Good Sam is a 1948 American romantic comedy - drama film starring Gary Cooper as a Good Samaritan who is helpful to others at the expense of his own family. The film was directed by Leo McCarey and produced by McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions. It received mixed reviews, with critics alternately liking and disliking the film based on whether they viewed it as a serious story or a spoof. The film was one of the top box-office draws of 1948, grossing $ 2.95 million.
51-423: Good Sam may refer to: Good Sam (1948 film) , an American romantic comedy starring Gary Cooper and Ann Sheridan Good Sam (2019 film) , an American drama starring Tiya Sircar Good Sam (TV series) , an American medical drama starring Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs Good Sam Club , an organization for recreational vehicle (RV) owners Good Sam Enterprises ,
102-415: A Cue magazine review which chided Cooper for overacting, writing: "Mr. Cooper is now a grown man and his boyish bashfulness, sheepish grins, trembling lip and fluttering eyelids are actors' tricks he can surely do without"; Meyers blamed Cooper's maneuvers on the actor's efforts to "compensate for a poor script". Among 21st-century critics. Leonard Maltin calls the film "an almost complete misfire" and
153-429: A "lifeless comedy". PopMatters writes that the film “ ...balances comedy, pathos, and irony so freely within each scene that you don't know how the movie expects you to react. This ambiguity of affect marks the cinema of Leo McCarey. He's so fascinated by observing the nuances of human reactions, and how the emotions of different characters feed and counterpoint each other, that he lets scenes run on quite long; you get
204-694: A Fireman (1937) with Dick Foran for director John Farrow . She was a lead in The Patient in Room 18 (1937) and its sequel Mystery House (1938). Sheridan was in Little Miss Thoroughbred (1938) with Litel for Farrow and supported Dick Powell in Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938). Universal borrowed her for a support role in Letter of Introduction (1938) at the behest of director John M. Stahl . For Farrow, she
255-435: A Love Song (1936); Black Legion (1937) with Humphrey Bogart ; The Great O'Malley (1937) with Pat O'Brien and Bogart, her first real break; San Quentin (1937), with O'Brien and Bogart, singing for the first time in a film; and Wine, Women and Horses (1937) with Barton MacLane . Sheridan moved into B picture leads: The Footloose Heiress (1937); Alcatraz Island (1937) with John Litel ; and She Loved
306-521: A Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant . Clara Lou Sheridan was born in Denton, Texas , on February 21, 1915, the youngest of five children (Kitty, Pauline, Mabel, and George) of garage mechanic George W. Sheridan and Lula Stewart (née Warren). According to Sheridan, her father was a grandnephew of Civil War Union general Philip Sheridan . She was active in dramatics at Denton High School and at North Texas State Teachers College . She also sang with
357-433: A car for a vacation when theirs breaks down. Sam is a department store manager whose boss, H.C. Borden, wants him to sell more and socialize less. Sam's a shoulder for clerk Shirley Mae to cry on when her romance breaks up. He also gives a $ 5,000 loan, without his wife's knowledge, to Mr. and Mrs. Adams, who need it to save a gas station they bought. Lu is fed up with Sam's generosity, particularly when he ends up paying for
408-451: A film based on a story by Eleanore Griffin . She was going to make My Forbidden Past (originally titled Carriage Entrance ) at RKO. They fired her and Sheridan sued for $ 250,000 (equivalent to $ 3.2 million today) The New York Times reported the amount as $ 350,000 ($ 4.5 million today). Sheridan ultimately won $ 55,162 ($ 710,000 today). Sheridan made Woman on the Run (1950),
459-510: A long-term relationship with publicist Steve Hannagan that lasted until his death in 1953. Hannagan bequeathed Sheridan $ 218,399 (equivalent to $ 2.5 million today). Sheridan engaged in a romantic affair with Mexican actor Rodolfo Acosta , with whom she appeared in 1953's Appointment in Honduras . She and the married Acosta shared an apartment in Mexico City for several years, and Sheridan
510-528: A membership organization for RV owners and camping enthusiasts See also [ edit ] The Good Samaritan (disambiguation) , a bible character and name of many organizations and related stories Sam Goode , a fictional character in Lorien Legacies young adult science fiction books Sam Goody , a music and entertainment retailer in the United States and United Kingdom Topics referred to by
