It All Came True (1940) Online

In this comedy-drama directed by Lewis Seiler, Bogart was a fugitive killer who hid out in a rundown boarding house harboring a collection of talented amateur performers and maternally oriented older women…

Bogart convinces them to convert the place into a night club and on opening night he is caught by the police, clearing an innocent man (Jeffrey Lynn) of suspicion in the murder he had actually committed…

Bogart was evidently having a good time as he delivered such lines as: "I hate mothers: all this silver threads among the gold stuff!" and had a very funny scene where he is "mothered" by Una O'Connor and Jessie Busley… However, The New York Times' critic, B. R. Crisler, summed up the film correct1y when he said that "It All Came True went from simple to simple-minded."

It isn't often a movie can change a mood, but this little piece of fluff did. Whether it was a chance to see a young Bogie doing some comic acting, or Jeffrey Lynn doing something besides standing in the shadows, or Ann Sheridan being more than a wisecracking dish, I don't know - but I expect it was the latter.

On one level this is a poor man's YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, with a dash of ARSENIC AND OLD LACE thrown in. It isn't oscar bait, but it does make you realize how much simple joy the hard working people at Warner Brothers gave to audiences during the Depression and the second world war. When I finished watching, I could just imagine pushing out into the evening air after the show, taking my date to get a piece a pie and cup of coffee someplace, and basking the warm glow of a simple happy time.

Taken for what it is, you'll have a heck of a good time with IT ALL CAME TRUE.

"It All Came True" is a delightful 1940 film starring Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, Jeffrey Lynn, and Zasu Pitts. Sheridan and Lynn are the adult children of business partners in a boarding house (Jessie Busley and Una O'Connor). The women are about to lose the house because of back taxes. Lynn is Tommy, a composer, and Sheridan is Sarah Jane, a nightclub entertainer. Both move back home, but Lynn brings his boss, Chips Maguire (Bogart) with him, who is hiding from the police. He's blackmailing Tommy into hiding him because the gun that killed the victim is in Tommy's name.

Chips can't leave his room, of course, and eventually grows bored with the entire arrangement. He recognizes the very attractive Sarah Jane as having been on the circuit, and decides to help her out by making the boarding house into a nightclub. He finances it and bails the women out of their financial troubles at the same time. Sarah Jane isn't interested in Chips - she's re-connected with Tommy - but naturally plays along. Tommy is uneasy; if Chips is caught, he'll tell the cops that Tommy committed the murder.

The plot may sound serious, but the film is filled with music and a lightheartedness that's hard to describe. Ann Sheridan was sort of the working man's Rita Hayworth. She was at Warner's, which put her low, sultry voice, mane of red hair and other assets to good use in a variety of roles. She wasn't as beautiful as Hayworth or as exotic, but she was more versatile as an actress. Here she's at the top of her game, singing and dancing up a storm and looking sensational. She really carries the film. Lynn, whose career lost its momentum after World War II, was a nice-looking, boy next door type of leading man, and does an able job here. Bogart is a riot; the man could do anything. Though his character is ruthless and dangerous, he comes off as extremely likable. The striking Zasu Pitts is wonderful as a boarder who sees men following her everywhere and can't handle her liquor. At all.

There's a charming sentiment about this film - it'll leave you smiling.

File this one under films you probably never heard of, but once you've seen it, it occupies a nice warm place in your movie library to help remind you of a simpler time and place. The title comes from Mrs. Nora Taylor's (Jessie Busley) romantic dream of having her son return home as a rich man to marry his childhood girlfriend. The happy ever after ending takes some time getting there, but it's fun to see how things work out, especially since it's gangster Chips Maguire (Humphrey Bogart) who helps make it all come true.

The movie gets it's energy from free spirited Sarah Jane Ryan (Ann Sheridan), displaying her usual sassiness and snappy banter - "Why I've been discovered so many times they call me Miss America". Like Tommy Taylor (Jeffrey Lynn), the breaks in life haven't come her way just yet, but there's always tomorrow. That break might become a reality when Maguire, on the run from the law at the Taylor/Ryan boarding house, gets a little bored and comes up with the idea of turning it into a 'Roaring 90's' style night club. Under cover as Graselli, the gangster ingratiates himself with the elderly ladies who operate the home, gradually coming out of his seclusion to become their angel in disguise (a tune by the way coming out of the film).

