Two Sisters from Boston

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Two Sisters from Boston
movie poster
Directed byHenry Koster
Written byMyles Connolly
Produced byJoe Pasternak
StarringKathryn Grayson
June Allyson
Lauritz Melchior
Jimmy Durante
Peter Lawford
CinematographyRobert Surtees
Edited byDouglass Biggs
Music byCharles Previn
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's Inc.[1]
Release date
  • April 1946 (1946-04)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,223,000[2]
Box office$4,461,000[2]

Two Sisters from Boston is a 1946 American musical-comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Lauritz Melchior, Jimmy Durante and Peter Lawford. The film features songs by Sammy Fain and Ralph Freed.

In the 1900s, Abigail, a young lady from Boston, leaves home to go to New York City for singing lessons in pursuit of her grand ambition to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. Unable to make ends meet, she takes a job singing in a Bowery beer hall without telling anyone from her family back home.

When a rumor gets back to Boston that Abigail is performing at a beer hall and showing her limbs, her family is shocked, and they decide that they must come to New York to investigate the rumor. Abigail then lies to her family and claims to sing in the Metropolitan Opera, not a beer hall. She even sneaks into a performance at the Met, persuading her family that she really is a singer there despite causing a mishap that interferes with Olaf Olstrom, the company's top tenor.

Martha, Abigail’s sister, eventually figures things out. She decides that she must help Abigail really get into the opera so that Abigail can leave her scandalous job at the beer hall. Along the way, Martha must cover for Abigail and protect the secret of her job at the beer hall. Martha meets a young man named Lawrence and begins a romance with him.

Cast

Songs

Music by Sammy Fain, lyrics by Ralph Freed.

  • "There's Two Sides to Ev'ry Girl"
  • "Nellie Martin"
  • "The Firechief's Daughter"
  • "G'Wan Home Your Mudder's Callin'"
  • "Down by the Ocean"
  • "After the Show"

What is never mentioned in reviews of this film is that the operatic aria duet sung at the climax of the film by Melchior and Grayson are actually the music of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto to which English words have been very cleverly adapted.

Reception

According to MGM records, the film was a hit, making $3,334,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,127,000 in other markets, leading to a profit of $605,000.[2][4]

Influence

References

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