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IMDbPro

Tell It to the Judge

  • 1949
  • Approved
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
515
YOUR RATING
Robert Cummings and Rosalind Russell in Tell It to the Judge (1949)
SlapstickComedyRomance

Attorney Marsha Meredith is nominated for a federal judgeship but her confirmation is opposed by a puritanical 'Good-Government' group who think her divorce makes her unfit for the job.Attorney Marsha Meredith is nominated for a federal judgeship but her confirmation is opposed by a puritanical 'Good-Government' group who think her divorce makes her unfit for the job.Attorney Marsha Meredith is nominated for a federal judgeship but her confirmation is opposed by a puritanical 'Good-Government' group who think her divorce makes her unfit for the job.

  • Director
    • Norman Foster
  • Writers
    • Nat Perrin
    • Roland Kibbee
    • Devery Freeman
  • Stars
    • Rosalind Russell
    • Robert Cummings
    • Gig Young
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.4/10
    515
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Norman Foster
    • Writers
      • Nat Perrin
      • Roland Kibbee
      • Devery Freeman
    • Stars
      • Rosalind Russell
      • Robert Cummings
      • Gig Young
    • 17User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos4

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    Top Cast71

    Edit
    Rosalind Russell
    Rosalind Russell
    • Marsha Meredith
    Robert Cummings
    Robert Cummings
    • Peter B. 'Pete' Webb
    Gig Young
    Gig Young
    • Alexander Darvac
    Marie McDonald
    Marie McDonald
    • Ginger Simmons
    Harry Davenport
    Harry Davenport
    • Judge MacKenzie Meredith
    Fay Baker
    Fay Baker
    • Valerie Hobson
    Katherine Warren
    Katherine Warren
    • Kitty Lawton
    • (as Katharine Warren)
    Douglass Dumbrille
    Douglass Dumbrille
    • George Ellerby
    Clem Bevans
    Clem Bevans
    • Alonzo K. Roogle
    Grandon Rhodes
    Grandon Rhodes
    • Ken Craig
    John Alban
    John Alban
    • Senate Committee Observer
    • (uncredited)
    Jessie Arnold
    Jessie Arnold
    • Spinster
    • (uncredited)
    Polly Bailey
    • Dumpy Woman
    • (uncredited)
    John P. Barrett
    • Croupier
    • (uncredited)
    Louise Beavers
    Louise Beavers
    • Cleo, Marsha's Maid
    • (uncredited)
    Anne Beck
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Brooks Benedict
    Brooks Benedict
    • Minor Role
    • (uncredited)
    Billy Bevan
    Billy Bevan
    • Winston - Kitty's Butler
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Norman Foster
    • Writers
      • Nat Perrin
      • Roland Kibbee
      • Devery Freeman
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews17

    6.4515
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    Featured reviews

    Vincentiu

    lovely

    one from many romantic comedies from the 40's . not extraordinary but nice. and lovely for the seductive performance of Robert Cummings. a film about true love and the situations who transforms it in project. absurd in many scenes, lovely at all, it is the genre of film who seems be open window to a past period. because it has the innocence, the great, the flavor of lost age. Rosalind Russell could be the only challenge for viewer. because it is only a decent option for the role of judge but her rhythm is very different by Cummings' and that gives some fake nuances to the story. an inspired presence - Harry Davenport in a small role. short, a lovely movie. from the heart decade of a magnificent period for cinema.
    10zaba_53

    Thoroughly charming romantic comedy worth repeated viewing!

    I watched this film again last night and turned in for the night in a thoroughly good mood. Not a character out of place, the players were perfectly chosen for their roles and on top of that, everyone is terrifically likable! Comments regarding thin plots or unnecessary scenes be darned, this film accomplishes what it sets out to do. Tell It To The Judge provides 87 mirthful minutes of diversion, taking the viewer from Washington D.C., to Miami and all the way back to the Adirondacks for it's mixed up, misunderstood and downright happy ending.

    Probably my favorite romantic comedy, sharp dialogue, crazy twists, adorable characters and all.
    jarrodmcdonald-1

    Your honor, this is funny (sustained)

    It is not too difficult to see why Robert Cummings is often cast in light comedic fare such as this. His facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission in Tell It to the Judge. And there's something hysterical about seeing him dressed as a train attendant, though it would also have been fun to see Cary Grant in that get-up.

    The only part that drags is the sequence at the lighthouse, which has the film's most unfunny business: something about chopping off the head of a fish. But the film quickly redeems itself, and it reaches its peak with a delightful ski sequence later on. Overall, a fun film with some inspired comic bits by Cummings and costar Rosalind Russell.
    8ludoruta

    Fantastic Comedy not available on DVD

    This is a fantastic comedy, fast, dynamic, clever and played extremely well by Rosalid Russell and Robert Cummings. Their chemistry is what makes comedies like this work so well, not a moment of boredom, pure laughter!! It's a real pity this is not available on DVD in Europe, I would buy it straight away!! Well...I would buy any movie with Rosalind Russell, especially her comedies. Such actresses are rare to find, she was absolutely great, one of the best and is a real pity that she is so forgotten today. Her timing and skills were absolutely unique, not many actresses are able to carry a comedy like she used to! Also Robert Cummings was very effective, don't know this actor much but I think I will try to find out more about him now!
    7blanche-2

    Funny comedy

    Rosalind Russell is the Judge in "Tell it to the Judge," a 1949 film also starring Bob Cummings, Marie McDonald and Gig Young. Russell plays Marsha Meredith, a recently divorced woman up for a judgeship, encouraged in her career by her judge grandfather (Harry Davenport). The ex-husband, however, Pete Webb (Cummings) wants her back. The two are still in love. The divorce was basically a misunderstanding - Webb was working with a beautiful blond witness (McDonald) and Marsha mistook it for something else. Even though it puts her career in jeopardy, Marsha remarries Pete. On their wedding night, her grandfather kidnaps Pete so that Marsha thinks he's up to his old tricks. She then takes off and announces to the press that she's married to someone else, and makes up a name. When Alexander (Gig Young), a man she met previously appears, she has him play the part of her husband.

    This is a typical screwball comedy centering around the struggle that the independent woman has between being a career person and a wife - and apparently back then, it was one or the other. I thought Russell was fine as Marsha, unlike another reviewer - I've seen her miscast, and I didn't think she was this time - but I agree with another remark the poster made, that Bob Cummings steals the movie. Cummings is thought of as a bland film actor, and perhaps he was. What made him a tremendous television star was his sense of comedy, which he didn't get to use much in films but which was his strength. Here he gets to show it off, and a few years later, he made his mark in television.

    A fun movie, not earth-shattering, as films were going through a difficult transition. So apparently were women, and in the '40s, they lost the career battle, only to pick it up again a couple of decades later.

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    Related interests

    Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
    Slapstick
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      "The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on November 2, 1950 with Rosalind Russell and Robert Cummings reprising their film roles.
    • Goofs
      At the club, the drunk is served a drink without ice while Pete (Bob Cummings) has a drink with ice. The glasses are switched. Just before they all leave, Pete takes a drink and it has ice.
    • Quotes

      Peter B. 'Pete' Webb: [Pete and Marsha are climbing the spiral staircase in the lighthouse] Watch your heel, honey.

      Marsha Meredith: You watch out for yourself.

    • Connections
      Referenced in Hill Street Blues: Larry of Arabia (1986)

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    FAQ14

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 18, 1949 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Flitterwochen mit Hindernissen
    • Filming locations
      • Snow Valley, San Bernardino Mountains, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 27m(87 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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