561-477: A nobly intended tribute to the Good Samaritan type. And that is understandable, for the story is such a cliché that it may not be easily distinguished as an outright travesty. ... But if you'll realize at the outset that the hero of this comic tale is not supposed to be taken as a proper example at all but is really something of a lampoon—a spoof of a popular movie type—then you'll certainly get more pleasure out of
SECTION 10
#1733084694442612-458: A noir also starring Dennis O'Keefe which she produced. She wanted to make a film called Her Secret Diary . Woman on the Run was distributed by Universal, and Sheridan signed a contract with that studio. While there, she made Steel Town (1952), Just Across the Street (1952), and Take Me to Town (1953), a comedy with Sterling Hayden that was the first film directed by Douglas Sirk in
663-428: A ranking of no. 23 on the list of highest grossing films of 1948. Critical reviews were mixed. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times evaluated the film positively, calling it "a mischievous sort of satire" and pointing out that the main character, who behaves like a saint towards everyone, should not be taken seriously. Crowrher wrote: “The principal danger in this picture is that people will take it seriously as
714-515: A smash-hit trucking melodrama. Sheridan was back with Cagney for City for Conquest (1941) and then made Honeymoon for Three (1941), a comedy with George Brent . Sheridan did two lighter films: Navy Blues (1941), a musical comedy, and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis , wherein she played a character modeled on Gertrude Lawrence . She then made Kings Row (1942), in which she received top billing playing opposite Ronald Reagan , Robert Cummings , and Betty Field . It
765-569: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7024 Hollywood Boulevard . Sheridan married actor Edward Norris August 16, 1936, in Ensenada , Mexico. They separated a year later and divorced in 1939. On January 5, 1942, she married fellow Warner Bros. star George Brent , who co-starred with her in Honeymoon for Three (1941); they divorced exactly one year later. Following her divorce from Brent, she had
816-666: A week (equivalent to $ 1,710 in 2023 ), where she played mostly uncredited bit parts for the next two years. She can be glimpsed in the following 1934 films, and if credited, as Clara Lou Sheridan: Bolero , Come On Marines! , Murder at the Vanities , Shoot the Works , Kiss and Make-Up with Cary Grant , The Notorious Sophie Lang , College Rhythm (directed by Norman Taurog whom Sheridan admired), Ladies Should Listen with Cary Grant, You Belong to Me , Wagon Wheels , The Lemon Drop Kid with Lee Tracy , Mrs. Wiggs of
867-605: A year, touring with the USO to perform in front of the troops as far afield as China. She returned in One More Tomorrow (1946) with Morgan. She had an excellent role in the noir Nora Prentiss (1947), which was a hit. It was followed by The Unfaithful (1948), a remake of The Letter , and Silver River (1948), a Western melodrama with Errol Flynn . Leo McCarey borrowed her to support Gary Cooper in Good Sam (1948). She
918-414: Is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937) with Humphrey Bogart , Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, City for Conquest (1940) with Cagney and Elia Kazan , The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis , Kings Row (1942) with Ronald Reagan , Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was
969-452: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Good Sam (1948 film) Sam Clayton is too good for his own good. A sermon by Rev. Daniels persuades him to help others in every way he can, including his wife Lu's good-for-nothing brother, Claude, who's been living with them rent-free for six months, and their neighbors the Butlers, who need
1020-423: Is reminiscent of the adventures of Nancy Drew . It is part of a series known as "Whitman Authorized Editions", 16 books published between 1941 and 1947 that always featured a film actress as heroine. Sheridan was given the lead in the musical Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944), playing Nora Bayes , opposite Dennis Morgan . She was in a comedy, The Doughgirls (1944). Sheridan was absent from screens for over
