Penny Serenade (1941) - Video On Demand

Penny Serenade - Movie Review

Penny Serenade is a film melodrama depicting the story of a loving couple who must overcome a series of adversity to keep their marriage and have a child raised. For his performance in the film, Cary Grant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

As Julie (Irene Dunne) prepares to leave her husband Roger (Cary Grant), she begins to play through a stack of recordings, each of which reminds her of events in their lives together. One of them is the song that was playing when she and Roger first met in a music store. Other songs remind her of their courtship, their marriage, their desire for a child, and the joys and sorrows that they have shared. A flood of memories comes back to her as she ponders their present problems and how they arose.

Roger and Julie Adams suffer a tragedy when she miscarries in an earthquake during their trip in Japan. They are told that she cannot have children. They request to adopt a two-year old boy, but ultimately adopt a much younger girl. They struggle to make ends meet and to retain their parental rights when Roger loses his job. When the little girl dies suddenly, the emotional strain threatens to destroy their marriage. The songs that mark episodes in the action are from records from their collection. The title refers to a song of the same name. At the end, they are offered the opportunity to adopt a little boy who matches their original request, miraculously saving their marriage.

Sentimental in the extreme, Penny Serenade is also enormously effective, balancing moments of heartbreaking pathos with uproarious laughter. Only director George Stevens could have handled a scene with a copiously weeping Cary Grant without inducing discomfort or embarrassment in the audience.

Excitingly Re-united! Your favorites of "The Awful Truth" in the kind of love story you have been waiting to see!

Penny Serenade - Cast & Crew

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