Little Old New York

 

Little Old New York (1940) is a historical drama film from 20th Century Fox, directed by Henry King and starring Alice Faye, Fred MacMurray, and Richard Greene. follows the adventures of Patricia O’Day, a young Irish girl who disguises herself as a boy to inherit her brother’s estate in New York. She meets Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat, and helps him with his project, while also falling in love with him.

 

The film is based on a play by Rida Johnson Young, which tells the story of the engineer Robert Fulton and his invention of the steamboat in New York City in 1807.

 

• The original play ‘Little Old New York’ by Rida Johnson Young is a historical comedy that was first performed on Broadway in 1920 and ran for 308 performances. 

 

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography.

 

Robert Fulton is widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative figures in the history of transportation and engineering. While the film does depict some of the challenges and achievements of Fulton’s steamboat project, it is mainly a fictionalised and romanticised version of his life. Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world’s first commercially successful steamboat, the North River Steamboat (also known as Clermont) in 1807. He also designed a system of inland waterways, a submarine, and a steam warship.

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The film also references Gone with the Wind (1939). Little Old New York (1940) and Gone with the Wind (1939) were both produced by Darryl F. Zanuck who was the head of production at 20th Century Fox.