1071-615: The Los Angeles area. The film was shot in Los Angeles from August 4 to October 1947. In January 1948, McCarey reportedly filmed additional scenes to provide alternative endings for the film. Preview audiences were then asked to state which of the two endings they preferred. The unused ending is not known. Interior scenes of the church were modeled after the interior of the city's St. James Episcopal Church. The Rev. J. Herbert Smith, pastor of All Saints' Episcopal Church of Beverly Hills ,
SECTION 20
#17330846944421122-537: The NBC soap opera Another World . Her final role was as Henrietta Hanks in the television comedy Western series Pistols 'n' Petticoats , which was filmed while she became increasingly ill in 1966, and was broadcast on CBS on Saturday nights. The 19th episode of the series, "Beware the Hangman", aired as scheduled on the same day that she died in 1967. For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Ann Sheridan has
1173-630: The "oomph" tag." She continued, "But I'm sorry now. I know if it hadn't been for 'oomph' I'd probably still be in the chorus." This was later referenced and spoofed on the 1941 animated short Hollywood Steps Out . Sheridan co-starred with Dick Powell in Naughty but Nice (1939) and played a wacky heiress in Winter Carnival (1939). She was top billed in Indianapolis Speedway (1939) with O'Brien and Angels Wash Their Faces (1939) with
1224-496: The 1948 presidential elections. In 1966, Sheridan began starring in a new television series, a Western-themed comedy called Pistols 'n' Petticoats . She became ill during the filming and died of esophageal cancer with massive liver metastases at age 51 on January 21, 1967, in Los Angeles. She was cremated and her ashes were in the private vault at Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles until they were reinterned in
1275-467: The Adamses surprise him with a check for $ 6,000 to repay their loan, Sam uses some of the money to pay for the annual Christmas charity dinner after he is robbed of the money he collected from employees and the bank refuses to give him a loan. He ends up in a bar, drinking copiously. A Salvation Army marching band playing Christmas songs brings him back home. There the bank manager promises that he will receive
1326-451: The Butlers' car repairs, then letting the mechanic come over for home-cooked meals. The last straw for Lu comes when she learns they have a chance to put a down payment on a new house, except Sam has lent their nest egg to the Adamses. Sam is unhappy, too. He's annoyed with the Butlers, who have crashed his car and can't pay to fix it. He also wants Claude to move out. Shirley Mae's troubles come to his door after she overdoses on pills. Though
1377-552: The Cabbage Patch , Ready for Love , Limehouse Blues with George Raft and Anna May Wong , and One Hour Late . Along with fellow contractees, Sheridan worked with Paramount's drama coach Nina Moise and performed on the studio lot in such plays as The Milky Way and The Pursuit of Happiness . While in The Milky Way , Paramount decided to change her first name from Clara Lou to the same as her character Ann. Sheridan
1428-718: The Dead End Kids and Ronald Reagan . Castle on the Hudson (1940) put her opposite Garfield and O'Brien. Sheridan's first real starring vehicle was It All Came True (1940), a musical comedy costarring Bogart and Jeffrey Lynn . She introduced the song " Angel in Disguise ". Sheridan and Cagney were reunited in Torrid Zone (1940) with O'Brien in support. She was with George Raft , Bogart and Ida Lupino in They Drive by Night (1940),
1479-620: The Hunter (1957), was shot in Africa. She performed in stage tours of Kind Sir (1958) and Odd Man In (1959), and The Time of Your Life at the Brussels World Fair in 1958. In all three shows, she acted with Scott McKay, whom she later married. In 1962, she played the lead in the Western series Wagon Train episode titled "The Mavis Grant Story". In the mid-1960s, Sheridan appeared on
1530-554: The United States. Sheridan starred with Glenn Ford in Appointment in Honduras (1953), directed by Jacques Tourneur . She appeared opposite Steve Cochran in Come Next Spring (1956) and was one of several stars in MGM's The Opposite Sex (1956), a remake of The Women starring June Allyson , Joan Collins , Dolores Gray , Sheridan and Ann Miller . Her last film, Woman and
1581-559: The actors for "bungling" the potential satirical comedy, resulting in Cooper giving "one of the most dopey, insipid performances of his long career". Writing in 2001, Cooper biographer Jeffrey Meyers calls Good Sam "one of Cooper's worst [films]"; a "labored, repetitive, one-joke movie". Comparing it to Cooper's "naïve and idealistic" performance in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , Meyers describes Cooper's acting in this film as "merely goofy". Meyers quotes
