The Girl He Left Behind

The Girl He Left Behind
The Girl He Left Behind
	Poster
Directed by	David Butler
Written by	Guy Trosper
Based on	novel by Marion Hargrove
Starring	Tab Hunter; Natalie Wood
Cinematography	Ted D. McCord
Edited by	Irene Morra
Music by	Roy Webb
Production; company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	October 26, 1956 (U.S.);
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.4 million (US rentals)

The Girl He Left Behind is a 1956 romantic comedy film starring Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood. The supporting cast includes Jim Backus, Alan King, James Garner, and David Janssen. The film was written by Guy Trosper and directed by David Butler, and was filmed at Fort Ord, California. For both Garner and King, it was their third movie.

Plot[]

Andy Schaeffer is a spoiled mama's boy who usually gets his way. He breezes through college, while girlfriend Susan Daniels works hard at a job to pay for her education. She isn't sure where their relationship is going. Andy's grades begin to worsen, and he's being drafted by the army. Andy reports for basic training at Fort Ord, making it clear to everybody there that he'd rather be anyplace else.

Cast[]

Tab Hunter as Private / Corporal Andy Schaeffer
Natalie Wood as Susan
Jessie Royce Landis as Mrs. Schaeffer
Jim Backus as Sergeant Hanna
Murray Hamilton as Sergeant Clyde
Henry Jones as Hanson
Alan King as Majors
James Garner as Preston
David Janssen as Captain Genaro

Production[]

Marion Hargrove had a huge success with his book See Here Private Hargrove which sold 3,500,000 copies. Warner Bros. approached him to see if he would write a story about a draftee in the army in peacetime.

Hargrove agreed but wanted the story to be accurate, as he had left the army in 1945. He arranged through Warners to undertake enlistment and some basic training at Fort Ord. Hargrove told Warners he had enough material for the book. The studio paid him to write the novel and retained only the screen rights.^[2]

The novel was published in 1956. Hargrove wanted to call it All Quiet in the Third Platoon, but Warners preferred The Girl He Left Behind.^[3]

Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood had appeared in The Burning Hills together, and Warner Bros. was keen to build them into an on-screen team.^[4]

Filming started June 1956.^[5] Much of the film was shot at Fort Ord and used real soldiers.^[2]

References[]

Notes

^ "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30
^ ^a ^b Smith, C. (June 17, 1956). "Pvt. hargrove's back". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166938311.
^ P., C. (May 17, 1956). "Books of the times". The New York Times. ProQuest 113846776.
^ "RISING STARS". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 12, 1956. ProQuest 179868975.
^ PRYOR, THOMAS M (May 1, 1956). "CARNERA CHARGES STUDIO WITH FOUL". The New York Times.

External links[]

The Girl He Left Behind at IMDb

This article about a romantic comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

[1] "Top Grosses of 1957", Variety, 8 January 1958: 30

[los-2] Smith, C. (June 17, 1956). "Pvt. hargrove's back". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166938311.

[3] P., C. (May 17, 1956). "Books of the times". The New York Times. ProQuest 113846776.

[4] "RISING STARS". Chicago Daily Tribune. August 12, 1956. ProQuest 179868975.

[5] PRYOR, THOMAS M (May 1, 1956). "CARNERA CHARGES STUDIO WITH FOUL". The New York Times.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]