The boarding house features it's own cast of memorable characters as well. There's The Great Baldini (Felix Bressart) doing magic assisted by Fanto the Wonder Dog, and Zasu Pitts, on the run from imaginary assailants who winds up smoking out Maguire after seeing his picture in a "Perfect Detective" magazine. You'll really sit up and take notice though when on opening night at the boarding house, a group of nine elderly ladies takes the stage and breaks into a spirited song and dance routine.

Hey, remember that great old Warner Brothers cartoon that features Bugs Bunny and a whole bunch of musical numbers? - 'Rosie O'Grady', 'Pretty Baby', 'Oh You Beautiful Doll', 'Ain't We Got Fun', 'Just an Angel in Disguise' and 'When Irish Eyes are Smiling'. This has got to be the film that's being parodied. Even Bogey gets into the act with a few lines from 'Strolling Through the Park One Day'. Now I've got to get my hands on that cartoon again!

Ultimately, Bogart's character is caught dead to rights, and does the honorable, if not realistic thing of giving himself up without any further ado. His earlier plan of fingering Tommy for a gambling murder goes by the wayside, under the spell cast by Sally/Sarah and the boarding house citizens. OK, so it's not an award winner, but there's enough entertainment here to brighten your day and provide an hour and a half of music and fun. Even if you have to force yourself through Salmon's poetry reading.

Humphrey Bogart plays 'Mr. Grasselli'--a man who is sick and living in a rooming house while supposedly recuperating. In reality, he's Chips Maguire-a wanted thug who is hiding from the law. This sort of role is hardly surprising for Bogart in 1940, as he'd been playing gangsters in a variety of Warner Brothers films during the last few years. What is surprising, though, is that this film is a light comedy--with Bogie playing a less menacing sort of thug. While it's not a great film, considering that he'd been playing so many mobsters , it was nice to see a bit of a change.

Despite Maguire wanting to remain alone in his room all the time, the two nice old ladies who run the place urge him to come out and meet the other tenants. Eventually, he slowly emerges and begins socializing--and makes friends with the harmless residents and vice-versa. One of them, Ann Sheridan, however, knows who he is and you'd expect her to turn him in to the police. However, she doesn't and what she and this thug have in mind is something you'll need to see for yourself. It's all a little ridiculous, but also great fun.

With such residents as Felix Bressart, Una O'Connor (in one of her more restrained roles)and Zasu Pitts, the movie has a lot of colorful characters and give the film a certain charm and likability. This, combined with an unusual script make this film well worth seeing--especially people who love classic Hollywood or the films of Bogart.

Fun WB comedy with Humphrey Bogart playing a gangster who blackmails piano player Jeffrey Lynn into hiding him out at his mother's boarding house. The boarding house is full of colorful characters such as Zasu Pitts, Felix Bressart, Grant Mitchell, and Una O'Connor. Not to mention beautiful Ann Sheridan. Before long Bogie gets the bright idea to turn the place into a night club, in part out of boredom and in part to impress Sheridan.

Bogie seems to be having a great time in a lighter role. He was really good with comedy. Sheridan is the real star of the picture. Her brassy character has all the best lines and even gets to sing some songs. The assorted kooks at the boarding house are lots of fun to watch. Great comedic character actors all. Even Jeffrey Lynn shines in this one. If you like WB gangster movies you'll surely like this. Lots of snappy dialogue and plenty of laughs too.

It All Came True finds Humphrey Bogart as a gangster on the lam from killing a police stoolie and using a gun that was registered to club piano player Jeffrey Lynn to do the deed. With the stoolie probably telling the cops about his regular hideouts, Bogart has Jeffrey Lynn under a blackmail threat about the weapon hide him in a boarding house that is run jointly by Lynn's mother Jessie Burley and Una O'Connor who is the mother of Ann Sheridan.

Sheridan and Lynn were childhood sweethearts, she's a chorus girl, he's an aspiring composer and the Moms hoped that they'll be joint grandmothers some day. Bogart is hiding under an assumed name at the boardinghouse, but Sheridan recognizes him.

