While this is not a brilliant film, it's exactly the sort of old fashioned Hollywood film that I love. It's a nice family slice of life film--much like "On Moonlight Bay" or "Life With Father". These films present a very idealized and sweet look at like in the 'good old days'. So perhaps it isn't 100% real or realistic, but it is fun--and quite nostalgic.The best thing about this film, and the reason I watched it, is that it stars Charles Coburn. While not a household name, he was a marvelous supporting actor and played crusty old gents better than anyone. Take his movies "The Devil and Miss Jones" and "The More the Merrier"--no one could have done it better! Here in "Has Anyone Seen My Gal", he once again is at his best.The movie begins with Coburn talking about dying--though his doctor insists if he takes care of himself he'll live for years. But this isn't what's important to Coburn--what he really cares about is what he'll do with his immense fortune after he dies. As he has no family, he decides he'll give it to the family of his old girlfriend--even though she's since died and he's never met these folks. So, on a whim, he decides to visit his old home town and meet the folks incognito. And, he also then decides to give them SOME of the inheritance to see what they do with it. The rest, it is a joy to watch...and so I won't say any more. Just see the film. Overall, a very nice film. My only reservation, and it's small, is that the mother is a bit too unlikable--and I wish they'd made her a bit less obnoxious. Still, it's well worth seeing.By the way, during the film they mention two other films--"Anybody Here Seen Kelly?" with Bessie Love and "Hold Your Man" with Laura La Plante. These are real films from the late 1920s, if you are interested.

The title "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" comes from a popular song of the 1920s, and presumably it was slapped on this non-musical movie to let people know when the story is supposed to be taking place. That was a silly idea, but the movie itself is charming. Charles Coburn plays the world's richest man, an elderly recluse whose face is known to virtually no one. (Bear in mind that this movie was made before tycoon Howard Hughes became legendary for his secretive ways.) The rich man travels incognito to the small town where he spent much of his youth. There he becomes the anonymous benefactor of a family that played an early role in his success, though none of its members have any idea of their link to him. He works as a seemingly down-on-his-luck soda jerk in the town, watching up close how his mysterious checks change the lives of people in this ordinary, close-knit family. It's not always a pretty sight, but it does teach a lesson, not just to them but to him. There's a Christmastime angle that isn't absolutely essential to the plot, but it did point out to me this film's similarity to another bittersweet fantasy, Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." If you want a movie that's heartwarming and entertaining and has a moral, this is a good choice. Try it for Christmas.

The follow-up to "no room for the groom" ,"has anybody seen my gal?" displays many similarities with its predecessor .It's "money cannot buy happiness" all over again;the mother who dreams of a rich marriage for a daughter was also present in "no room" .She was more over possessive,she was less kind,but the mother is here as selfish and as snob as Piper Laurie's .The scenes when she plays the nouveaux riches,as French people say , predate the dramatic sequence of Sarah's cocktail party in "All that Heaven allows" .Rock Hudson's part of a waiter is not far from the gardener full of Joie de Vivre in the 1955 work.Generally,people like this movie and dismiss "no room for the groom" ; however ,both movies display Capra's influence and both movies are proof positive that "all I (should) desire"-to mention another Sirk work- is a simple life ."No room" is closer to farce;beside,it's in black and white .If you want to see James Dean,you've got to pay a lot of attention:he only appears a few seconds .

Yup, that's James Dean at the soda fountain in a blink-and-you-miss-him scene! That's just one of the treats in this intoxicatingly charming film. I've always thought Piper Laurie was every bit as gorgeous as the other 50s sirens and Rock Hudson, director Sirk's go-to guy, is perfect as the hunky soda jerk in love. Beautiful to look at, with plenty of period songs, costumes, and cars. And the hep dialogue is a scream as is the agony of the period's high prices: a dozen eggs for under 15 cents! A great double bill would be seeing this with that other 1952 classic set in the same period, Singin' in the Rain. One of Mancini's earliest films.