# These Wilder Years > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/These_Wilder_Years > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/These_Wilder_Years.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/These_Wilder_Years > Source revision: 1339381451 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|1956 film by Roy Rowland}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = These Wilder Years | image = These Wilder Years FilmPoster.jpeg | caption = | director = [Roy Rowland](/source/Roy_Rowland_(film_director)) | producer = Jules Schermer | screenplay = [Frank Fenton](/source/Frank_Fenton_(writer)) | story = [Ralph Wheelwright](/source/Ralph_Wheelwright) | starring = [James Cagney](/source/James_Cagney)
[Barbara Stanwyck](/source/Barbara_Stanwyck)
[Walter Pidgeon](/source/Walter_Pidgeon) | music = [Jeff Alexander](/source/Jeff_Alexander) | cinematography = [George J. Folsey](/source/George_J._Folsey) | editing = [Ben Lewis](/source/Ben_Lewis_(editor)) | studio = [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](/source/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) | distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | released = {{Film date|1956|08|17}} | runtime = 91 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $1,257,000{{Citation | title = The Eddie Mannix Ledger | publisher = Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study | place = Los Angeles}}. | gross = $877,000 }} '''''These Wilder Years''''' is a 1956 American [drama film](/source/drama_(film_and_television)) directed by [Roy Rowland](/source/Roy_Rowland_(film_director)) and starring [James Cagney](/source/James_Cagney), [Barbara Stanwyck](/source/Barbara_Stanwyck) and [Walter Pidgeon](/source/Walter_Pidgeon). It is the story of a businessman who tries to find the illegitimate son he gave up to an orphanage many years ago. The film marked the first and only onscreen pairing of Hollywood stars Cagney and Stanwyck. ==Plot== A [Detroit](/source/Detroit) business tycoon, Steve Bradford, tells his board of directors without explanation that he is taking a leave of absence. He travels to his small hometown, where it turns out that his goal is to find a son he put up for adoption 20 years before. Steve turns to Ann Dempster, who runs an orphanage, explaining how he has achieved success in life, but feels a void left by his absent and unknown son. Ann explains that she is ethically required to conceal the identity of foster children and parents. Steve tries charming her, cajoling, even bribing, to no avail, then brings in his lawyer, James Rayburn, to seek other ways of finding the boy. Although he has befriended Ann, he betrays her with a charge of fraud, resulting in a courtroom hearing that could cost her both her vocation and reputation. A furious Ann digs up records that prove how Steve specifically expressed no wish to ever see his child 20 years before. At the orphanage, meantime, he strikes up an acquaintance with a pregnant 16-year-old, Suzie, who has been abandoned by her child's father. Steve takes a personal interest in the girl, particularly after she is injured in an auto accident and needs surgery that she fears could endanger the baby. With the case dismissed and overcome with guilt, Steve goes bowling. He is approached by a young man named Mark Nelson, who turns out to be his missing son. Nelson claimed he had been following the progress of the trial. They have a heart to heart talk and part with no plans to be in each other's lives. Steve believes that this seemingly coincidental meeting was privately arranged by Ann, out of the goodness of her heart, which turns out to be true. Steve adopts Suzie so she doesn't have to give up her child. Suzie names her son after him. ==Cast== * [James Cagney](/source/James_Cagney) as Steve Bradford * [Barbara Stanwyck](/source/Barbara_Stanwyck) as Ann Dempster * [Walter Pidgeon](/source/Walter_Pidgeon) as James Rayburn * [Betty Lou Keim](/source/Betty_Lou_Keim) as Suzie * [Don Dubbins](/source/Don_Dubbins) as Mark * [Edward Andrews](/source/Edward_Andrews) as Mr. Spottsford * [Basil Ruysdael](/source/Basil_Ruysdael) as Judge * [Grandon Rhodes](/source/Grandon_Rhodes) as Roy Oliphant * [Will Wright](/source/Will_Wright_(actor)) as Old Cab Driver * Lewis Martin as Dr. Miller * [Dorothy Adams](/source/Dorothy_Adams) as Aunt Martha * [Dean Jones](/source/Dean_Jones_(actor)) as Hardware Clerk * [Mary Lawrence](/source/Mary_Lawrence_(actress)) as Mrs. Callahan * [Herb Vigran](/source/Herb_Vigran) as Traffic Cop * [Michael Landon](/source/Michael_Landon) as Boy in pool hall * [Tom Laughlin](/source/Tom_Laughlin) as Football player on airplane ==Box office== According to MGM records the film earned $572,000 in the US and Canada and $305,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $600,000. ==See also== * [List of American films of 1956](/source/List_of_American_films_of_1956) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{IMDb title|0049844}} * {{TCMDb title|449}} * {{AFI film|52033}} {{Roy Rowland}} Category:1956 films Category:1956 drama films Category:American drama films Category:American black-and-white films Category:Films about adoption Category:Films directed by Roy Rowland Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Category:Teenage pregnancy in film Category:1956 English-language films Category:1956 American films Category:English-language drama films {{1950s-US-drama-film-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [These Wilder Years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/These_Wilder_Years) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/These_Wilder_Years?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.