Four Daughters (1938) User Reviews

The role won for Garfield his place in cinema history as the screen's first rebel hero

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 17 May 2005]

"Four Daughters," a sentimental story of a solid middle class family with four sisters, was notable in one respect: into this romantic, idealized milieu enters Mickey Borden… Carelessly dressed, with an uncompromising attitude to all bourgeois values, he really sets the hearts of the sisters aglow… His criticisms are not only directed towards those about him but also towards himself…

One day Ann (Priscilla Lane) discovers him passionately playing the piano… "That's beautiful," she says… "It stinks," he replies… He falls in love with – and marries – Ann but eventually, realizing that their basic incompatibility is leading their marriage into disaster, he takes the equally uncompromising step of causing his fall…

The role was superbly played by John Garfield, and it brought him not only stardom but also, and perhaps more important, won for him his place in cinema history as the screen's first rebel hero…

Garfield was born in New York's East side of Russian immigrant parents, and spent his adolescence as a delinquent, a real life role that he only relinquished when he began to portray the rebel on screen… He continued, however, throughout his life to question and reject certain traditional values… He was occasionally suspended by the studio and maintained a cynical view of Hollywood…

Finally he ended his career and his life as one of the victims of McCarthy's witchhunt… He was blacklisted by Hollywood because of his suspected left wing sympathies and friends claimed that being banned from working contributed to the heart attack' that killed him at the early age of 39

Sure it's a soap opera--but a good one!

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 8 March 2006]

Story about a widowed father (Claude Rains) bringing up his four daughters. Emma (Gale Page) is loved by big hunky Ernest (Dick Foran). Thea (Lola Lane) is romanced by an old but wealthy man. Kay (Rosemary Lane) wants to become a singer. Ann (Priscilla Lane) is a romantic. Drop dead handsome Felix Deitz (Jeffrey Lynn), a business associate of their father, comes to stay with them. All the sisters fall in love with him. Then tough cynical Mickey (John Garfield) enters the picture...

Very entertaining movie was a big hit and nominated for five Academy Awards. It's beautifully directed by Michael Curitz, has a pretty good (if predictable) script and a VERY attractive cast (especially Lynn). Also this was John Garfield's first film and made him a star. This was so popular there were three or four sequels (which I never saw). This is an engrossing, entertaining, big budget soap opera--well worth seeing.

Very good '40s film overshadowed by a shot to stardom

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 19 August 2006]

"Four Daughters" introduced John Garfield to audiences, and that is what is remembered most about this film today. Unlike some actors who appear in several films before their screen image gels, Garfield established his immediately, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and talk of the fates being against him.

It's actually the story of four girls, their widowed musician father (Claude Rains) and their various suitors, one of whom, Felix, is played by handsome Jeffrey Lynn. He's the one they all have a crush on, but he's in love with Buff (Priscilla Lane). Then she meets ne'er-do-well Mickey Borden, who falls for her as well. When Buff realizes that one of her sisters is in love with Felix, she leaves him at the altar and marries Mickey.

This is a fairly formulaic story given life (and sequels) by the acting. Garfield has already been mentioned, but Priscilla Lane was by far the strongest of the daughters, the most interesting, and the best actress. Jeffrey Lynn was a fresh and good-looking leading man, and this film got him off on the right foot with Warners. However, true stardom was not to be. Like many others of the era, he went into the service, and when he came out, he had a Bronze Star but not much of a career. He later went into television and real estate. Claude Rains is warm and wonderful as the patriarch.

So popular was "Four Daughters" that it inspired "Four Wives" and "Four Mothers," as well as reuniting much of the cast again in "Daughters Courageous" where the actors played different characters.

Very enjoyable, a nice remembrance of simpler and probably happier times, and a chance to see John Garfield in his first film.

Fresh family drama introduced a new star . . .

[tjonasgreen · 8 March 2004]

It isn't hard to see why frequent moviegoers in 1938, wise to the formulas of most movies, would have found FOUR DAUGHTERS a fresh and surprising picture. The story of four musical sisters and their romantic problems begins as conventionally as any Deanna Durbin musical but quickly evolves into an absorbing romantic melodrama.

