SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

SimonJack From the day Ruth and Eileen Sherwood move into their basement apartment in Greenwich Village, they have no time of their own. The two sisters left their home in Ohio to make it in New York City. That's where all the publishing houses were located. Rosalind Russell is the big sister, Ruth, who's going to New York in the hopes of making it as a writer. She was fired from the Columbus Ohio Courier for a phony theater review of her sister starring in a local stage play. Janet Blair is the young sister, Eileen, who gets to go with her parents' approval only because Ruth will be there to watch over her. And, watching over, one might think Eileen needs. She is a magnet to young men with her natural beauty and almost naïve innocence. But her charm and many attributes belie a common sense girl who, while she relishes all the attention, nevertheless is able to keep the wolves at bay. The Sherwood's apartment is also a magnet for neighbors, wolves, job interviewers, the building owner, and people just passing by on the street. Even a contingent of cadets from the Portuguese Navy make it into the apartment. And it's not Eileen, but Ruth, who draws them there. This is a funny movie of mayhem and motion. There's hardly a quiet moment in the film. Besides the crazy situations, Ruth gets in mildly caustic comments here and there about the goings on to provide some humorous dialog. All of the cast are good in their roles. The film is fun but not among the funniest or best comedies. The movie is based on the adventures of two real sisters – Ruth and Eileen McKenney from Cleveland, Ohio. Ruth first serialized her short stories in The New Yorker magazine, and then published her book by the same title in 1938. This movie just uses the last two stories in the book. It was about their growing up together and then moving to Greenwich Village. The story was made into a play, two movies, and a TV series. Judging from Ruth's biography and the stories she wrote, the two sisters and their experiences were not as lily white innocent as things are portrayed in this film. McKenney wrote other comedy works and numerous articles for several magazines. Her life was somewhat tragic. Eileen married author Nathanael West in 1939, and both were killed in a car accident in 1940. She was just 26 years old. In 1937, Ruth had married writer Richard Bransten, and they had a son a daughter. But on Ruth's 44th birthday in 1955, while they were living in London, England, Branston committed suicide. Ruth returned to New York but stopped writing. Her daughter, Eileen, said that her mother never recovered from her sister's death. Ruth suffered from diabetes and heart disease and died in New York on July 25, 1972, at age 60.

ksf-2 Abner! Abner! yup, that's George Tobias from "Bewitched" behind the wig and over-sized mustache playing the bushy/pushy artist and landlord in this first film version of "My Sister Eileen". Rosalind Russell and Janel Blair are sisters who come from Ohio to the big city to find fame and fortune in New York. There are some clever lines, mostly given to Russell, but it must be the direction of Alexander Hall holding this back. The Three Stooges make an appearance, and a very flat-line Brian Aherne. He keeps stepping out of the woodwork to tell Ruth (Russell) that her stories will or will not be published. Viewers will recognize Donald MacBride as the neighborhood cop, trying to keep things under control. Gordon Jones is the out of work muscle guy from upstairs, married of course, since we're well into the Hays Code by this time. He always seems to play the wrestler, the truck driver, and people named "Tex". The girls have many adventures, but the Portuguese navy is involved, and for some reason, they put Eileen (Blair) in jail, which doesn't really make sense, but you have to buy into it. It probably made more sense before it was all whitewashed for the audience. The basic story must have good footings, since the film has been remade, and it was even turned into a TV show in the 1960s. Janet Blair, who had the least experience in films at the time, turns in the best acting performance. Interesting note- Frank Quine, who had played Lippincott in the 1942 film version, directed the 1955 remake starring Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, and Betty Garrett. Haven't seen that one yet, but it must have been pretty good, since that one made it to video. and the 1955 version was a musical! one odd connection - the 42 version has George Tobias, and the 1955 version has Dick York, both would end up on the TV show "Bewitched"