Perhaps the fact that he's away from the police spotlight, fooling them even temporarily makes Bogart fall under the charms of the place which is a theatrical boardinghouse. O'Connor and Burley wax nostalgic about the Gay Nineties and Bogart kind of does also. Bear in mind that this was probably when he was a kid in the film.

It All Came True is the kind of film that would have been better suited to James Cagney. In fact he did several fine nostalgic type films in his career like Frisco Kid, Johnny Come Lately, Strawberry Blonde, and The Time Of Your Life. I'm betting this was a property that Warner Brothers developed for Cagney, but for some reason or other Cagney couldn't do it.

Sheridan's feet are firmly in the 20th century however, she delivers a few zingers that were quite up to date for the audience. Until Rita Hayworth was established, Ann was Hollywood's number one redhead and she had a bit more wit in her scripts than Rita got at Columbia.

Maybe with Cagney in the lead and someone like Frank Capra directing and someone like Damon Runyon doing the screenplay, It All Came True could have been a real classic. It's an amusing comedy as it is with Ann Sheridan at her career height and Humphrey Bogart on the crest of becoming a legend.

This is a really offbeat idea for a Humphrey Bogart movie, but it ends up working pretty well as light entertainment and as something of a showcase for co-star Ann Sheridan. It combines a lighter version of the kind of gangster character that used to be Bogart's specialty, a pleasant if silly scenario, and ample opportunities for Sheridan and some of the supporting cast to steal a few scenes.

The story is lightweight and goofy, with barely any plausibility at all (if that much). Fortunately, the good acting makes all of the oddball characters likable, and makes the story worth following for the sake of entertainment. Sheridan gets a good character and a chance to sing a few songs, and the minor characters include good roles for Zasu Pitts and Felix Bressart, among others.

...and Ann Sheridan can be quite fetching as the "showgirl" with the heart of gold who refers to herself at one point as being "technically a good girl". Fun, cliche-ridden, but with a lot of good lines. And Bogart is hilarious as he dead-pans cheating the oldsters at cards! Also: Is this the film that introduced the song "Angel in Disguise"? I only knew the song as delivered by Bugs Bunny!

The film has the feel of 1930s Broadway. Anyone who wants to see a glimpse of what Bogart must have been like on the stage should see this film. This is Bogart playing the gangster with a heart of gold. It's great fun and the supporting cast is quite entertaining in a You Can't Take It With You sort of way.

Would this work? Well, of course it does. Ann Sheridan is charming, Bogart is same as ever, Jeffrey Lynn is slightly irritating in a cute kind of way, the character actors are impeccable and the film moves along at a good, relaxing pace. One of those late night weekend films to watch with a sherry and a box of chocs.

Noticeably very well-filmed, edited, and acted comedy-drama-romance-gangster picture. Menacing gangster Bogart, sexy wise-girl Ann Sheridan, her family and quirky peripheral characters make this situation comedy more than the sum of it's parts. Very funny, touching, unpredictable, and a cultural time-capsule. 10 thumbs up! I'd rather not spoil the movie but IMDb requires more lines...one interesting scene is the initial intimacy (the intensity is as close as we get to romance/sex) between the love interests: it's musical in nature and their only way to bond. It's not performed as yet another tiring duet but a rehearsal with mistakes. That's another example of what makes this movie refreshing and quite different from movies of then and now.

This film had a cast of Hollywood's greatest actors of all time. Humphrey Bogart was an actor who could do comedy, romance("Sabrina" with William Holden) drama,("The Caine Mutiny,1954) Bogart was under contract and he had to make pictures which were sometimes a B movie, like this one was. Hollywood did not pay actors hugh salaries like the actors today, and every picture they made was a step up the ladder of success in hard times after WWII. Ann Sheridan(Sarah Jane Ryan) was often paired with Bogart and it was a great 1940 film in those days and they both made this film an all time classic. Zasu Pitts(Miss Flint) and John Litel gave great supporting roles. Bogart was a gangster in this picture who had a change of heart in the end and DID HIS THING! Any film that Humphrey Bogart appeared in is a CLASSIC forever and ever!