Director Michael Curtiz keeps all four actresses bubbling sweetly and predictably, but when Jeffrey Lynn enters the picture trouble begins. Though one sister is engaged and another nearly so, all four in some way become smitten by this young musician. Then the script tops itself (and electrified audiences) by introducing a further complication named John Garfield. Cynical, depressive, darkly attractive and clearly a New York 'ethnic' type, Garfield is in every way the opposite of tall, handsome, WASPy Jeffrey Lynn, who in any other picture would probably have made more of an impression. Though friends, the men vie for Priscilla Lane, whose unaffected acting style creates a nice tension with both actors. Believing it best for her sister, Priscilla marries the wrong man, at once confounding and satisfying audience expectations. Halfway through this film you are apt to wonder what will happen next and how events will play out, which is not what you expect from the sunny opening.

Garfield's success overshadowed every other good thing about this film. Clearly Warners' thought they had a successor to Jimmy Cagney. In fact they had the forerunner of Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Montgomery Clift, Brando and James Dean, though Garfield was warmer and more likable than any of those.

This movie was remade in 1955 as a Technicolor musical called YOUNG AT HEART starring Doris Day and Frank Sinatra. Though not a bad idea in theory, the original is a better film.

Garfield Makes His Mark

[abooboo-2 · 7/10 · 15 June 2001]

Lovingly crafted and terribly interesting to watch Garfield's gritty, breakthrough performance (introducing a new kind of rebellious acting style that would carry over to the Brandos and Clifts and so on after the war) but all that sisterly affection is a bit suffocating. Priscilla Lane is a bright, engaging performer but the other sisters don't really register (though they're all allowed to be tart and witty) and I just had a hard time buying any of the other male characters besides Garfield. Jeffrey Lynn is a pleasant enough actor, but he lacks the movie star weight to match up with Garfield's hard luck Mickey Borden and that throws the film a bit out of whack. (Imagine a Jimmy Stewart or someone in the part.) Also, I was not convinced that Garfield would make the pivotal (to say the least) final decision that he made. The film needed another half hour of running time to better explain that action; it feels awfully rushed and under-motivated.

Still, it's not hard to understand how anybody who grew up with this picture would remember it fondly. It falls short of being a classic, but it does contain a few classic moments. The two gate swinging scenes are pure movie magic.

Pretty good for a production code era pre WWII sentimental journey...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 10 November 2020]

...usually I find such films icky sweet, but this one I would give an 8/10 if not for one particularly impossible thing we are expected to believe. But I'll get back to that later.

Often I'll run across a film I didn't expect to amount to much and be pleasantly surprised, and this is one of them. Then I see the director is Michael Curtiz who was saddled with directing such diverse films - and quite frankly challenged plots and actors - during his Warner Brothers career, and some of the mystery is unraveled.

The film is about the family of Adam Lemp (Claude Rains), Dean of the Briarwood Music Foundation (nice work if you can get it during the Depression), who apparently makes so much money that he can afford a house that would go for half a million these days, can support four grown daughters, and his sister who never married (May Robson as Aunt Etta). In fact Rains is thirty years younger than Robson, so that would be some age difference for siblings, and what is an esteemed music foundation doing out in Pleasantville, USA?...but I digress.

So the film goes into the relationship between the four sisters - actually three of them ARE sisters - in particular, Emma (Gail Page) and Ann (Priscilla Lane). They vow to be "old maids" together and seem to have a very strong bond. But then enters upbeat composer Felix Deitz (Jeffrey Lynn) into their lives, along with his downbeat friend Mickey Borden (John Garfield), who is doing orchestration for him. That impossible thing we are expected to believe? That Ann falls head over heals for Lynn's character when he projects all of the romantic appeal of a workboot. She seems to feel like Mickey is a work in progress as she tries to lift his IMHO justified downbeat view on life, particularly, his life. So I am expected to believe a vibrant young woman would prefer Lynn's scarecrow like demeanor over the dark brooding Garfield? Well, this was Garfield's first film, so who knew what kind of charisma he would have.

Mickey falls for Ann, Emma falls for Felix (again, why??), and then on the day of her wedding to Felix, Ann finds out Emma loves Felix. Complications ensue.

This film is saved by some really good warm moments between the characters, and Robson always entertains, although it does waste the talents of one of the great actors of the 20th century, Claude Rains. Anybody could have played this part as little as he has to do. It does give you an idea of the kind of burden women had before the 1970s - that it was only acceptable to first live with your parents and then a husband, and if you never married you are forever fifth wheel and housekeeper in your brother's household, and if you temporarily have a career it has to be in something "lady like". How would this film have turned out if the girls had wanted to put on a hard hat and design buildings rather than sing and play instruments? You'll have to wait until the 1970s for THAT kind of film!

