Apartment for Peggy (1948)

Professor Henry Barnes (Edmund Gwenn) is writing his final book. His life offers nothing else that warrants living. The curmudgeon is counting down his last days when he meets Peggy Taylor (Jeanne Crain), an exuberant, positive-thinking young wife, pregnant with her first child. She mystifies the professor with her younger generation jive, but he is intrigued despite himself. Before he knows it, their lives are intertwined.Peggy's husband, Jason (William Holden), is a student under the G.I. Bill--dedicated to his goal of becoming a teacher, though there are shorter paths to better money.The professor's life is anchored in the past, with his nostalgia and memories of his deceased wife. In contrast, Peggy's life is focused on the future, with dreams for her first child and her husband's career. Though the professor's field of study is philosophy, he finds that Peggy is a natural philosopher, focusing on the virtues of tolerance and kindness.The story, adapted from a novel, is well written. The film packs a lot of ideas into its running time. It's celebration of teaching and learning reminds me of "Born Yesterday", which Holden appears in two years later.The film has a horrible (and boring) title, but "Apartment for Peggy" might remind some viewers of "It's a Wonderful Life", with its affirmation of life and the value of good deeds.One year before this film, another Christmas classic, "Miracle on 34th Street", also starred Edmund Gwenn. George Seaton, the director of this film, wrote both films.

Dougdoepke wrote exactly the review I would have written, only better (hence my review title "Ditto"). Please read it for my reactions. I rated the film 10 out of 10, though, due to my own personal interest in gender difference issues. This film highlighted and illustrated some of them exquisitely.Once in a conversation with a female engineer over lunch, I was sharing about my efforts to open cereal boxes, etc., before my husband got to them because he would open the wrong end just tear into the box. She replied, "Oh, it's a 'dick' thing. Even the male engineers lack the patience to read the instructions through before starting to assemble stuff we receive. They always end up with pieces left over that were essential." There's a scene that perfectly plays this out. (I always do the assembling at our house.)Peggy's perfect long-range view of their future together and her need for a shared vision and shared enthusiasm for that vision is perfectly female. Jason's internal pressure to be a better provider right now perfectly illustrates how money pressures too often distract men from the much more substantive essential of their wives' need to experience a well-discussed shared vision they can pursue together and adhere themselves to, no matter what difficulties arise.And the young wives' (Peggy in particular) more sound ways of long-range-view reasoning about how to live and why, contrasted against, well, you watch the film and tell me what YOU think. Whether you are male or female, please don't miss these profound (I thought) aspects of this hidden gem of a film. For me, it was definitely a 10. I even located (inadvertently) Jeanne Crain's granddaughter online and emailed to her my reactions and appreciation.

JEANNE CRAIN was at the height of her appeal as a demure charmer at Fox, just beginning to be more than a pretty face as far as her acting career was concerned. And here she had two splendid co-stars: WILLIAM HOLDEN as her ex-G.I. hubby and EDMUND GWENN as a little retired professor who has some housing space in his attic. When Crain finds out about the available space (during the big housing shortage at the time), she convinces Gwenn to rent the apartment to the young married couple.From there, the plot takes a few steps beyond that bare outline, always throwing a positive outlook at women who want to better themselves with an education as well as the G.I.s entitled to do so under the G.I. bill.Gene Lockhart, Griff Barnett and Betty Lynn fill the supporting roles amiably and it's probably Jeanne Crain's best film of that period, following her enormous success as MARGIE two years previously.

Wonderful movie set in the post-World War II period. Prof. Henry Barnes (Edmund Gwenn) is a widowed professor living in a large faculty house, and wishing death would end his lonely existence. Peggy is the bride of a WWII veteran, one of many attending college under the GI Bill. Post-war housing is at a premium,, especially for struggling Vets, but someone remembers that Prof. Barnes had an extra room, and sends Peggy to see if she can rent it. The Prof. Barnes' protests are overwhelmed by Peggy's determination to make a real home for her husband, and soon the professor has a family of sorts. Great period piece, with many warm characters. Strong performances by Gwenn and Crain. Also serves as an excellent illustration of "The Greatest Generation" right after they came home and began settling back into society.Another wonderful movie that should have been made into a video and DVD long ago.