edwagreen Rosalind Russell received a best actress nomination for playing Ruth Sherwood, a writer from Columbus, Ohio, who comes to the big apple with her sister Eileen.(Janet Blair). Up against the winner (Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver) or Bette Davis (Now, Voyager),Russell had little chance in winning and she didn't.The film deals with the lunatic situations brought about when the sisters arrive here. Settling in a basement apartment which should have been condemned, the two encounter all sorts of strange people coming in and out of the apartment. We have a crazy landlord, (George Tobias) a publisher (Brian Aherne) who lacked any comic talent here, the former tenant, a seer (June Havoc) in a brief performance, neighbors who want the husband to sleep in the kitchen as her mother is coming, a suspicious policeman and Portuguese merchant marines who cause havoc as well.Luckily, the film ends when The 3 Stooges drill a hole in the floor. By that time, I had it.Rosalind Russell proved that she had excellent comic timing and Janet Blair is good as well, but the written material they were given leaves a lot to be desired.

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'My Sister Eileen' is based on true incidents. Ruth and Eileen McKenney were sisters from a small town in Ohio who came to New York City: Ruth intending to become an author, Eileen hoping to be an actress. Although Ruth McKenney sold a few magazine pieces, her most successful work was her series of fictionalised articles about the misadventures of her younger sister Eileen. The stories themselves have been out of print for many years, but they provided the basis for a popular play, 'My Sister Eileen' (NOT written by Ruth McKenney), which was a long-running Broadway hit and which has remained in print ever since. Ruth McKenney ironically gained fame and wealth from a play written by two other people, based on her stories.The real Eileen McKenney ended badly. A pretty actress with more looks than talent, she married the overrated screenwriter Nathanael West and she died alongside him in West's fatal car accident.The 1942 film 'My Sister Eileen' is a faithful (and funny) version of the Broadway hit, although it bears only slight resemblance to the real-life exploits of sisters Ruth and Eileen McKenney (here renamed Sherwood). Rather unusually, this movie was made at Columbia Studios *during* the play's Broadway run. Two of the best performances here are given by actors repeating their stage roles: Gordon Jones as an obsessive football player named 'The Wreck', and Richard Quine as nice young man Frank Lippincott, who fancies Eileen.Small-town sisters Ruth and Eileen come to the big city. Ruth (Rosalind Russell) is smart, cynical, and doesn't need a man. Eileen (Janet Blair) is naive and pretty and attracts all the lads. Because the sisters haven't got much money, the only place they can afford is a basement flat in Greenwich Village, owned by a crooked landlord named Appopolous (George Tobias, not up to his usual high standard here). The flat is directly above a subway tunnel, where construction workers are blasting with dynamite: at regular intervals, the whole building shakes. Worse luck, the previous tenant was a young lady who (ahem!) rented by the hour, and so Ruth and Eileen are constantly plagued with male visitors who assume that their apartment is still, erm, open for business. Ruth and Eileen have no end of misadventures while trying to start their careers as, respectively, a journalist and an actress.BIG SPOILER STARTING NOW. The last gag in this movie is absolutely hilarious. All through the film, we hear the sounds of the subway navvies directly under Ruth's and Eileen's apartment. At the very end of this movie, a jackhammer pokes up through the floor and three construction workers emerge. When they pull off their helmets, we see that they're Moe, Larry and Curly! Moe lambastes his two 'knucklehead' workmates while the soundtrack starts playing the 'Three Stooges' theme tune!In 1953, Betty Comden and Adolph Green approached Rosalind Russell to star in a Broadway musical version of 'My Sister Eileen' with music by Leonard Bernstein, to be called 'Wonderful Town'. (The original title wasn't legally available.) I really dislike 'Wonderful Town': it has a score which I consider extremely pretentious. Rosalind Russell, to her credit, had no illusions about her own song-and-dance abilities. 'Wonderful Town' was never filmed, because Columbia had retained the musical rights ... and they made their OWN musical version in 1955, with tunes by Jule Styne that are vastly better than anything "Lenny" Bernstein ever wrote. Interestingly, Richard Quine (who hed acted in the original film and the Broadway cast) directed the musical remake, and his role as Frank Lippincott was taken over by Bob Fosse, giving his best performance as an actor and choreographing some snappy dance numbers as well. I strongly recommend both film versions of 'My Sister Eileen', which is more than I can say for the overrated 'Wonderful Town'. I'll rate this 1942 version 9 points out of 10. Well done!