Recommended and well acted in spite of it all. And why are the top three billed actors in a film entitled "Four Daughters" all men? Inquiring minds want to know.

It's got May Robson....what more do you need?!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 26 October 2010]

The film is about four daughters (three of which are real life sisters) and their deliriously happy life with their father (Claude Rains) and crusty but lovable aunt (May Robson). They live in a large house and spend most of their time singing and adoring each other's company. They are certainly a happy bunch. When the story begins, it seems that these four grown daughters are starting to discover men--and each, in turn, has a romance. Clearly the daughter who gets the main focus of the film is played by Priscilla Lane--and this is probably because of the three Lane sisters, she was the most famous.

As for Priscilla, while I know it will give away much of the film, I just couldn't understand her romance in the film. The guy who you think is going to marry her has everything--he's handsome, clever and makes you laugh. Yet, on her wedding day, Lane runs off with the broody and rather annoying John Garfield (in his first film). He is clearly the disaffected bad-boy type and emotionally incapable of showing love--interesting, of course, but it made no sense why Priscilla chose him. So, while this is an interesting plot line, it never seemed particularly real--though I liked how they worked it all out at the end.

Overall, not a great film due to the odd plot (you really do HATE Priscilla's character at times) but the acting is great and the mood is sweet. Apparently, the public loved it, as Warner Brothers made several follow-up films.

John Garfield At His Best!

[GLuisa88 · 10/10 · 26 April 2010]

Most people my age have never heard of John Garfield but they are missing out on one of the greatest actors of film history. At the age of 14, John Garfield was my first celebrity crush and he made me love movies.

Four Daughter is his first and perhaps his greatest film (Although he is perhaps more famous for his movie "The Postman Only Rings Twice"). Ironically enough, Warner Brothers assumed that this film would shoot Jeffrey Lynn to stardom however, it was John Garfield who became the superstar. Because of Garfield's surprising popularity due to this film, WB quickly put together "Daughters Courageous" with an almost identical cast.

The film centers around four musically talented sisters and their respective romances, though specifically the sister, Ann Lemp (Priscilla Lane) and the two men who love her: John Garfield and Jeffrey Lynn.

John Garfield is explosive as the brooding, cynical composer who pretty much assumes that the "fates" are out to get him (Perhaps the greatest scene in the movie is where Garfield is at the piano explaining to Lane why the fates wouldn't let him win the upcoming music competition that he is composing a song for, "They've been at me now nearly a quarter of a century. No let-up. First they said, "Let him do without parents. He'll get along." Then they decided, "He doesn't need any education. That's for sissies." Then right at the beginning, they tossed a coin. "Heads he's poor, tails he's rich." So they tossed a coin... with two heads. Then, for a finale, they got together on talent. "Sure," they said, "let him have talent. Not enough to let him do anything on his own, anything good or great. Just enough to let him help other people. It's all he deserves." Well, you put all this together and you get Michael Bolgar.") Four Daughters would pretty much be just another "schmultzy" tear-jerker without John Garfield who completely steals the film the moment he enters and it's no surprise that when he died at the young age of 38, his funeral was the most attended celebrity funeral at that time, with more people in attendance than at Rudolph Valentino's.

I highly recommend this movie- the only problem I have with it is the bittersweet ending. If you want a happier movie, albeit cornier, try the Doris Day, Frank Sinatra musical remake, "Young at Heart"

Four Daughters review

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 22 April 2020]

A slovenly John Garfield tarnishes the rosy glow radiated by this chick flick when he drifts in midway through (like a Noir-character in an Andy Hardy comedy) to provide a welcome antidote to all the nonsense about sisters sharing clothes and gently dissing their old man. This was supposed to be a little something for Michael Curtiz to do between The Adventures of Robin Hood and Angels with Dirty Faces, but he turned it into a box office hit and made a star out of Garfield.

When Lightning Strikes

[krorie · 9/10 · 24 August 2006]

"Four Daughters" begins as just another clone of "Little Women" type melodrama. A single father with four musically talented eligible daughters has his hands full trying to keep them in line and guide them in their courting rituals. What turns the film around is the sudden appearance of a new Hollywood star, some critics say the first anti-hero long before James Dean graced the big screen. From the time the dark, foreboding figure of Mickey Borden (John Garfield) appears at Ann Lemp's (Priscilla Lane) gate splashing his self-pity and doomed philosophy on the rest of the cast, "Four Daughters" becomes much more than just a chick flick.

