One of My Favorite Vans

Van Johnson, that is. My friend Shayna has kindly offered to tape two of his movies for me recently -- Easy to Wed, a remake of Libeled Lady, and Invitation. I watched Invitation this afternoon, and what a hoot it was! It is a total soaper -- Dorothy McGuire plays a woman (Ellen) with a heart condition. She can't be active and ends up leading a rather quiet life. Her father dotes on her, and after finding out she only has a year to live, he sets her up with Dan (Johnson) -- a struggling architect -- who he tempts with the offer of work. Dan doesn't necessarily take him up on directly, but he does end up marrying Dorothy before falling in love with her. Flash forward ten months -- and Ellen finds out! Maud, Dan's ex-girlfriend, is extremely jealous and sends her an invitation to a dinner for a heart specialist -- and Ellen finally puts two and two together and makes four. She confronts her father and Dan. Dan tells her the truth -- he didn't exactly love her when they got married, but he does now, and he's found her a specialist (from Baltimore!) who will operate on her. Ah, happy ending, and Ellen lives to see the spring.

Invitation was fairly entertaining, but primarily only as a soap. I wouldn't recommend seeing it unless you're a die-hard Johnson or McGuire fan. The story is pretty far-fetched, but it seems a relict from the early '50s.

FILE UNDER: Classic Film ; Van Johnson