Word: krasna
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...haven't cried at a movie for a long time, want to watch an actress age 60 years in an hour, and enjoy all-star productions, then by all means see. "The Blue Veil." Beyond these sentimental attractions, however, producers Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna have squeezed little else from a dull, pointless story...
...year or more since Jerry Wald and Norman Krasna, Hollywood wonder boys, formed their own producing unit at RKO Radio (TIME, Aug. 28, 1950), they have busied themselves with optimistic announcements and tinkering on movies already in production at the studio. Now, at last, they offer two products of their own: a wacky farce and an unabashed tearjerker. This double-barreled attempt to hit the target with old-fashioned bird shot may well succeed at the box office, but it also blows holes into the bright Wald & Krasna promises of original moviemaking...
Somewhere in this studied confusion of old stuff and nonsense lurks a workable idea for farce, as longtime Farceur Norman (Dear Ruth) Krasna should know. All it lacks is taste, timing, funny lines and, mostly, a pair of at least likable romantic leads...
Along the way, while their heroine sacrifices herself for others, Wald & Krasna sacrifice such able players as Agnes Moorehead, Joan Blondell, Richard Carlson, Everett Sloane and Cyril Cusack to the tear-stained demands of the plot. By the time a disenchanted moviegoer may have concluded that the long-suffering governess is getting just what she deserves, the producers tune up the heartstrings for a happy ending that is guaranteed to melt mascara...
...Wald and Krasna were already bubbling with plans and projects. With Hughes's approval, they were going to start a profit-sharing system for top-rank stars, writers and producers, boasted that they would assemble "under one roof, the smartest people since the Greeks." They planned to hire a corps of the nation's top newsmen to scour the world for original story material. Their films would cover the whole scale from social drama (Country Club, a study of Midwest manners & morals) to ribald comedy (Mother Knows Best, a collection of "clean-dirty stories" with Mae West...