Though Garfield is the main reason to watch "Four Daughters," there are other flashes of brilliance to enjoy. Hungarian-born director Michael Curtiz, later responsible for such gems as "Casablanca" and "Mildred Pierce," pinpoints certain images with his camera (aided by cinematographer Ernest Haller of "Rebel Without A Cause" fame) that sticks in the viewers mind, for example the screeching gate that Ann's first suitor, Felix Deitz (Jeffrey Lynn), swings on so merrily becomes symbolic of the shifts in moods and affections by those who use it.

That Garfield delivers the standout performance is obvious, but the rest of the cast keeps up with him most of the way. The underrated Jeffrey Lynn plays his role to perfection, as the neglected suitor whose love for his cherished Ann never falters even when she's with another man. Claude Rains, somewhat miscast as the father of the four coming-of-age young women, gives a fine portrayal of a set upon doting family head who gets lost in the shuffle. The three Lane Sisters, already famous for their musical abilities, turn into accomplished actresses, playing their parts well. A raft of supporting actors, including Dick Foran, Frank McHugh, May Robson, and Eddie Acuff, makes it all believable.

How opposites attract is part of the ploy for touching the quick of the viewer's imagination. Ann is the eternal optimist, even when she and Mickey are down and out. She always looks on the bright side and like so many caught in the pliers of the Great Depression in those days, she saw prosperity just around the corner. Mickey recites an entire list of bad things that have happened to him seeking company in his misery from Ann, which Ann refuses to do. Mickey expects to go out with a bolt of lightning striking him dead as he rounds the corner of life. Mickey has meager talent as a composer; Ann has talent to spare as a singer and musician. Ann is big on beauty; Mickey is big on personality in a warped sense of a way. And the differences go on and on. How all this is reconciled in the end is an important part of the movie, not to be missed.

See "Four Daughters" for John Garfield's doozy of an acting debut on the big screen. The only time he was better came seven years later when he again mesmerized the film goers with one of the greatest screen performances ever, as Frank Chambers in "The Postman Always Rings Twice," opposite the equally charismatic Lana Turner. But also watch "Four Daughters" to catch important elements that may be missed if too much concentration is placed on the star of the show.

Sisters Play Sisters In Another Curtiz Hit

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 9 March 2007]

Although a "woman's story," I found this still fairly interesting. It is unusual in that is has three real-life sisters playing sisters in the movie! I am referring to Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane.

Why national critics loved this movie was the presence of bad-boy-rebel John Garfield. In their twisted Liberal-dominated minds, All-American characters are sickening but sour-on- life, poor-attitude types like Garfield played here are people they can identify with. Despite that, this movie still has an overall feeling of goodness, which is why I liked it. Some of the characters may have done stupid things, but they good hearts. Whose heart was bigger than "Ann's" (Priscilla Lane) in here? I agree with the IMDb user comments critic in here who says this is Priscilla's film as much as the beloved (not by me) Garfield's.

With a director the caliber of Michael Curtiz, the film is better than it might have been under someone else. Curtiz made sure no scene, soapy or otherwise, went on too long.

In addition to the Lane sisters and Garfield, we have Claude Rains (who adds much-needed humor to the story), Jeffrey Lynn (the main love interest of the girls), Gale Page, Dick Foran, Frank McHugh and Mae Robson.

Apparently, this movie must have been a hit because there were several spin-offs from it, neither of them approaching this one in content and box-office success.

A great John Garfield and an underrated Jeffrey Lynn

[reelguy2 · 10/10 · 10 November 2004]

What starts as a homespun comedy-drama and then halfway turns into a melodrama made a major star of John Garfield - and justly so. But Jeffrey Lynn is not to be dismissed as the object of affection of the four daughters. Lynn is very handsome and is so charming it's easy to believe that all four daughters could fall for him. Although Garfield received most of the kudos, Lynn became a major leading man at Warner Bros. as a result of this film.

Michael Curtiz insisted on location shooting for the picnic scene, making it the highlight of the film. Throughout, the craftsmanship is enough to inspire awe. A soap opera by Fanny Hurst has been turned into a cinema masterpiece.

Much needed counterpoint

[mik-19 · 7/10 · 1 January 2005]

A tight-knit musical family, cranky-benevolent father and four vivacious adolescent daughters, is up-rooted by, first, the appearance of Felix, a dashing young composer, and, secondly and most profoundly, Mickey, his insolently attractive orchestrator friend.