IT ALL CAME TRUE (Warner Brothers, 1940), directed by Lewis Seiler, with its fairy tale sounding title, is a lighthearted comedy with some serious overtones. Taken from a story by Louis Bromfield, many of its elements appears to be in connection to a short story by either O. Henry or Damon Runyan, but it's not. Surprisingly featuring the studio's resident tough guy, Humphrey Bogart, it's also one of his most overlooked roles in his career. With this being another one of many gangster parts Bogey has done to perfection through much of his career, the story in itself is relatively different from anything he's ever done before mainly due to the musical angle attached to it.

The story revolves around two matronly ladies managing a boarding house in the theater district of New York City, a building they've inherited from the late Miss Minnie. Among those out of work actors tenants are Minnie Flint (ZaSu Pitts), a housekeeper and avid mystery book reader; Rene Salmon (Grant Mitchell), a poet reciter; The Great Boldini (Felix Bressart), a magician; and Mr. Van Diver (Brandon Tynan). Norah Taylor (Jessie Busley), the owner, has a very positive outlook in life even though she owes back taxes on the place and is about to face foreclosure proceedings. As for her partner and cook, Maggie Ryan (Una O'Connor), her outlook in life isn't quite the same. Her daughter, Sarah Jane (Ann Sheridan), dreams of becoming an actress. Not having much luck in Atlantic City and the outside world, she returns home to start over. Norah's son, Tommy (Jeffrey Lynn), whom she hasn't seen in five years, is a struggling composer working for the "king of gamblers," "Chips" Maguire (Humphrey Bogart) at his Cairo Club. As the gambling casino gets raided by the police, Chips and Tommy sneak out the back way where Chips takes Tommy's gun to shoot down the informing Monks (Herbert Vigram) outside the alley. Because the murder weapon is licensed under Tommy's name, the young composer is forced to hide Chips from the police by taking him to his mother's boardinghouse. Introduced as his friend, Mr. Graselli, "Chips" lives a secluded life, having his meals sent to his room. The mysterious boarder arouses suspicion by Sarah Jane, who recognizes him as the man for whom she once worked, and the nosy Minnie Flint who finds Maguire's photo in a detective magazine. As Maguire's solitude gets the better of him, he arranges to bring some life and excitement to the place by turning it into a "Roaring 90s Club." As things start to come true for Mrs. Taylor, situations occur that could prove the opposite.

As motion picture studios releasing some fifty movies annually, with writers coming up with material of some originality, and most important, to hold interest, IT ALL COMES TRUE at 97 minutes succeeds on both levels. At first glance, the film doesn't appear to be interesting at all. Only through the headlining stars of Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan (billed in that order in the opening credits, changed to Ann Sheridan, Jeffrey Lynn and Humphrey Bogart for its closing), that should attract some attention for anyone unfamiliar with this title. If the story, set mostly inside a boarding house, doesn't show great promise, then the latter portion featuring song numbers and Ann Sheridan's vocalizing should.

With its combination of new and nostalgia era songs featured, the soundtrack includes: "Angels in Disguise" (by Kim Gannon, Stephen Weiss and Paul Mann); "Gaucho Serenade (by James Cavanaugh, John Redman and Nat Simon); "Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" "Memories" and "Pretty Baby," "Ain't We Got Fun; "Memories" (reprize); "Silver Threads Among the Gold,"Oh, You Beautiful Doll," "Angel in Disguise" (reprize); "Oh, Mr. Dooley," "Cuddle Up a Little Closer," "Put On Your Old Gray Bonnet," and "Irish Eyes Are Smiling." "Angels in Disguise" a promotional song heard during opening and closing credits, is no doubt the film's best tune, getting several reprises and underscoring along the way.

While the first half of IT ALL CAME TRUE plays like a typical Warner Brothers programmer, the final portion takes off like a 20th Century-Fox musical (minus Technicolor) with Ann Sheridan and Jeffrey Lynn enacting their roles in similar fashion of Fox's own Alice Faye and John Payne had they been allowed to appear. Even the nostalgic songs are reminders of the Fox musicals, especially "Cuddle Up a Little Closer" most associated with Betty Grable. Jeffrey Lynn, a fine actor who never made the grade as top leading man, does his piano interludes almost in the same fashion as John Garfield enacted in FOUR DAUGHTERS (1938). His performance is well done, but hardly one to steal the attention away from either Sheridan or Bogart. While the overall story may not ring true to life, it all came true to Mrs. Bosley, which really matters to the content of the story anyway.

