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The Gift of Love
The Gift of Love
Directed by	Jean Negulesco
Screenplay by	Luther Davis
Based on	The Little Horse; (1944 Good Housekeeping story); by Nelia Gardner White
Produced by	Charles Brackett
Starring	Lauren Bacall; Robert Stack
Cinematography	Milton R. Krasner
Edited by	Hugh S. Fowler
Music by	Cyril J. Mockridge; Alfred Newman
Production; company	20th Century Fox
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	February 11, 1958;
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,215,000

The Gift of Love is a 1958 American CinemaScope drama romance film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack.^[2]

The film's screenplay was based on the short story "The Little Horse" by Nelia Gardner White, originally published in a 1944 issue of Good Housekeeping, and previously made into the film Sentimental Journey (1946), with John Payne and Maureen O'Hara.^[3]

Plot

A brilliant scientist, Bill Beck, ends up happily married to Julie, his doctor's receptionist. Five years after their wedding, the same doctor treats Julie for a heart condition that she decides to keep secret from her husband, who is doing serious work as a physicist developing guided missiles.

Not wishing him to be left alone if she dies, Julie suggests they adopt a child. An orphan called Hitty has been rejected many times, but Julie takes a shine to her. Bill, a pragmatist, does not understand the little girl's fantasy world, and he is angered when Hitty, meaning well, erases a chalkboard, wiping out hours of Bill's hard work.

Bill's superior at work, Grant Allan, urges him to give the girl more patience and time, but the Becks believe it could be best that Hitty be returned to the orphanage. Julie's heart gives out. After her death, Hitty tries to win over her heartbroken foster father, but Bill is inconsolable.

Hitty is returned to the orphanage. She goes missing one night and is caught in a storm. Bill and Grant hurry there to assist in a search, and when they find Hitty and save her, Bill realizes he never wants to be apart from her again.

Cast

Lauren Bacall as Julie Beck
Robert Stack as William "Bill" Beck
Evelyn Rudie as Hitty
Lorne Greene as Grant Allan
Anne Seymour as Miss McMasters
Edward Platt as Dr. Jim Miller
Joseph Kearns as Mr. Rynicker

References

^ Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
^ "The Gift of Love (1958) - Jean Negulesco". AllMovie.
^ "The Gift of Love". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 15, 2023.