It takes a while for Michael Curtiz to get this piece of Americana floating. The first part looks almost like a paraphrasing of a cereal commercial, not without a certain quaint, highly bourgeois charm, and then John Garfield enters the scene as the doomed Mickey, making his first appearance in motion pictures, with mussed-up black curls, sleepy, hung-over eyes, rude and disheveled, the absolute opposite to Jeffrey Lynn's smoothly persuasive, madly charming Felix. Garfield is in complete, and DIRELY needed, counterpoint to the rest of the household ("Nothing I would do would surprise me", he muses), and suddenly the movie becomes interesting, although I agree with critics that find the plot-turns insufficiently motivated.

The four sisters are rather blandly played and seriously underwritten, but Claude Rains as the pater familias has his moments.

Watch it for Garfield, though, he is the only really lasting thing about it.

Sister Sludge

[Lejink · 3/10 · 26 April 2020]

I must admit I was surprised to see that this film was so highly regarded on original release, being nominated for five Oscars including best film, director and supporting actor for debutant John Garfield, although none of them won. For director Michael Curtiz, it came between two absolute classics of Golden Age Hollywood, "Angels With Dirty Faces" and "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" but really this particular movie isn't of the same quality.

It's very slight indeed, concerning the highly musical family of cantankerous but soft-hearted widower dad Claude Rains, his widowed sister, mother-hen May Robson and his four pretty and vivacious daughters of the title. These daughters are so giggly and doe-eyed about men, you could be forgiven for thinking that Deanna Durban had been cloned times four but they all live blissfully together in a big boarding house. We join the action as four very different menfolk come onto the scene, the only problems being that two of them love the one girl, being the youngest sister, Priscilla Lane, while the oldest sister, Gale Page ignores the obvious attentions of an apparently bumbling florist and thinks she's in love with one of Anne's two suitors.

For the first half hour the film plays out in a rather light fashion with lots of lame dialogue and silly scenes before Garfield's character, Mickey Borden is invited into the house and immediately throws a spanner in the works with his cynical, nihilistic approach to life and later, his pursuit of the already engaged Anne. Things get darker before they get better and a sacrifice is made but it's fair to say that because, rather than despite this, things work out as they should for each of the four young women.

Like I said, I wasn't really taken with the film. The four sisters and at least two of their boyfriends are irritatingly ditzy and giddy and are landed with lovey-dovey dialogue that would make infants blush to use it in the school playground. The dramatic situation blows in out of nowhere and the final resolution is very pat indeed.

I loved John Garfield's work in the next decade but Oscar-nominated or not, I found his performance rather gauche, while the experienced Rains hams it up as a sort of early Baron Von Trapp character. The three other boyfriends hanging around leave very little impression either and of the sisters only Priscilla is given anything to really work with.

In closing, I have to say that if this piece of fluff received five Oscar nominations, the competition this particular year must have been pretty weak.

Garfield classic

[jimi99 · 29 June 2002]

It's not hard to see why this powerful introduction to the public of one of the iconic film stars was so sensational. Not unlike Brando in Streetcar, except that the material is quite sentimental and makes Garfield's performance seem even that much edgier and magnetic. Not that this is a Life With Father With Angry Young Man, the script is intelligent and the conflicts believable. Priscilla Lane is wonderfully naturalistic as the youngest daughter with 2 men in love with her, including Garfield's Mickey Borden. And as always, Claude Rains' performance as the widower father and May Robson's as the live-in Aunt Etta, are fine and provide a lot of humor. The movie does have both a light and a heavy touch, intermingled deftly. Probably deserving of the Oscar nominations it received for 1938, but not of two sequels...

Four Daughters and a Funeral

[disinterested_spectator · 6/10 · 6 February 2015]

In a typical melodrama, we first get to know a family or community, which seems fairly stable. In this case, there is a family of a father and four daughters, along with an aunt. Two of the daughters, Ann and Kay, have no boyfriend. Thea plans to marry Ben, whom she does not love, but that doesn't matter to her. She says that love is overrated. What is important is that Ben has lots of money and can provide her with status. This would not be so bad if she were good at faking it, as some gold diggers are, but throughout the movie it is obvious that she cannot stand him physically, recoiling whenever he tries to be affectionate. Emma is just the opposite. She has a suitor named Ernest, whom she jokes about marrying. However, she does not love him, and for her, that is very important. She talks about wanting a "storybook" romance, a "knight in shining armor on a white horse," while Ernest is quite the other thing. As a result, she figures she will end up an old maid. Ann is perplexed about the whole notion of love, asking Emma if it is possible for someone to come along that she would love more than the members of her own family. This turns out to be more than an idle question.

