Dear Ruth is a 1947 American romantic comedy film starring Joan Caulfield, William Holden, Mona Freeman, Billy De Wolfe and Edward Arnold.

The film's plot concerns a teenage girl who uses her older sister's identity to communicate with a soldier pen pal.

Her father Judge Wilkins and mother Edie are puzzled when Lieutenant William Seacroft, a complete stranger, appears at their home asking for their 22-year-old daughter Ruth.

Bill has just returned from Italy, where he flew 25 missions over Germany as the bombardier of a B-26 bomber, but he has only two days of leave.

Later, Ruth tells Albert that after Bill leaves for the Pacific, she will write to him and gently break off their relationship.

Miriam inadvertently reveals the whole truth to Bill, who accepts the situation, but after Martha and Chuck are married, Ruth has a change of heart.

Filming was set to begin in August with Sidney Lanfield directing and Paul Jones producing.

[11] Columbia Pictures sued Krasna and the filmmakers for plagiarism, claiming that the story infringed the copyright of "Dear Mr.

[12][13][14][15] Bosley Crowther praised the film in The New York Times, calling it "one of those simon-pure excursions in fun, which bubbles and sparkles its way into your heart and completely disarms any resistance which an unadorned outline of its conventional plot might invoke" and noting that "the pace never drags, even though the slim story is stretched out over ninety minutes".

[16] The film was successful at the box office,[17] earning almost $4 million during its first year of release in North America.