twhiteson
"Smiling Jim" was William Holden's disparaging name for the characters he was usually assigned throughout the 1940's. Those characters were mostly insipid twits whose depth was puddle deep and whose only purpose was to be pleasant and smiling.There is no better example of a "Smiling Jim" role than "Lt. William Seacroft" in this forgotten piece of WW2 era fluff. Based on a popular wartime stage play by Norman Krasna (who should have been credited for the story of William Wyler's 1953 "Roman Holiday" because it's pretty much a remake of 1943's "Princess O'Rourke" for which Krasna won a screen-writing Oscar), "Dear Ruth" introduces the "Wilkins" family: father (Edward Arnold), mother (Mary Philips) and two daughters: "Ruth" (Joan Caulfield), a bank employee in her early 20's, and "Miriam" (Mona Freeman)- a teenage activist who has really taken aiding the war effort to heart. It's Miriam's activism that sets everything in motion. Besides petitioning the War Department to allow women to be drafted and volunteering her father as a blood donor, she's also taken to writing airman Seacroft encouraging him to greater efforts against the enemy. However, Miriam knew that her age would limit the effectiveness of her letter writing campaign. So, she used Ruth's name and enclosed Ruth's photo for good emphasis. Ruth, of course, is a knock-out whose looks quickly ensnare Lt. Seacroft into a lengthy correspondence with Miriam. He's so entranced that he volunteers for hazardous duty so he can get a two-day leave to go courting Ruth stateside.Thus, Lt. Seacroft shows-up unannounced on the Wilkins' doorstep to the bewilderment of everyone except Miriam. Upon discovering why he's there wartime contingencies demand that everyone play along that Ruth actually did write those letters in order to avoid hurting Seacroft's feelings. However, Seacroft isn't there just for a meet-and-greet, but to propose. Most of the comedy comes from the alleged "hilarity" caused by the fact that Ruth is already engaged to her fussy, thirty-something year old 4F boss, "Albert Kummer" (Billy De Wolfe). Various hi-jinks and misunderstandings accrue before everything is sorted out at film's end.I found this film's stage origins to be too obvious and the plot too far fetched and predictable to be interesting. The biggest problem is there is no contest between Lt. Seacroft and his alleged rival, Kummer. Let's see, on one hand, we have Seacroft a decorated officer and war hero, who is also extremely handsome and charming, and, on the other, we have Kummer- a homely, boring fuddy-duddy who works in the despised banking profession and is 4F due to an alleged bad back. Also, it's quite obvious that Kummer plays for the Pink Team. The question really isn't whether Ruth will choose Seacroft over Kummer, but what in heaven's name did she ever see in Kummer in the first place? (Also, it appears that Ruth's "gaydar" badly malfunctioned.)Overall, William Holden as Smiling Jim, oh, I meant Seacroft, is charming. Joan Caulfield is pretty. Edward Arnold has fun playing a put-upon but understanding father. And Billy De Wolfe is amusing despite being hopelessly miscast. However, the film's predictability and its reliance on too many far-fetched misunderstandings for its humor eventually got pretty tiresome.
SimonJack
The setting for "Dear Ruth" is a suburb of New York City. It's 1944 and World War II is still going on. A bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Lt. William Seacroft has flown from Italy on a two-day leave. He pops in on the Wilkins family to meet Ruth, his pen pal sweetheart in person, and to marry her. Only he's a surprise to Ruth's parents, and to Ruth who just said "Yes!" to wed her childhood sweetheart, Albert. So, Ruth is a ruse of sorts, impersonated in the mail by her well-meaning and precocious teenage sister, Miriam. Bedlam breaks loose around the Wilkins household over the next two days. But the place was ripe for it, with a cast of characters that make up one of the zaniest sane families of film. Joan Caulfield and William Holden have top billing here as Ruth and Lt. William Seacroft. But the principals of the supporting cast are the sources of most of the humor. Edward Arnold has one of his many excellent roles in films as the dad, Judge Harry Wilkins. Mona Freeman is the sister, Miriam, who is the cause of much of the turmoil with its associated humor. Billy De Wolfe is Ruth's childhood sweetheart, Albert Kummer, who's frustrated and funny throughout. Mary Philips is Mrs. Edie Wilkins, the matron of the Wilkins household. Others of the cast all give fine performances. The screenplay for this film is a running dialog of humor; and the facial expressions, looks and other gestures just multiply the comedy. For more humorous dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb web page of the movie. Here are some samples. Miriam, "Your stomach has to have something to work on, Dad. In the morning, you have an empty 30-feet of small intestine." Judge, "Hasn't everybody?" Edie, "I'm in charge of your father's small intestine -- all 30 feet of it. And I don't care for such talk at breakfast."Miriam, "As a judge, I thought you had an additional responsibility to set an example." Judge, "I'm a traffic judge. Let the Supreme Court give blood."Judge, "No. Let her take it with her. I'd like to see that petition go through." Miriam (happily), "Dad …" Judge, "It would solve everything if that girl were drafted."Miriam, "Dad, you went to the blood bank today… was it hard for you?" Judge, "Oh, there were 20 women in the room. I was the only person put to bed with a blanket over him. I hope the young fellow that gets my blood doesn't need it too badly because I have no confidence in it." Edie, "How do you feel, Harry?" Judge, "Oh, fine, dandy, never felt better." Edie, "You looked terrible stretched out on that cot." Judge, "Were you there too?" Miriam, "My contribution to the war effort today was two pints of blood?" Judge and Edie in unison, "Your contribution?" Miriam, "Well it was my idea, wasn't it?"Ruth, "Miriam, do you realize what you did?" Miriam, "Yes I do. I have made a soldier out of a lonely, frightened youngster." Judge, "Oh, he is a grown man." Miriam, "Not in spirit." Judge, "I'm not talking about his spirit. The poor sucker's come home to see his sweetheart. He's entitled to something, and he's going to get it. Miriam, "The game of man and woman maneuvering in pursuit of a mate I consider on the level of a game of checkers." Ruth, "What do you know about checkers?" Judge, "You're ahead, Ruth. It's your turn, Miriam." Miriam, "A witticism is no answer for logic." Judge, "You lose, Ruth."Lt. Seacroft, looking at a picture of Ruth, "Be seeing ya', baby. That's what I call here – baby. You might as well know it." Edie, "I used to call her that." Judge, "It's not the same, dear." Ruth, "I'm going to be married. Right away. Well, aren't you going to say anything?" Judge, "We're glad to get rid of you." Ruth, "That's what I thought."Miriam, "I'm not sorry for what I've one. I've given a soldier to the war." Edie, "His mother will be happy to hear that." Lt. Seacroft, "A toast. To the Post Office Department… for bringing us together."Edie, "Miriam, Hitler started by burning books. You must be tolerant of every opinion."Ruth, "He's nothing like he seems." Edie, "He seems like a nice clean cut young fellow." Albert, "What are they paying lieutenants in this war?" Ruth, "I've never met anyone who cared so little about money. Albert, "We meet that type at the bank. Squander dollars on peanuts then try to borrow nickels for bread." Edie, "Harry, I just thought of something… They're not supposed to meet." Judge, "Well if they're not supposed to meet, this is the place for it."Sgt. Vincent, "Well, that's the way it goes. Bill gets his girl through mail. I lose mine the same way." Ruth, "You know I'm going to wear your ring." Albert, "Why not? You have 10 fingers. There's room enough for 10 engagement rings."
