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Twentieth Century Pictures
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Twentieth Century Pictures was an independent Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1932 by Joseph Schenck (the former president of United Artists) and Darryl F. Zanuck from Warner Brothers. Financial backing came from Schenck's younger brother Nicholas Schenck, president of Loew's, the theater chain that owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), and from Louis B. Mayer of MGM, who wanted a position for his son-in-law, William Goetz. The company product was distributed by United Artists (UA), and leased space at Samuel Goldwyn Studios.
Schenck was President of Twentieth Century, while Zanuck was named Production Chief and Goetz and Raymond Griffith served as vice-presidents. Their initial stars under contract were George Arliss, Constance Bennett, and Loretta Young; however the Goetz connection meant that talent could be borrowed from MGM. The company was successful right from the very beginning—out of their first 18 films only one, Born to Be Bad—was not a financial success. Their 1934 production, The House of Rothschild was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. In 1935, they produced the classic film Les Misérables, from Victor Hugo's novel, which was also nominated for Best Picture.
In the winter of 1934, Zanuck began negotiate with the UA board to acquire stock of the company and become a board member, but became outraged by UA's co-founder Mary Pickford's refusal to reward Twentieth Century with the company's stock, fearing it would have diluted the value of holdings by another UA stockholder and co-founder, D.W. Griffith. Schenck, who had been a UA stockholder for over ten years, resigned from United Artists in protest of the shoddy treatment of Twentieth Century, and Zanuck; thus began discussions with other distributors, which led to talks with the bankrupt Fox Studios.
Filmography of Twentieth Century Pictures (16 films)
Production
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A Message to Garcia (1936)
, 1h17Directed by George Marshall
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films, Children's films
Actors Wallace Beery, Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Alan Hale, Herbert Mundin, Mona Barrie
The film opens with the Maine Incident of 1898 in which an American warship blew-up in Havana harbor, allegedly following sabotage by Spain, triggering the outbreak of the Spanish–American War. President McKinley, wishing to make contact with General Calixto García, the leader of the Cuban revolt against Spain, summons an American army officer Andrew Summers Rowan to the White House and gives him a message which he is to personally deliver into Garcia's hands.
Call of the Wild (1935)
, 1h35Directed by William A. Wellman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Adventure, Romance, Western
Themes Films about animals, Films about dogs, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie, Reginald Owen, Frank Conroy, Katherine DeMille
A prospector heading for the Alaska gold fields loses most of his money gambling. His luck changes when he pays $250 for a sled dog to keep him from being shot by an arrogant Englishman, who is also headed for the Yukon. The prospector and his friend head off for the Yukon with a map showing the location of a major gold mine. Along the way, they rescue a woman whose missing husband owned the original map. After the dog wins them a thousand dollars used to purchase supplies, the three continue north in search of the gold mine.
Cardinal Richelieu (1935)
, 1h22Directed by Rowland V. Lee
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Théâtre, Political films, Films based on plays, Children's films, Histoire de France
Actors George Arliss, Maureen O'Sullivan, Edward Arnold, Cesar Romero, Douglass Dumbrille, William Worthington
Show Them No Mercy! (1935)
, 1h16Directed by George Marshall
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Crime
Actors Rochelle Hudson, Cesar Romero, Bruce Cabot, Edward Norris, Edward Brophy, Warren Hymer
Thanks a Million (1935)
, 1h27Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Musical films, Children's films
Actors Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, Patsy Kelly, Raymond Walburn, Alan Dinehart, Sr., Andrew Tombes
Stranded in a small town in a downpour, the manager of a traveling musical show (Fred Allen) convinces the handlers of a boring long-winded local judge running for governor (Raymond Walburn) to hire his group to attract people to the politician's rallies. When the show's crooner, Eric Land (Dick Powell), upstages the Judge, he's fired, but on a return visit he saves the day by standing in for the Judge, who is too drunk to speak. Impressed by his poise, the party's bosses ask Eric to take over as candidate, and the singer, knowing he has no chance to win, agrees for the exposure and the radio airtime in which he can showcase his singing. Soon, though, his girlfriend Sally (Ann Dvorak) becomes annoyed at the amount of time Eric is spending with the wife of one of the bosses, and she leaves when she thinks he has lied to her. When the bosses ask Eric to agree to patronage appointments that will lead to easy graft for all of them, he exposes them on the radio, telling the voters that voting for him would be a huge mistake and urging them to vote for his opponent. At the end Eric is, of course, elected governor, and re-united with Sally.