As is also typical in a melodrama, once we are acquainted with a stable family or community, a bachelor comes along and really stirs things up. In this case, the bachelor is Felix, who is handsome and supposedly charming, but I found him to be a bit irritating. He thinks he is being oh so cute when he flirts with the elderly Aunt Etta, acting as if she is young and pretty. Well, Etta goes for it, but a lot of older women hate that kind of patronizing attitude, because it only underscores just how old they are. Especially irritating is the way that men who do that sort of thing seem so pleased with themselves, imagining that they are bringing a little happiness into the life of an old woman. And he is bossy, telling everyone where to sit at the table in their own home. But just like Aunt Etta, everyone in the family seems to be charmed by him, to the point that all four sisters start falling in love with him.

As if one bachelor were not disrupting enough, another one enters the community, a man named Mickey, who is convinced that the fates are against him and that he will always be a loser. He falls in love with Ann. However, Felix asks Ann to marry him and she accepts. They announce their engagement at her father's birthday party. Mickey is crestfallen, and so are the other three sisters. Kay, who had been procrastinating about going to Philadelphia to study for a singing scholarship, immediately announces that she intends to do just that. Thea, who had been stalling Ben about setting a marriage date, immediately announces that she will marry him in June. Ernest, thinking that Emma will be similarly disposed, suggests getting married, but she rebuffs him, and goes into the kitchen to cry.

On the day of Ann's wedding, Mickey not only tells Ann that he loves her, but also reveals that Emma was heartbroken when she found out that Felix was going to marry Ann instead of her. At first Ann does not believe it, but later she sees that it is true. Now we get the answer to Ann's question as to whether romantic love is stronger than love for a family member. In what can only happen in a melodrama, she leaves Felix standing at the altar and elopes with Mickey. This is absurd for two reasons. First, Ann believes that by jilting Felix, he will marry Emma on the rebound, but of course that doesn't happen. In fact, Emma ends up settling for Ernest after all. Second, even if she did think that her sacrifice would result in Felix and Emma getting married, there was no need for her to marry Mickey, whom she did not love.

Four months later, Ann and Mickey are struggling financially. When they go back home for a family reunion at Christmas, Mickey sees how Ann reacts when she sees Felix again, realizing she still loves him. In a typical melodrama, things get so messed up and complicated that someone has to die in order for things to get straightened out, and that is what happens here. Between not being able to provide for Ann, and her still loving Felix, Mickey decides to commit suicide by driving really fast in a snow storm. Apparently he had never read "Ethan Frome." Well, things don't turn out that bad, but he does wind up in the hospital, living just long enough to say a few words to Ann before he dies. In the next scene, we see it is spring. Felix returns and it is clear that eventually he and Ann will get married.

In the remake, "Young at Heart" (1954), Mickey, under the name of Barney (Frank Sinatra), does not die. However, the happy ending is suspicious, because we never see him get out of the hospital. We go from Barney apparently dying in the hospital at Christmas to Barney sitting at the piano in the Spring, surrounded by the entire family, including his wife Laurie (Doris Day), who corresponds to Ann. Furthermore, for the first time in the movie, he seems to be happy, instead of being the disgruntled loser that he has been through the whole movie.

There are two ways to interpret that ending. Either it is just a completely artificial, tacked on happy ending, with no effort made to explain how he recovered or why his personality has changed; or it is Barney's final hallucinatory dream just before he dies. I prefer the latter interpretation.

Garfield makes the biggest impression in sentimental film...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 28 January 2008]

The sisterly affection is almost insufferable in FOUR DAUGHTERS, so wishy-washy is the script that has them treating each other with such tender care. One sister (PRISCILLA LANE) even runs off with the wrong man in an effort to spare her sister's feelings about the man she truly loves. This noble act eventually goes unrewarded, since the man she runs off with (JOHN GARFIELD) decides to end his life--which then makes it possible for Priscilla Lane to end up with the handsome suitor she originally loved--JEFFREY LYNN.

If this all sounds like sentimental tripe, it is--but at least Michael Curtiz gets three fine performances from the cast. JOHN GARFIELD made the biggest impression on critics at the time of release, since nobody had seen an actor of his ilk before, contemptuously tossing off lines in a manner that would later suit Marlon Brando or James Dean. He became an overnight star with his Oscar-nominated supporting role.

