- Country: USA
- Genres: Drama, Romance
- Release: 1940-10-19
- Director: Garson Kanin
- Writers: Robert Ardrey , Sidney Howard
- Language: English | Italian
- Stars: Carole Lombard , Charles Laughton (1899–1962) , William Gargan , Harry Carey , Frank Fay , Joseph E. Bernard , Janet Fox , Lee Tung Foo , Karl Malden (1912–2009) , Victor Kilian
- Runtime: 96 min
- Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 nomination total
- AKA: O golgothas mias agapis (Greece) , La mujer del otro (Mexico) , O Outro (Portugal, Portuguese Republic) , Drôle de mariage (France, French Republic) , Não Cobiçarás a Mulher Alheia (Brazil) , Non desiderare la donna d'altri (Italy) , They Knew What They Wanted (Canada) , They Knew What They Wanted , Sabien què volien (Spain) , Bir Aşk Faciası (Turkey) , They Knew What They Wanted (United Kingdom) , Din nästas hustru (Sweden) , Intohimojen syleilyssä (Finland) , Sabían lo que querían (Spain) , They Knew What They Wanted (United States of America) , Sabían lo que querían (Argentina)
- Plot: Tony (Charles Laughton), a successful but illiterate middle-aged grape farmer, sends the photograph of his handsome young foreman, Joe (William Gargan), instead of his own, hoping to woo and marry Amy (Carole Lombard), a waitress in a San Francisco restaurant. Through a series of letters, the two become close and Tony invites his "future wife" to visit. When the beautiful, young Amy arrives at Tony's Napa, California ranch she falls for the wrong man thinking that Joe is the wealthy Tony. When Tony tries to win her over in broken English, she is at first furious and then charmed. But Tony breaks his legs while showing off to impress Amy, and -- left alone to care for a cripple -- she reluctantly succumbs to Joe's charms and becomes pregnant. Although Tony discovers that he has been cuckolded and that Joe has run off, his anger turns to genuine love and he offers to take Amy back unconditionally for the sake of the child and his own true feelings for Amy.
- IMDB:tt0033150
They Knew What They Wanted Cast · · · ALL
Garson Kanin
Director
Carole Lombard
Amy Peters
Charles Laughton
(1899–1962)
Tony Patucci
William Gargan
Joe
Harry Carey
The Doctor
Frank Fay
Father McKee
Joseph E. Bernard
The R.F.D.
Lee Tung Foo
Ah Gee, the Cook
Karl Malden
(1912–2009)
Red
Victor Kilian
The Photographer
Demetrius Alexis
Restaurant Customer (uncredited)
Ricca Allen
Mrs. Thing (uncredited)
Effie Anderson
Nurse (uncredited)
Bobby Barber
Tony's Pal at Table (uncredited)
Marie Blake
Waitress (uncredited)
Tom Ewell
New Hired Hand (uncredited)
Antonio Filauri
Customer (uncredited)
Bobbie Hale
Restaurant Customer (uncredited)
Grace Lenard
Waitress (uncredited)
Nestor Paiva
Tony's Pal at Table (uncredited)
Paul Panzer
Proprietor of Italian Restaurant (uncredited)
Stephen Soldi
Restaurant Customer (uncredited)