Good Sam - Misplaced Pages Continue
1632-549: The actress with the most "oomph" in America. "Oomph" was described as "a certain indefinable something that commands male interest". She received as many as 250 marriage proposals from fans in a single week. Sheridan reportedly loathed the sobriquet that made her a popular pin-up girl in the early 1940s. However, she expressed in a February 25, 1940, news story distributed by the Associated Press that she no longer "bemoaned
1683-434: The antics than if you don't. Crowther praised Cooper's performance as a spoof of "every do-gooder that he has played since Mr. Deeds, plus a couple of memorable do-gooders that Jimmy Stewart has played". He also lauded Sheridan's performance for cueing the reader to the fact the film should not be taken seriously, writing: "As a matter of fact, it is the lovely and willful sarcasm in her approach—the non-Pollyannaism—that keys
1734-455: The college's stage band and played basketball on the North Texas women's basketball team. Then, in 1933, Sheridan won the prize of a bit part in an upcoming Paramount film, Search for Beauty , when her sister Kitty entered Sheridan's photograph into a beauty contest. After the release of Search for Beauty in 1934, Paramount put the 19-year-old under contract at a starting salary of $ 75
1785-477: The feeling he'd just as soon they never end. Writing for the CinePassion website , Fernando Croce on the other hand, asserts that "[t]he leisurely treatment allows for the flowering of digressions like Ida Moore 's sketch of a wizened sly pixie or Dick Wessel 's beautiful rendition of Edgar Kennedy 's monumental slow-burn at the wheel of a bus". As of December 2020, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes rates
1836-457: The film 60 percent fresh. Good Sam was adapted for a September 25, 1950 presentation on Lux Radio Theatre starring Sheridan and Joel McCrea . It was also adapted for a 30-minute episode on Stars in the Air on March 13, 1952, starring Sheridan and David Wayne . Ann Sheridan Clara Lou " Ann " Sheridan (February 21, 1915 – January 21, 1967) was an American actress and singer. She
1887-476: The film's pacing, due to his "languidness and too obviously premeditated performance in a pic that in itself is unusually long". Contemporary reviews also noted the miscasting of Sheridan, who typically played "sassy" characters but in this film was cast as a "bland" housewife. Variety felt the stylishly-outfitted Sheridan looked more at home "in a Christian Dior salon" than in the kitchen cooking eggs. In 1982, The RKO Story criticized McCarey's coaching of
1938-497: The loan he asked for, and Borden surprises him with a promotion to vice-president of the store. Good Sam was written by Ken Englund based on a story by Leo McCarey and John D. Klorer. Sinclair Lewis was asked to work on the script but refused, stating: "[A] man who tried to lead in our times the life of an apostle would be an idiot and would be considered by others to be one". McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions, borrowed Ann Sheridan from Warner Bros. , to play
1989-569: The many Warner Bros. stars who had cameos in Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943). She was the heroine of a novel, Ann Sheridan and the Sign of the Sphinx , written by Kathryn Heisenfelt and published by Whitman Publishing Company in 1943. While the heroine of the story was identified as a famous actress, the stories were entirely fictitious. The story was probably written for a young teenaged audience and
2040-413: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Good Sam . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Good_Sam&oldid=1077089241 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2091-421: The studio loaned her out to Poverty Row production company Talisman to make The Red Blood of Courage (1935) with Kermit Maynard . After this, Paramount declined to renew her contract. Sheridan made Fighting Youth (1935) at Universal and then signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1936. Sheridan's career prospects began to improve at her new studio. Her early films for Warner Bros. included Sing Me
Good Sam - Misplaced Pages Continue