Never quite a masterpiece, IT ALL CAME TRUE should be something to consider whenever presented on Turner Classic Movies. It's also available on DVD. (***1/2)

I have always enjoyed fairy tales and this would be my all time favourite. Bogey is almost lovable in this comic role and even does a few dance steps. Ann Sheridan and Jeffrey Lynn are very good as the musical lovers and Zasu Pitts and Felix Bressart are great as the comic relief. I love every minute of this film and the only query I have is how people struggling to make a boarding house viable can suddenly come up with a cast large enough for a west end musical!

So, how to classify this picture. In the second scene Bogart the gangster, true to form, kills a detective, and from there the picture settles down to a mix of comedy/musical - or a romance/comedy, take your pick. All in all, it is as bizarre and offbeat a plot as you will see on the silver screen.

I'll take a whack at a summation; Night club owner Bogart is 'on the lam', as the saying goes, and decides to hide out in his piano player's (Jeffrey Lynn's) mother's boarding house. Ann Sheridan is her niece, who also lives there. Both men fall for her, and before long someone comes up with the notion of turning the boarding house into a night club! There are some turns and dead ends in the plot, all of which add to the utter strangeness of the story; It adds weight to the term "escapist entertainment". Helping out are Una O'Connor, Zasu Pitts and Felix Bressart. I think part of the enjoyment is to try to figure out the meaning of the title.

6/10 - Website no longer prints my star rating.

. . . laments gangster "Chips Maguire" (Humphrey Bogart) one-third of the way through IT ALL CAME TRUE. Chip senses that it will be hard to conduct sin as usual under the watchful eyes of such maternal influences. History indicates that if Adolph Hitler's mom had lived into her 90s, his Third Reich never would have gotten off the ground. With the presence or absence of just one mom having such a big impact on the course of human events, having TWO around can persuade a zebra to change his stripes. That's what happens to Chips in IT ALL CAME TRUE, as he sheepishly surrenders his freedom at the tail end. You can almost hear him echoing Margaret Hamilton's last words as the Wicked Witch of the West in THE WIZARD OF OZ: "Who could believe all my wonderful wickedness could be destroyed by a couple old biddies the likes of Youse?" After all, OZ played on America's big screens just a year prior to IT ALL CAME TRUE.

This movie has everything but the kitchen sink. A preposterous movie that is nevertheless enjoyable.

There's Ann Sheridan, always totally likable--plus, in this movie she sings "You're Just an Angel in Disguise." There's also a funny dog act.

Humphrey Bogart plays his stock gangster role, but this time he has to deal with ZaSu Pitts and Una O'Connor as two spinsters, one a feisty spark-plug and the other delusionally lovelorn.

At one point, tough guy Bogie as much as says, "Hey, gang, let's put on a show!" And they do. That's where the dog act comes in.

Plus there's a nostalgiac Gay Nineties review, including a barbershop quartet.

And a number of Irish songs in the background and, ultimately, in the spotlight, including a rousing version of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."

I won't give away the ending, but trust me, you'll say, "Aw, ain't that nice!"

Kind of a fun movie.

It All Came True (1940)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Comedy from Warner has a piano player (Jeffrey Lynn) taking his gangster boss (Humphrey Bogart) back to his mother's boarding house and hiding him there after killing a witness. The gangster goes unrecognized until a friend (Ann Sheridan) of the piano player notices him. The three leads and the strong supporting cast make this film a lot better than it really has the right to be. The movie is a rather mixed bag with the first half really dragging before finally picking up during the final act. The film finally comes to life when the old women (Una O'Connor, Jessie Busley) are about to be kicked out of their boarding house so Bogart decides to turn it into a nightclub to earn some extra cash. Zasu Pitts really steals the film as one of the tenant who can't hold her liquor and is always in fear that the gangster is going to do harm to her. Sheridan comes off pretty good in the lead role and does more for her character than the screenplay does. Sheridan is quite energetic throughout and matches wits well against Bogart who provides some nice comic touches. O'Connor gets some of her typical laughs as does John Litel. This movie is certainly far from a classic due to the mixed screenplay but fans of the cast members should find enough her to make one viewer worth it.