PRISCILLA LANE, as the youngest sister who makes the noble sacrifice, is refreshingly natural and extremely sensitive as the only Lane sister who is really given a part that she can grab hold of. The other sisters, ROSEMARY and LOLA LANE, have roles that are so underwritten that they're unplayable. JEFFREY LYNN is fine as the handsome and carefree young man that all of the sisters are attracted to.

Unfortunately, CLAUDE RAINS seems miscast as the girls' father, giving the role none of the distinctive Rains traits that always made his supporting roles so memorable. He just fades into the background, as do GALE PAGE, DICK FORAN, MAY ROBSON, FRANK McHUGH and others among the Warner contract players, while Garfield and Lane hold the spotlight.

A musical version called YOUNG AT HEART starring DORIS DAY and FRANK SINATRA used pretty much the same script, word for word, with the addition of WarnerColor and music. Not bad at all and Sinatra was just as good as Garfield in the role of the sullen songwriter who saw himself as victimized by fate. The musical version changed the ending, the only big difference.

Showcase for Priscilla Lane

[evanston_dad · 6/10 · 3 August 2021]

This Michael Curtiz directed film from 1938 doesn't add up to much more than a showcase for Priscilla Lane, though it is probably more known now for launching the career of John Garfield.

Lane's two sisters are in the film too, playing....well....her sisters, but they fade into the background. The main plot revolves around Lane wanting to marry one guy but not doing it because her sister is in love with the same fella, so she marries John Garfield instead, who bores her to death by constantly moping about what a loser he is. Conveniently, the movie does away with him so that Lane can marry the guy she really wants without feeling guilty. And even better, her sister decides she wasn't in love with him that much anyway and gets a different guy of her own. Yay, everyone gets a man!

It's not surprising that this movie has a completely inconsequential plot, seeing as it was based on a short story that appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine. What is more surprising is that anyone thought enough of it to nominate it for five.....yes, five.....Academy Awards, including Best Picture(!). Curtiz received a Best Director nomination, one of two he received that year (the other for "Angels with Dirty Faces"), while Garfield was the favorite to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar until Walter Brennan won it instead. The film's other two nominations were for Best Screenplay and Best Sound Recording.

Grade: B-

Garfield's Movie Debut

[Leo-86 · 9/10 · 14 January 2000]

Directed by Michael Curtiz, Four Daughters is about four musically gifted sisters, their suitors, and their father, a minor conductor.Playing sardonic, quick talking Mickey Borden is John Garfield in the role that made him an instant star.The movie also stars Claude Rains as Adam Lemp and the Lane sisters, Lola, Rosemary, and Priscilla, and Gale Page as his spirited daughters.Its definitive scene takes place in the Lemps' living room. Cigarette hanging from his lips, Borden is playing one of his own compositions. Priscilla Lane's Ann Lemp tells him the piece is beautiful. But he says, "It stinks." He continues: "It hasn't got a beginning or an end, only a middle." Ann urges him to create a beginning and an end. Borden replies, "What for? The fates are against me. They tossed a coin--heads I'm poor, tails I'm rich. But they tossed a two-headed coin." Audiences loved the way Garfield, in his tough city voice, said It stinks. That scene created Garfield's screen persona as the eternal outsider. Four Daughters is a slice of Americana with Garfield, in a compelling performance, supplying more than a hint of darkness.

Priscilla Lane and John Garfield Debut

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 6 February 2015]

The story of "Four Daughters" starts with the real-life Lane sisters. The idea was for the four sisters to play the four roles in the film. During casting, one Lane sister did not make the grade, but the other three appear in the film, and it was the first film for the youngest, Priscilla, who went on to a successful career, though she quit films after ten years. The other sisters were not in film long either.

Michael Curtiz directs this story of a wholesome, loving family whose equilibrium is upset by the young men who enter the daughters' lives. The youngest, Ann, is the perfect role for the bright-eyed Priscilla Lane. She serves as the catalyst for conflict due to the affections of more than one man.

If it sounds like the film has a foreboding, dark quality, it really doesn't. Even in its darkest moments, the film maintains a warm feeling that centers around the loving family vignettes.

John Garfield also gets his film debut as Mickey, the cynical guy who latches on to the family, hoping their happiness might rub off on him.

The film is worth watching, especially to see novice Priscilla Lane dominate the film with her cheery portrayal.

