Casanova Brown [Blu-ray]

It’s spring in Rossmore, Illinois, and Professor Casanova Q. Brown returns to his hometown anxious to tie the knot with his sweetheart Madge Ferris. But Cass is in a “strange situation” and seems much more nervous than a first-time groom ought to be.

Then, on the eve of their wedding, Cass receives a letter from a nearby maternity hospital he first suspects is an advertisement, but upon investigation, proves to be much more.

Gary Cooper brings the comic sensibilities he displayed in such films as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Ball of Fire to Casanova Brown, a wacky romantic comedy that reunites him with his The Pride of the Yankees leading lady, Teresa Wright. It’s old home week for Teresa as well; Patricia Collinge, who played her mother in Shadow of a Doubt, repeats that function here along with a splendid supporting cast that includes a scene-stealing Frank Morgan (as Coop’s would-be father-in-law), Anita Louise, Edmund Breon, Mary Treen and Emory Parnell.

Directed by Sam Wood (who made four films with star Cooper, including Yankees and For Whom the Bell Tolls), Casanova Brown boasts a hilarious script written by Nunnally Johnson from a play co-written by none other than character actor Thomas Mitchell!  It’s truly an old-fashioned kind of comedy—irresistible fun that will make you laugh and cry.