"It All Came True" is about as dopey as anything Hollywood churned out in the early 1940s. But Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan sail blithely through it as if the story makes sense. Bogart is a hood the cops want to put away for the next hundred years. As a hide-out, he picks a New York boarding house, run by two little old ladies, one the mother of Ann Sheridan who quit her chorus girl job to keep her status as a "good girl" (wink wink.) Things turn serious -- or seriously silly -- when the bank threatens to foreclose on the old dears and Bogart saves the day by turning their boarding house into a lavish night club with a gay nineties theme, a staff of about 100 singing waiters, two chorus lines (one young and lovely, the other geriatric) and hundreds of patrons crammed into what earlier appeared to be a very small dining room. Between Bogart's sly send-up of the ruthless gangster he more often played and Sheridan's brash bonhomie, it's easy to overlook the gaping holes in the plot. Zazu Pitts as a ditzy old maid and Felix Bressart as an inept magician add to the antics but Jeffrey Lynn as Sheridan's childhood chum (and would-be lover) seems to have wandered in from another movie.

IT ALL CAME TRUE is a strange mixture of comedy, drama and old-fashioned musical turns featuring Ann Sheridan and Jeffrey Lynn as two show biz sweethearts who get mixed up with a criminal (Humphrey Bogart) wanted by the police who takes shelter in a boarding house run by Lynn's eccentric mother (Una O'Connor) and another lady.

Somehow, the mix of elements are strung together in a way that provides a number of charming moments, mostly involving Sheridan (who has a way with a zinger) and Bogart, who gets some gentle humor out of his gangster role and creates a likable enough character with ease. Lynn is good at portraying the nimble fingered piano player but is stiff when asked to perform as Sheridan's musical partner.

Una O'Connor gets a number of good laughs out of her irate landlady role and Zasu Pitts is amusing as a paranoid woman who has read too many detective stories.

None of it is memorable but it passes the time pleasantly enough. A talented cast overcomes a rather clumsy script that wanders all over the place. At least, it's unpredictable and good for a few laughs.

Overbearingly annoying and motherly Jessie Busley (Nora) and irritatingly unfunny and blustering Una O'Connor (Maggie) run a boarding house of out of work people of no particular talent such as tiresome magician Felix Bressart (The Great Boldini) and his stupid dog that only seems to have one trick. I guess it's meant to be cute. That's already too many comedy characters for one film, but, regrettably there are more. Anyway, into this mix comes nightclub entertainer Ann Sheridan (Sarah Jane), who is also a pain in the arse with her energetic, whirlwind entrance into the film. Composer Jeffrey Lynn (Tommy) also rocks up at the house in order to shelter gangster Humphrey Bogart (Chips Maguire/Grasselli) and Lynn and Sheridan start to make sweet music together. Can they romance each other and get a happy ending?

Bogart is the best thing about this film and he has genuinely funny moments that will get you laughing. Unfortunately, he is more than offset by several comedy characters that won't have you laughing. Shame. A scene that stands out is when the group of non-talented wannabes are giving a performance to the residents of the boarding-house and the poet recites his rubbish poem. Bogart's reactions are hilarious. As they are when he is introduced to his room full of stuffed animals. But goodness me, that motherly Busley woman is annoying. Will Bogart shoot her? Sheridan is okay, nothing special while Lynn is particularly unlikable. Will Bogart shoot him for being a bit of a dullard?

The film contains some entertaining and some weird musical numbers which, along with Bogart's performance, elevate this film into the okay category. But all those blasted annoying characters and that terribly contrived ending………oh please……..corny stuff.

It's hard to know how this film got made. The elements of the musical (Ann Sheridan), the comedy (Zazu Pitts, Una O'Connor, Felix Bressart), the romance (Ann Sheridan and Jeffry Lynn) and the gangster (Humphrey Bogart) don't mix well, yet there is something nonetheless fascinating about the film. Maybe it's Bogart trying to be funny, or the screwball elements of the boarding house, or the sweet romance between Sheridan and Lynn, but the film isn't as bad as it sounds.

On the other hand, there are certainly better films in all these categories, but equally as certain, there is no film in all of these categories simultaneously.