Directed by:
Mitchell LeisenScreenplay:
Claude BinyonCinematography:
John J. MescallComposer:
Victor YoungCast:
Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray, Macdonald Carey, Constance Moore, Robert Benchley, Charles Arnt, Cecil Kellaway, Kathleen Howard, Dooley Wilson (more)Plots(1)
Take a Letter, Darling is from the "boss lady" school of 1940s comedies. Fred MacMurray is Darling (that's his last name), an unsuccessful artist who advertises for a position as male secretary. He is hired by female advertising executive Rosalind Russell, who is all business--during business hours. MacMurray learns that his job description includes escorting Ms. Russell and her clients to social gatherings. This goes on and on until Rosalind begins softening her steely exterior and MacMurray asserts his male prerogative (this of course was 1942, when gender stereotypes weren't subject to the ACLU). The film's best moments belong to Robert Benchley as Russell's ad agency partner, who'd rather play cards than tend to business. Though Rosalind Russell seems to be typecast in Take a Letter, Darling she was actually second choice for her role; it had been slated for Claudette Colbert, but Colbert became unavailable when she took over for the recently deceased Carole Lombard in The Palm Beach Story (42). (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Rosalind Russell
USA
Best movies:
The Citadel (1938)
His Girl Friday (1940)
China Seas (1935)
Fred MacMurray
USA
Best movies:
Bon Voyage! (1962)
Double Indemnity (1944)
The Apartment (1960)
Macdonald Carey
USA
Best movies:
Roots (1977) (series)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Count the Hours (1953)
Constance Moore
USA
Best movies:
When Tomorrow Comes (1939)
Buck Rogers (1939)
Robert Benchley
USA
Best movies:
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
The Major and the Minor (1942)
China Seas (1935)
Charles Arnt
USA
Best movies:
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Cecil Kellaway
South Africa
Best movies:
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
The Proud Rebel (1958)
Kathleen Howard
Canada
Best movies:
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Laura (1944)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Dooley Wilson
USA
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
My Favorite Blonde (1942)
Stormy Weather (1943)
Margaret Hayes
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Saboteur (1942)
Eddie Acuff
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
The Phantom Creeps (1949) (TV movie) - a.f.
George Dolenz
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Racers (1955)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
My Cousin Rachel (1952)
Florine McKinney
USA
Best movies:
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
One Hour with You (1932)
Bess Flowers
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Rear Window (1954)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Dave Willock
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
William H. O'Brien
Australia
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Mysterious Lady (1928)
The Graduate (1967)
Sam Harris
Australia
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Harold Miller
USA
Best movies:
Song of Love (1947)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Gino Corrado
Italy
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Fury (1936)
Sunrise (1927)
Jack Chefe
Russian Empire
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
It Started with Eve (1941)
All About Eve (1950)