17 Movies Directed by Henry Koster

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The three Craig sisters, in Switzerland with their ten-years-divorced mother, run away to New York to prevent their father from marrying calculating socialite Donna Lyons. The overpowering vivacity of the Smart Girls (nominal ages 14-20) sweeps all before it, but a romantic complication between middle sister Kay and their accidental ally, Lord Michael Stuart, threatens shipwreck to their schemes...

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The daughter of a struggling musician forms a symphony orchestra made up of his unemployed friends and through persistence, charm and a few misunderstandings, is able to get Leopold Stokowski to lead them in a concert that leads to a radio contract.

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Nicole has no job and is several weeks behind with her rent. Her solution to her problem is to try and snare a rich husband. Enlisting the help of her friend Gloria and the maitre'd at a ritzy New York City hotel, the trio plot to have Gloria catch the eye of Bill Duncan, a handsome millionaire staying at the hotel. The plan works and the two quickly become engaged. Nicole's plan may be thwarted by Bill's friend, Jim Trevor, who's met Nicole before and sees through her plot.

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An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family's affections, as Christmas approaches.

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Two nuns from a French convent arrive in a small New England town with a plan to build a children's hospital. They enlist the help of several colorful characters in achieving their dream including a struggling artist, a popular composer, and a renowned racketeer.

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The classic stage hit gets the Hollywood treatment in the story of Elwood P. Dowd who makes friends with a spirit taking the form of a human-sized rabbit named Harvey that only he sees (and a few privileged others on occasion also.) After his sister tries to commit him to a mental institution, a comedy of errors ensues. Elwood and Harvey become the catalysts for a family mending its wounds and for romance blossoming in unexpected places.

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Radio star Kitty Moran, long married to partner Jack, finds she's pregnant, but miscarries. For a change, the couple turn their act into a series on early TV and try to adopt a baby, finally acquiring a girl in a somewhat back alley manner. Complications follow amid a series of musical numbers.

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When Philip Ashley's much-loved (and rich) cousin Ambrose dies, he is convinced that Ambrose was murdered by his new wife Rachel to inherit his wealth. But when he meets Rachel and falls in love with her, he knows that his suspicions must have been unfounded. But were they, or is Rachel just trying to use Philip to get at the estate Ambrose left to him instead of to her? And will she murder him next?

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Marcellus is a tribune in the time of Christ. He is in charge of the group that is assigned to crucify Jesus. Drunk, he wins Jesus' homespun robe after the crucifixion. He is tormented by nightmares and delusions after the event. Hoping to find a way to live with what he has done, and still not believing in Jesus, he returns to Palestine to try and learn what he can of the man he killed.

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Based on the true story of a young Scottish lad, Peter Marshall, who dreams of only going to sea but finds out there is a different future for him when he receives a "calling" from God to be a minister. He leaves Scotland and goes to America where after a few small congregations he lands the position of pastor of the Church of the Presidents in Washington, D.C. and eventually he becomes Chaplain of the U.S. Senate.

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Chinese stowaway Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki) arrives in San Francisco with her father to meet her fiancè, wealthy nightclub owner Sammy Fong (Jack Soo), in an arranged marriage, but the groom has his eye on his star singer Linda Low (Nancy Kwan). This film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical is filled with memorable song-and-dance numbers showcasing the contrast between Mei Li's traditional family and her growing fascination with American culture.

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St. Louis based banker Roger Hobbs is writing a letter to his wife, Peggy Hobbs, about his true feelings concerning their just returned from month long vacation, the letter to be opened only after his death, whenever that may be. Mr. Hobbs wanted the vacation to be a romantic getaway for two, but Peggy insisted that it be a family vacation to a central California beach-side house, given to them for the month by friends. The vacation included all their offspring, and their offspring's respective families where applicable. Hobbs hated the idea as he felt he didn't know his offspring - and their spouses even less - and that they, in turn, no longer needed him. They include: daughter Susan Carver, who, with her husband, Stan Carver, have a permissive parenting style as per the latest child psychology books; daughter Janie Grant, whose husband, college professor, Byron Grant, has an academic view of everything in life; fourteen year old daughter, Katey Hobbs, who is self conscious around boys if only because of her new braces, that self consciousness which boys see as standoffishness; and preteen son Danny Hobbs, whose sole focus in life is watching television. The house ended up being a rat trap which exasperated their cook Brenda the most. But beyond that issue, Mr. Hobbs ended up learning the true nature of his relationship to his offspring and to Peggy. In the process, he had to endure the extended visit by an odd couple named the Turners, and learned that some problems can be solved purely by yelling "hey Joe" into an unknown group of boys.

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Frank Michaelson, well respected President of the Pacific Pallisades Board of Education, is appearing in front of a Board hearing addressing the issue of the widespread public outcry asking for either his dismissal or resignation because of a series of salacious front page newspaper stories, complete with photographs, on his recent goings-on. In addressing these unsubstantiated charges, Frank attributes all the incidents on his eldest daughter, Mollie Michaelson, now just shy of her twentieth birthday, no longer being the sweet child he had always pictured her as, but now rather a desirable young woman. Frank and his wife Anne first noticed Mollie blossoming into such when she went away to college, first to Hawthorne, a girls' college in New England, and then to a prestigious art school in Paris. In Frank noticing Mollie becoming a desirable woman and her leaving home happening at the same time, Frank admits that he had troubles letting go of Mollie and thus he did whatever he felt he needed to to protect her, even if she didn't really want or need that help. His problems were compounded by his encounters with a slightly off kilter Englishman he met in Paris, and many, including some paparazzi, believing that he is American actor James Stewart.

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Professor Leaf, an absent-minded poet with a prejudice against the sciences, is forced to face the fact that his son is a math prodigy with little artistic talent of his own.

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Young and inexperienced Sister Ann has just arrived at her next posting at Samaritan House, a Dominican order located in a disreputable neighborhood of Ghent, Belgium. Sister Ann is enthusiastic, progressive but naive, all which irks one of the senior sisters, Sister Cluny, especially the fact that Sister Ann has a prized material possession, a guitar she's named Adele. Sister Ann considers Adele and her music to be her friends. Contrary to Sister Cluny, the Mother Prioress believes Sister Ann will be a welcome addition to their order. This posting is to be the training ground for Sister Ann and others to become missionaries in Africa. Sister Ann's path takes a detour when the order's Father Clementi hears Sister Ann sing. He believes Sister Ann should record her music and as a favor asks Robert Gerarde of Primavera Records for recording time. Unknown at the time the request is made, Robert and Sister Ann are old friends who attended the Paris Conservatory of Music together five years earlier before she became a nun. Robert believes Sister Ann could be a recording sensation, keeping true to her style of music of religious based folk songs. As Sister Ann becomes more famous, which includes an appearance on the The Ed Sullivan Show (1948), Sister Ann increasingly wonders if she truly is doing the work of God, as she admits she enjoys the adulation of being a celebrity and despite the financial gain to the church. This question, which was important previously in dealing with a precocious local boy named Dominic Arlien (after who she named one of her songs) and his troubled family, becomes all the more important after a specific incident which threatens Dominic's life.