Roughly Speaking

Roughly Speaking is a 1945 American comedy-drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Rosalind Russell and Jack Carson. The plot involves a strong-minded mother keeping her family afloat through World War I and the Great Depression. The film was based on the autobiography of the same name, published in 1943, by Louise Randall Pierson. Plot Louise Randall Pierson (Rosalind Russell) does not have an easy life. When she is a teenager, her beloved father dies, leaving her, her mother, and her sister in financial difficulty. However, heeding her father's advice to shoot for the stars, she remains undaunted. She goes to college and learns typing and shorthand; on her first (temporary) job, she overcomes the prejudice of her new boss, Lew Morton (Alan Hale, Sr.), against women workers. Then, although they have very different ideas about a woman's place, she marries Rodney Crane (Donald Woods), who goes to work in the banking industry. Four children are born in rapid succession. Louise nurses her brood through a bout of infantile paralysis; one is left somewhat lame. After 10 years though, Rodney tires of her self-reliance and divorces her to marry a younger woman with a traditional idea of what a wife should be. A year later, Louise meets Harold C. Pierson (Jack Carson), who is less driven, but just as unconventional. After only a few hours acquaintance, he asks her to marry him, and she (somewhat to her own surprise) accepts. They have a son. Louise inspires Harold to venture into his family's business and take a loan to build greenhouses for growing roses. They are just about to clear the last $30,000 of their debt when the market collapses due to oversupply. They have to sell most of their possessions and take to the road.