Once Upon a Time

UPC: 043396052895

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Suitable for Children]

Summary: Based on Norman Corwin's satirical radio play My Client Curley, Once Upon a Time is an engaging bit of whimsy, completely dominated by the personality of star Cary Grant. It all begins when fly-by-night Broadway producer Jerry Flynn (Grant) learns of a trained caterpillar (!) that dances to the tune of "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby." In short order, Jerry has promoted Curly the Caterpillar to international stardom-and in the process he alienates both Pinky Thompson (Ted Donaldson), the impressionable 9-year-old who owns Curley, and Pinky's attractive older sister Jeanne (Janet Blair). Eventually, Flynn comes to his senses and regains his essential decency-though it's too late to continue capitalizing on Curley, who has turned into a non-dancing butterfly! Full of delightful contemporary references and "cameo appearances" by such celebrities as producer Walt Disney and radio commentator Gabriel Heatter (both played by uncredited impressionists), Once Upon a Time proved an agreeable diversion for wartime audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Features: ccDigitally mastered audio and video
Remastered in high definition
Full screen presentation
Audio: English
Subtitles: English, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
Bonus trailers
Interactive menus
Scene selections

Once Upon a Time

Format: DVD

Release Date: 02/25/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Runtime: 89 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,French,Portuguese,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Start [2:22]
2. Jerry Flynn, Theatrical Producer [5:00]
3. A Dancing Caterpillar! [3:40]
4. A Business Proposition [3:39]
5. Jeannie Thompson, Concerned Sister [2:31]
6. A Woim, Wiggling [4:24]
7. Significance, Importance, Greatness! [1:05]
8. The Press Conference [2:46]
9. "You're Quittin'!" [1:11]
10. Gabriel Heatter, Noted Commentator [1:17]
11. "I Have Seen Curly Dance." [3:35]
12. Preaching to the Converted [1:08]
13. Hollywood Calling [3:47]
14. A Gremlin Gets in the Fairy Tale [5:20]
15. "We're Gonna Run Away." [3:59]
16. Desperate Measures [5:02]
17. Partners in Curly Enterprises [2:06]
18. Two Distinguished Insect Specialists [1:05]
19. The Examination [2:51]
20. The Whole World Excited [5:49]
21. Sold! [1:55]
22. "Curly Belongs to Me." [2:45]
23. Partnership Dissolved [2:21]
24. A Mean Man [1:59]
25. "Curly's Gone!" [2:47]
26. A Big Surprise [4:34]
27. Curly Club Escort [1:48]
28. "It's Curly!" [3:48]

