Dear Brat (1951)

Name: Dear Brat
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: 1951-05-30
Duration: 82 min
Rating: 5.6
Cast: Mona Freeman, Billy De Wolfe, Edward Arnold, Lyle Bettger, Mary Philips

Dear Brat (1951), directed by William A. Seiter, starring Mona Freeman and Billy De Wolfe.

05/30/1951 BR Comedy and Romance 1h 22m

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Synopsis

Mirian Wilkins, the teenage daughter of Senator Wilkins, starts a Society for the Rehabilitation of Criminals and, without the approval or knowledge of her father, elects him to the position of honorary president. When the family's new gardener, Baxter, turns out to be a notorious ex-convict who was sentenced to prison by Senator Wilkins when he was a judge, Wilkins considers firing him until his daughter points out that would be an unwise decision considering the position her father held on society.

John F. SeitzCinematography
William A. SeiterDirector
Alma MacrorieEditing
Mel EpsteinProducer

Dear Trilogy

The franchise in release order. 3 films.

Dear Ruth 1947
Dear Wife 1949
Dear Brat 1951 · you are here

About the film

Dear Brat is a 1951 American comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Mona Freeman and Billy De Wolfe. It is the third in a series, following Dear Ruth (1947) and Dear Wife (1949).

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Dear Brat is a 1951 American comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Mona Freeman and Billy De Wolfe. It is the third in a series, following Dear Ruth (1947) and Dear Wife (1949).

Plot

Miriam Wilkins has founded an association for rehabilitation of former prisoners, and her father is unknowingly the group's honorary president. As convict Mr. Baxter is set free on parole, Miriam sees an opportunity for action. She hires Baxter as a gardener, allowing him live in a room over the garage. However, Baxter's sentence had been imposed by Judge Wilkins, now a senator, causing the situation in the house to become chaotic.

Cast

Mona Freeman as Miriam Wilkins

Billy De Wolfe as Albert

Edward Arnold as Senator Wilkins

Lyle Bettger as Mr. Baxter

Natalie Wood as Pauline

Production

In March 1950, Paramount announced a sequel to Dear Wife titled Dear Mom. Arthur Sheekman and Jack Sher were assigned to write the script and Robert Welsch was to produce. In August, Norman Z. McLeod was suspended by Paramount for refusing to direct the film. That same month, the project was retitled Dear Brat. It was to be based on an original story by Deverey Freeman and produced by Mel Epstein. In October, Lyle Bettger was cast, but Joan Caulfield and William Holden, who had starred in Dear Ruth and Dear Wife, did not return. Filming began on October 20, with William Seiter as director, and was completed by the end of November.

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called the film a "scatterbrained display of juvenile stuff and nonsense" and "an off-hand conglomeration of domestic farce".

Critic John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "is very amusing in some spots, dull in others when gag situations flatten out".

In The Philadelphia Inquirer, reviewer Mildred Martin wrote: "Paramount has tried one sequel too many in its Wilkins family series ... With Ruth and Bill gone, the charm and humor of the series has vanished also. For 'Dear Brat' is little more than a collection of witless, incredible incidents, more trying than entertaining, and no picnic for survivors from the two previous films of the series."

Comic-book adaption

Eastern Color Movie Love #10 (August 1951)

References

External links

Dear Brat at IMDb

Dear Brat at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

Text from Dear Brat on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Brat

Trivia

It premiered on May 30, 1951, a Wednesday.
It runs 1h22 — short for a feature film.
It is film 3 of 3 in the Dear Trilogy franchise.
This film's quiz has 11 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosParamount Pictures
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
StatusReleased

Cast

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Crew

John F. Seitz Cinematography
William A. Seiter Director
Alma Macrorie Editing
Mel Epstein Producer
Van Cleave Original music
Devery Freeman Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Dear Brat about?

Dear Brat: Mirian Wilkins, the teenage daughter of Senator Wilkins, starts a Society for the Rehabilitation of Criminals and, without the approval or knowledge of her father, elects him to the position of honorary president. When the family's new gardener, Baxter, turns out to be a notorious ex-convict who was sentenced to priso…

Who directed Dear Brat?

Dear Brat was directed by William A. Seiter in 1951.

Who stars in Dear Brat?

The cast of Dear Brat includes Mona Freeman, Billy De Wolfe, Edward Arnold, Lyle Bettger and Mary Philips.

How long is Dear Brat?

Dear Brat runs for 82 minutes, or 1h22.

What is the correct order of the Dear Trilogy films?

The Dear Trilogy franchise has 3 films in the catalogue. In release order: Dear Ruth; Dear Wife; Dear Brat.