That evening, Eloise joins Mary Jane and Lew at a dance, and while Mary Jane occupies herself with the dance committee, Lew and Eloise go for a drive. Seeing Eloise rekindles Lew's feelings for her, and desperate for a solution to her problem, Eloise encourages him. Back in Connecticut, Eloise wakes up clutching the dress. She tells Lew that she is through hurting people, and says she wants Ramona to go with him and Mary Jane. After apologizing for the years she took out of their lives, Eloise goes to Ramona's room, where the child is crying in her sleep. Eloise comforts the girl and is about to leave when Mary Jane, who has been watching, tells her that Ramona belongs to her. The two women embrace, and Mary Jane assures Eloise that anyone would have done the same in her place. Eloise gratefully watches over her sleeping child as Lew and Mary Jane drive away.
Director
Mark Robson
Director
Cast
Dana Andrews
Walt Dreiser
Susan Hayward
Eloise Winters [Wengler]
Kent Smith
Lew Wengler
Lois Wheeler
Mary Jane
Jessie Royce Landis
Martha Winters
Robert Keith
Henry Winters
Gigi Perreau
Ramona [Wengler]
Karin Booth
Miriam Ball
Todd Karns
Her escort
Philip Pine
Sgt. Lucey
Martha Mears
Night club singer
Edna Holland
Dean Whiting
Jerry Paris
Usher
Marietta Canty
Grace
Barbara Woodell
Red Cross receptionist
Regina Wallace
Mrs. Crandall
Marcel De La Brosse
Waiter
Phyllis Coates
Girl on phone
Bud Stark
Elevator operator
Ed Peil Sr.
Conductor
Kerry O'day
Girl
Ray Hyke
Lieutenant
Billy Lord
Spectator
Tom Gibson
Spectator
Robert Strong
Spectator
Kay Marlowe
Spectator
Sam Ash
Spectator
Crew
Marie Clark
Hairstylist
Sidney Cutner
Music Arrangement
Richard Day
Art Director
Julius J. Epstein
Screenwriter
Philip G. Epstein
Screenwriter
John Fulton
Special Photography Effects
Lee Garmes
Director of Photography
Samuel Goldwyn
Presented By
Samuel Goldwyn
Producer
Edith Head
Miss Hayward's gowns Designer by
Julia Heron
Set Decoration
Ralph Hoge
Grip
Vic Jones
Gaffer
Fred Lau
Sound Recording
Daniel Mandell
Film Editor
Hal Mcalpin
Stills
Emil Newman
Music Director
Raoul Pagel
Production Manager
Leo Shuken
Music Arrangement
Blagoe Stephanoff
Makeup
Ivan Volkman
Assistant Director
Ned Washington
Composer
Harry Webb
Camera Operator
Mary Wills
Costumes
James Yarbrough
Script Supervisor
Victor Young
Music
Victor Young
Composer
Film Details
Also Known As
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
Genre
Romance
Drama
Release Date
Jan
21,
1950
Premiere Information
Los Angeles premiere: 25 Dec 1949
Production Company
Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" by J. D. Salinger in The New Yorker (20 Mar 1948).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 39m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8,868ft
Award Nominations
Best Actress
1949
Susan Hayward
Best Song
1949
Articles
My Foolish Heart
A young innocent's life is shattered when she falls for a World War II flyer.
My Foolish Heart
A young innocent's life is shattered when she falls for a World War II flyer.
Quotes
Trivia
J. D. Salinger so despised this adaptation of his short story "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut" that he never again allowed any of his work to be adapted to film.
Notes
The working title of this film was Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut. J. D. Salinger's short story depicted only the reunion between "Eloise" and "Mary Jane" in Connecticut. For the screenplay, screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein fleshed out Eloise's romance with "Walt" and added the plot elements regarding the paternity of Eloise's child and the possible custody dispute. Modern sources state that Salinger greatly disliked this adaptation of his story, and never allowed another of his works to be filmed. According to a August 16, 1948 Hollywood Reporter news item, Teresa Wright was originally set to star in the film, but Samuel Goldwyn terminated her contract before the start of production. Audrey Totter was originally cast in the role of Mary Jane.
According to information in the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, the first draft of the script, submitted for approval on November 8, 1948, was rejected because the affair between Eloise and Walt was presented in too sympathetic a light. In a revised version of the script, submitted in May 1949, the story opened with Mary Jane and "Lew" having conspired for some time to break up his marriage to Eloise. That script was approved, but the Breen Office pointed out that the PCA preferred that a divorce in a film be initiated only by "the unsympathetic or guilty party."
Susan Hayward was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, but lost to Olivia de Havilland, and the song "My Foolish Heart" was nominated in the Best Music category. In a Los Angeles Times review dated December 26, 1949, critic Philip K. Scheuer wrote: "It seemed to me an important and satisfying scene between the father and the mother...had, regrettably, been eliminated since the preview." Exactly which scene May have been eliminated has not been determined. An adaptation of My Foolish Heart was broadcast on the Lux Radio Theatre on August 28, 1950, with Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews repeating their original roles.