Bruce Eder

It's fairly clear what Columbia Pictures and director Alexander Hall had in mind when they made Once Upon a Time -- Hall, who had previously given us Here Comes Mr. Jordan, was hoping for lightning to strike twice with this whimsical tale, inthe hope of reaching audiences looking for 90 minutes' escape from the third full year of war. Luckily, he and Cary Grant were on the same page. During the 1940's, Grant had decided it was time to prove himself as more than a popular screen personality -- he wanted to show off his acting ability and chose a series difficult roles, in movies such as None But the Lonely Heart, Penny Serenade, and Once Upon a Time. The latter was, in its time, perhaps his most challenging role, as he had to walk a fine line, portraying a man torn by his conflicting practical and whimsical sides, his opposed larcenous and his well-meaning natures, and his cynical and idealistic sides -- all while convincing audiences that there was, indeed, a dancing catterpillar in the box, and that he could actually cheat the little boy to whom it belonged, and still turn out to be a good man at the end. Hall and the writers, who included Lucille Fletcher (of Sorry, Wrong Number and Hitchhiker fame), managed to touch some important bases along the way -- perhaps the best scene in the movie, and the one that plays the truest today, is the montage depicting the public debate over whether Grant's Broadway producer or the scientific community should possess the catterpillar -- Once Upon a Time may have offered escapism, but the scene in which the pilots (one played by a young Lloyd Bridges) tell of kids dodging bombs in Chunking was a reminder of when and where this movie was made. Janet Blair is a bit too much of a scold to take seriously for most of the movie, but then, it's difficult to tell just how seriously -- beyond those scenes mentioned, and the rather mawkish ending -- the movie was meant to be taken. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Henry Armetta  Actor 
Charles Coleman  Actor 
Pauline Drake  Actor 
Edward Gargan  Actor 
Esther Howard  Actor 
Garry Owen  Actor 
Ray Teal  Actor 
Lewis Wilson  Actor 
John Kelly  Actor 
Gary Bruce  Actor 
Tom Kennedy  Actor 
Kirk Alyn  Actor 
Charley Bates  Actor 
Bill Chaney  Actor 
Almeda Fowler  Actor 
Eula Guy  Actor 
Anne Loos  Actor 
Jack Norton  Actor 
Cecil Weston  Actor 
Grace Lenard  Actor 
George Davis  Actor 
John Abbott  Actor 
Vi Athens  Actor 
Lucille Browne  Actor 
Pedro de Cordoba  Actor 
Fern Emmett  Actor 
William Gould  Actor 
Marilyn Johnson  Actor 
Sybil Merritt  Actor 
Barbara Pepper  Actor 
John Tyrrell  Actor 
Ian Wolfe  Actor 
Tom Dugan  Actor 
Lawrence Lathrop  Actor 
Iris Adrian  Actor 
Leonard Carey  Actor 
Vernon Dent  Actor 
Clyde Fillmore  Actor 
Gary Gray  Actor 
Phyllis Kennedy  Actor 
Ida Moore  Actor 
Christian Rub  Actor 
Ruth Warren  Actor 
William Austin  Actor 
Richard H. Gordon  Actor 
Norval Mitchell  Actor 
George Anderson  Actor 
Cliff Clark  Actor 
Jeff Donnell  Actor 
Frank S. Hagney  Actor 
Robert Lowell  Actor 
Spec O'Donnell  Actor 
Harry Strang  Actor 
Robert B. Williams  Actor 
Joseph J. Greene  Actor 
William Yip  Actor 
Ronnie Rondell  Actor 
Billy Bevan  Actor 
Eddie Acuff  Actor 
Lloyd Bridges  Actor 
Eddie Bruce  Actor 
Walter Fenner  Actor 
Erwin Kalser  Actor 
Torben Meyer  Actor 
Cyril Ring  Actor 
Emmett Vogan  Actor 
Freeman Wood  Actor 
George Bruggeman  Actor 
Jack Lee  Actor 
Charles Arnt  Actor 
Lionel Braham  Actor 
Mary Currier  Actor 
George Eldredge  Actor 
Vaughan Glaser  Actor 
Frederic Howard  Actor 
Alex Melesh  Actor 
Emory Parnell  Actor 
George Tyne  Actor 
Isabel Withers  Actor 
Robert Tafur  Actor 
Thelma Joel  Actor 
Murray Alper  Actor 
Don Barclay  Actor 
Lane Chandler  Actor 
John Dilson  Actor 
James Flavin  Actor 
Harrison Greene  Actor 
Nolan Leary  Actor 
George Neise  Actor 
Sid Saylor  Actor 
Pierre Watkin  Actor 
Mary Field  Actor 
Eddie Hall  Actor 
Walter Pietila  Actor 
Louis Edelman  Producer 
Frederick Hollander  Composer (Music Score) 
Lewis Meltzer  Screenwriter 
Oscar Saul  Screenwriter 
Irving Fineman  Screenwriter 
Alexander Hall  Director 
Cary Grant  Actor 
Janet Blair  Actor 
James Gleason  Actor 
Ted Donaldson  Actor 
Howard Freeman  Actor 
William Demarest  Actor 
Art Baker  Actor 
Paul Stanton  Actor 
Mickey McGuire  Actor 

Country: USA