It Happened to Jane

Director: Richard Quine Richard Quine

Overview

"The DVD release of Richard Quine's It Happened to Jane has given the movie a visual luster that far outshines its stylistic merits. The letterboxed non-anamorphic image (1.85:1) in high-definition looks stunning; even on a non-high-definition DVD playback, it could fool viewers into thinking they were watching a film print; it's so clean and crisp that you can easily make out the back-projection shots from those that are actual location shots. Otherwise, the disc is fairly undistinguished -- a dozen chapters for the 97-minute movie, which relies a little too much on Doris Day's cuteness and not enough on Jack Lemmon's gift for comedy to be considered a classic (though it builds to a rewarding climax that parodies movie thrillers). There are no significant bonus features unique to this movie, though a pair of trailers for two much better movies -- Gilda and It Should Happen to You -- plus a middling musical (You Were Never Lovelier) add significantly to the entertainment content of the disc itself. The DVD opens automatically to a simple, easy-to-use menu."

Product Details

Release Date:	02/22/2005
UPC:	0043396075450
Original Release:	1959
Rating:	NR
Source:	SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMT
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	25,728

Special Features

Closed Caption; [None specified]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Doris Day	Jane Osgood
Jack Lemmon	George Denham
Ernie Kovacs	Harry Foster Malone
Steve Forrest	Lawrence Clay 'Larry' Hall
Teddy Rooney	Billy Osgood
Russ Brown	Uncle Otis
Walter Greaza	Crawford Sloan
Parker Fennelly	Homer Bean
Philip Coolidge	Wilbur Peterson
Mary Wickes	Matilda Runyon
Max Showalter	Selwyn Harris
John Cecil Holm	Aaron Caldwell
Gina Gillespie	Betty Osgood
Dick Crockett	Clarence Runyon
Napoleon Whiting	Porter
Bob Paige	Himself,Bob Paige - Host 'The Big Payoff'
Dave Garroway	Himself
Garry Moore	Himself
Bill Cullen	Himself
Jayne Meadows	Herself
Henry Morgan	Himself
Betsy Palmer	Herself
Steve McCormick	TV Newsman
Gene Rayburn	Himself
Bess Myerson	Herself
James Lanphier	Newspaper Photographer
Thomas Anthony	Bit Role
Elaine Edwards	Laura Beardsley
George Duning	Composer

Technical Credits

Norman Katkov

Richard Quine	Director,Producer
Norman Katkov	Screenwriter
Martin Melcher	Executive Producer,Producer
Harry D. Mills	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

It Happened to Jane is a fairly enjoyable little romantic comedy (with a misleading title, by the way, as Jane is hardly so impassive as to wait and let things happen to her). Jane has a real desire to be a Frank Capra-style comedy, and on the surface it succeeds: it's a "little man (or woman) takes on the system and wins against all odds, aided by the reg'lar folks who take up her cause" story, alright. But Jane lacks the magic that Capra could bring to these tales. He believed in such stories in his gut, and that belief casts a glow over his best films that can't be duplicated. Jane's director, Richard Quine, may very well share that belief, but if he does, he lacks Capra's ability to turn that belief into cinematic magic. His work is perfunctory; it gets the job done, but it doesn't bring anything new or special to the film. Without that, the many flaws in the screenplay become all too apparent. Fortunately, Jane has a lovely cast. Doris Day is in excellent form, spunky and perky and entirely believable as the little woman who refuses to say die. Jack Lemmon is in equally good form as her more cautious counterpart, and the chemistry between the two is excellent. And Ernie Kovacs practically steals the whole show as the cigar-chomping villain of the piece. Throw in dependable Mary Wickes and some cameos from an array of TV names of the period, and the result is a minor but diverting little piece of fluff.