They Knew What They Wanted Movie Review 1940

A lonely San Francisco waitress begins a correspondence romance with a grape grower and agrees to marry him after he sends her a photo which shows him as being young and handsome. She arrives to discover Laughton had sent her a picture of another man. An accident, an affair, and a pregnancy provide further complications before a satisfactory ending is suggested. Flawed adaptation of Sidney Howard's play still has strong performances from Lombard and Laughton.

Distribution

Available on VHS
Running time 96 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Mistaken Identity, Adapted from a Play

Cast

Charles Laughton, Carole Lombard, Harry Carey, Karl Malden, William Gargan

Cinematography

Harry Stradling

Director

Garson Kanin

Producer

RKO