Talk about a simple storyline: a couple wants to have kids. That's basically it. Once they (Cary Grant and Irene Dunne) have finally have one, the baby dies before birth. Then, they adopt a baby who makes it to about age six or seven and then dies after a quick illness.

Near the end, when the couple is ready to divorce because they couldn't handle this tragedy, another baby is offered to them, they accept and live happily ever after. Some parts of this are stupid - certainly the divorce angle - but this soap opera works because of the actors. Grant is excellent in the male lead, adding some good, much-needed comedy in spots. Dunne is very believable in her role. Edgar Buchanan ("Applejack") elevates this film with a very likable role. Beulah Bondi's "Miss Oliver" looks like the proverbial "old battle-ax" but proves to be a very caring person.

Another good feature of this film is that it was directed by George Stevens, one of the best of all time.

One thing I have yet to find: a good print of this movie. Whether VHS or DVD, it's always a lousy transfer. When is a decent DVD going to come out? Beware of anything retailing for $7.99 and below.

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant play a couple that have a whirlwind courtship. When they first meet he's a journalist who's irresponsible with his money and doesn't like children. She's more conventional and practical, and here as in life opposites often attract and come to some middle ground. This is nothing more than the story of a marriage with quite a bit of heartbreak along the way. To say much more than that would give the plot away. The movie starts at the end as Irene Dunne's character prepares to leave town and her marriage behind. She is going through a stack of records and reminiscing, thus the title "Penny Serenade" as we get a flashback of the couple's life together and what brought them to the point of separation.

This film moves quite slowly, but every scene, no matter how small, has significance as you grow to really care about this couple and what happens to them and feel sad that they have been so thoroughly mugged by life that they feel they must part. Beulah Bondi and Edgar Buchanan play good friends to and in a way guardian angels of the couple who realize that these two have something special together that is worth saving. Highly recommended and a sentimental favorite of mine.

Julie Adams is seen going through recordings as the story unfolds; each song she plays brings back memories, and it represents a chapter in her life. Julie who has decided to leave her husband, Roger, remembers aspects of an unfulfilled life. The thing she most wanted in the world is denied to her: being a mother. Not everything in Julie's life has been bad, as we get to know her. Julie was lucky in finding a man like Roger, who did everything possible for her, except give her the child she longed for.

As Roger returns home from Japan, he establishes a small paper. He struggles to keep it going, but unfortunately, his business doesn't make it. It's at this juncture in their life when Roger and Julie decide to adopt. They are lucky in that the kind head of the agency, Miss Oliver, realizes they have all it takes to be good parents, even though their finances don't add up. When Trina, the infant girl, is offered to them, they decide to take the chance. Roger, who wanted a boy, has an emotional encounter with a judge that wants to take the girl away from him and Julie when his paper folds.

As Trina, the infant girl, is brought home, Julie and Roger realize how ill prepared they are to take care of the baby. Applejack, who helps run the paper, saves them from their own awkwardness and shows the couple how babies are taken care of. Trina, who grows to be a sweet little girl, contracts a mysterious illness and dies. Her death, together with all the Adams' financial problems, breaks their marriage. We watch Julie preparing to do, but the providential call from Miss Oliver with the offer of a new orphan boy, serves to bring the Adams' together.

George Stevens directed skilfully this melodrama. By emphasizing the financial problem of the Adams', and not dwelling in Trina's tragic loss, Mr. Stevens got away from the total tear jerker the material could have turned in the hands of another director.

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant had appeared in two other comedies before. Without a doubt, Cary Grant steals the picture with his amazing take on Roger Adams, a man who is a reluctant adoptive father, only to have his heart stolen by Trina. Mr. Grant proved here he could have easily made a serious dramatic actor. Ms. Dunne is also effective as Julie, a woman who can't have children of her own. Edgar Buchanan is seen as the loyal Applejack, and Beulah Bondi appears as the kind Miss Oliver, the woman who brings happiness to the Adams.

The film is worth seeing because of Cary Grant's invaluable contribution to the film.