Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

===Early 1940s===

Milestone's reputation as a director was undiminished among Hollywood executives after ''Of Mice and Men'', and [[RKO]] signed him to direct two light comedies, both of which star [[Ronald Colman]].<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 104: "Milestone's Hollywood reputation took another upward turn after Of Mice and Men [when] he signed a contract with [[RKO]], where he was given his own production unit."<br />Canham, 1974 p. 90: "A two picture deal with RKO offered Milestone a double comedy package with Ronald Colman as star"</ref> Milestone was provided with his own production unit, and quickly satisfied his contractual obligations, directing [[Ginger Rogers]] in ''[[Lucky Partners]]'' (1940) and [[Anna Lee]] in the "totally disarming frolic" ''[[My Life with Caroline]]'' (1941).<ref>Canham, 1974 pp. 90&ndash;91<br />Millichap, 1981 p. 104: "In quick succession he ground out two light comedies with the aging [[Ronald Colman|Ronald Coleman]] as the lead" and "Either film might have been directed by any dozen of studios regulars{{nbsp}}... overall they are simply uninspired fare{{nbsp}}... once again Milestone's career seemed in the doldrums."<br />Barson, 2020: "the forgettable comedies Lucky Partners (1940) and My Life with Caroline (1941),..<br />Tartara, 2011. TCM: "Milestone was more of a technical innovator than anything else, and never showed much flair for comedy. His movies were hardly light on their feet."</ref> According to Milestone:

{{blockquote|This particular pair of comedies [''Lucky Partner'' (1940) and ''My Life with Caroline'' (1941)] were of the kind you did if you hoped to stay in motion pictures, in the expectation that the next film might give you a chance to redeem yourself.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 104, quoting a Charles Higham source; see Millichap footnotes.</ref>}}