2142-687: The whole purpose of the film". He called McCarey's staging of the interactions between the main character and his wife, and with others, "bright, explosive—and absurd". A 1950 review by the Narandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser of New South Wales also praised the film as "smashing in its comic effect", "heartwarming and human". The Santa Cruz Sentinel gave the picture a weak nod, writing: "The film has several good laughs, and no doubt some people will find it amusing and even philosophical. Others will find it episodic, confused and even embarrassing". Variety blamed Cooper's performance for slowing
2193-480: The wife of Gary Cooper 's character. According to the American Film Institute , Cooper's career was "floundering" at the time, and while he was filming Good Sam he signed a "significant contract" with Warner Bros. For the scene in which a Salvation Army marching band accompanies Cooper's drunken character home, director McCarey assembled a 25-piece band composed of students from several high schools in
2244-518: Was a big hit and critically acclaimed. Sheridan was reunited with the Dead End Kids in They Made Me a Criminal (1938) starring John Garfield . She was third-billed in the Western Dodge City (1939), playing a saloon owner opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland . The film was another success. In March 1939, Warner Bros. announced Sheridan had been voted by a committee of 25 men as
2295-499: Was a major success and one of Sheridan's most memorable films. Sheridan and Reagan were reunited for Juke Girl (1942) released about six weeks after Kings Row . She was in the war film Wings for the Eagle (1942) and made a comedy with Jack Benny , George Washington Slept Here (1943). She played a Norwegian resistance fighter in Edge of Darkness (1943) with Errol Flynn and was one of
2346-560: Was a technical advisor. Filming was interrupted by Cooper's appearance as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee on October 23, 1947. The film was released on September 1, 1948. The original 130-minute cut is stored at the Library of Congress . The film was reissued with a runtime of 112 to 114 minutes. The film grossed $ 2.95 million in domestic and international receipts, giving it
2397-530: Was charged with criminal adultery in Mexican federal court in October, 1956, following an accusation by Acosta's wife, Jeanine Cohen Acosta. Mexican authorities issued a warrant for Sheridan's arrest. Nothing came of the criminal charges, and the relationship ended c. 1958. On June 5, 1966, Sheridan married actor Scott McKay , who was with her when she died seven months later. Sheridan supported Thomas E. Dewey in
2448-569: Was in Broadway Musketeers (1938), a remake of Three on a Match (1932). Sheridan's notices in Letter of Introduction impressed Warner Bros. executives and she began to get roles in better quality pictures at her own studio starting with Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), wherein she played James Cagney 's love interest; Bogart, O'Brien and the Dead End Kids had supporting roles. The film
2499-638: Was just playing the lead, that's all", she later said. She next had a support role as the romantic interest in Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935), a Randolph Scott Western. She then appeared in Mississippi (1935) with Bing Crosby and W. C. Fields , The Glass Key (1935) with George Raft in a brief speaking role for which she was billed as "Nurse" in the cast list at the end of the film, and (having one line) The Crusades (1935) with Loretta Young . In her last picture under her deal with Paramount,
2550-629: Was meant to star in Flamingo Road . She then left Warner Bros., saying: "I wasn't at all satisfied with the scripts they offered me." Her role in I Was a Male War Bride (1949), directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant , was another success. In 1950, she appeared on the ABC musical television series Stop the Music . She made Stella (1950), a comedy with Victor Mature at Fox. In April 1949, she announced she wanted to produce Second Lady ,
2601-739: Was then cast in the film Behold My Wife! (1934) at the behest of director and friend Mitchell Leisen . The role provided two standout scenes for the actress, including one in which her character commits suicide, to which she attributed Paramount's keeping her under contract. She continued with bit parts in Enter Madame (1935) with Elissa Landi and Cary Grant, Home on the Range (1935) with Randolph Scott and Evelyn Brent , and Rumba (1935) with George Raft and Carole Lombard , until her first lead role in Car 99 (1935), with Fred MacMurray . "No acting, it
SECTION 50
#1733084694442#441558