Enjoyable Movie Thanks To Priscilla Lane

[Randy_D · 10/10 · 19 October 2000]

While John Garfield seems to get the bulk of attention, the true star of Four Daughters is Priscilla Lane. Her performance is the glue that holds the large cast together.

Her ability to interact equally well with John Garfield and the more carefree Jeffrey Lynn is at the core of the success of Four Daughters.

About the only plague worse than having FOUR DAUGHTERS . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 5 March 2021]

. . . is a conglomeration of FIVE female siblings or more, warn the prophetic prognosticators of the always eponymous Warner Bros. here. This film illustrates how even a mere quartet of sisters is bound to confound, confuse and discombobulate an astute suitor, let alone an ordinary connubial layman. Inevitably the most comely, vivacious and outgoing gal (like DAUGHTERS' Ann) will draw all comers to herself as moths to a flame, and pretty much everyone will get burned. I can personally attest to the uncanny accuracy of the Warner seers. Before I endured FOUR DAUGHTERS, I wasted a total of five years mired amid two DIFFERENT quintets of sisterly rivalries. If anything, FOUR DAUGHTERS understates the dire dangers endemic to such distaff overdose. Hell hath no fury like the insidious infighting, constant carping, petty jealousies, hideous hair-pulling, gratuitous game-playing and inscrutable family feud secrets that seep out when too many sisters are stirring the pot. Fortunately, I eventually stumbled across a gal with NO sisters.

A lesson in star quality

[jjnxn-1 · 9/10 · 12 June 2012]

This was John Garfield's introduction to the public and along with Doris Day in Romance on the High Seas and Katharine Hepburn in A Bill of Divorcement one of those instances where in just one role an unknown makes the leap to full fledged star by sheer force of personality and talent. The film itself is an enjoyable enough comedy/drama of four sisters and their various travails but is faulted by the miscasting of the male lead. All four of the women are supposedly swept away by love for Jeffrey Lynn's character Felix. The problem being that while he is very handsome he is beyond bland making the attraction of all four a puzzler. This is especially true as soon as Garfield's Mickey shows up loaded with bruised charisma to burn and pulling the focus of the story to him without even trying. Even though he and Priscilla Lane, in the first of several pairings, are supposed to be mismatched they make far more sense together than she and Felix. That bit of miscasting aside the film does offer two very fine actors, Claude Rains and May Robson, as the heads of the family, they inject a great deal of pleasure into their scenes. As far as the sisters go it's easy to see why Priscilla had the biggest career. She has a certain quality that the others are missing although they aren't bad just unexceptional. Lola is a bit out of place, she was always better when playing a hard luck dame. Her look was more suited to those parts. Of course Gale Page wasn't really one of their real life sisters but favors them enough to be believable but both she and Rosemary don't really stand out. Good of its type but without Garfield in the cast this would be forgotten.

overrated

[kyle_furr · 6/10 · 7 March 2004]

I had heard a lot about this movie but the only good thing in it was John Garfield, even Claude Rains wasn't very good. This was Garfield's first big role and he was nominated for best supporting actor but he lost. After this movie, the next couple of years he made a lot of crappy movies. He was also turned down for Golden Boy, a movie he really wanted to do but was given to William Holden. This movie has four sisters living in the same house with their father, played by Claude Rains. The oldest one is the first to get engaged, and when Jeffrey Lynn comes to stay at their house, the other three girls fall for him. It isn't until John Garfield comes to stay that he falls for the youngest but then Jeffrey gets engaged to her. Their's more to the plot but it isn't very interesting and you should only watch if your a big John Garfield fan.

Garfield the Great

[Michael_Elliott · 28 February 2008]

Four Daughters (1938)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

A musician and father (Claude Rains) does his best to raise his four daughters (Priscilla Lane, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Gale Page) the right way, which he does but things start to go wrong when a rebel musician (John Garfield) enters their house. I was surprised to see how much I enjoyed this film because I was really just expecting a lot of melodrama and sappy scenes but the film became much more than that due to Curtiz's tight direction of the material and a terrific performance by Garfield. The story is certainly mainly for women but Rains and Garfield both make it more entertaining for the men and both of them also give a lot of backbone to the story. Rains is terrific as the old-fashioned father and the four women are also very strong with Priscilla being the real stand out. The supporting cast includes May Robson, Jeffrey Lynn and Dick Foran and all of them are very good. It's easy to see why Garfield received an Oscar nomination and jumped to stardom after this one role because it's one of the most memorable performances from this late 30s period. Garfield brought along a new style of acting and it's still quite refreshing seeing it where it started.