Born to Be Bad (1934)
, 1h2Directed by Lowell Sherman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Children's films
Actors Loretta Young, Cary Grant, Jackie Kelk, Marion Burns, Andrew Tombes, Henry Travers
Letty Strong (Loretta Young) was raised in a good family, but became pregnant and ran away from home. She was taken in by elderly Fuzzy (Henry Travers), and gave birth to Mickey (Jackie Kelk) in the back room of Fuzzy's bookstore at the age of fifteen. Embittered, she taught Mickey to be street smart so he will never be taken advantage of like her. Fuzzy strongly disapproves of how she is raising her son. Now seven years old, Mickey skips school and does as he pleases. Meanwhile, Letty earns a living by entertaining buyers so they will give business to her friend Steve Karns.
, 1h23Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Origin USA
Genres Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Children's films
Actors Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Butterworth, Una Merkel, Warner Oland
Bulldog Drummond's partner Algy is set to wed. Bulldog attends the wedding but on his return home in the deep foggy night he wanders into an old mansion of Prince Achmed in search of a telephone. To his shock he finds the corpse of an old man. Bodies keep disappearing as Drummond attempts to contact the authorities, including neighbour Captain Nielsen. But a woman is on the case, Gwen, who is the daughter of the dead man.
The House of Rothschild (1934)
, 1h27Directed by Sidney Lanfield, Alfred L. Werker
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical
Themes Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors George Arliss, Loretta Young, Boris Karloff, Robert Young, C. Aubrey Smith, Reginald Owen
En 1780 à Frankfort, en Prusse, le jeune Nathan Rothschild prévient ses parents, Amschel et Guttle, que le fisc viendra. Ils se dépêchent et cachent leurs richesses, y compris la monnaie, l'argent, etc. Le fisc exige 20.000 gulden , une somme exorbitante, mais accepte un pot-de-vin de 5000 en échange de l'évaluation de 2000 en taxes. La satisfaction de Nathan est de courte durée, cependant; un courrier lui apportant 10.000 gulden est intercepté et l'argent confisqué par les impôts. Nathan dit à ses fils qu'il essaie d'être aussi honnête que possible, mais les autorités antisémites ne le laisseront pas faire ; il exhorte ses enfants à acquérir de l'argent, car «l'argent c'est le pouvoir» et une défense pour leur peuple.
The Mighty Barnum (1934)
, 1h25Directed by Walter Lang
Origin USA
Genres Biography, Comedy
Actors Wallace Beery, Adolphe Menjou, Virginia Bruce, Rochelle Hudson, Janet Beecher, Tammany Young
The Last Gentleman (1934)
, 1h12Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors George Arliss, Edna May Oliver, Janet Beecher, Charlotte Henry, Ralph Morgan, Edward Ellis
This script must be run from the command line
The Bowery (1933)
, 1h32Directed by Raoul Walsh
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Children's films
Actors Wallace Beery, George Raft, Jackie Cooper, Fay Wray, Pert Kelton, Herman Bing
In the Gay Nineties, on New York's Bowery, saloon owner Chuck Connors (Beery), finds that his rival, Steve Brodie (Raft), has thrown a muskmelon at his window. The happy-go-lucky Brodie explains that he threw the melon on a dare. As Connors threatens to fight him, the two learn of a fire in neighboring Chinatown. Both men call upon their volunteer fire brigades, and wager $100 on which will be the first to throw water on the fire.
Blood Money (1933)
, 1h5Directed by Rowland Brown
Origin USA
Genres Crime
Themes Children's films
Actors Judith Anderson, Chick Chandler, George Bancroft, Lucille Ball, Frances Dee, Etienne Girardot
L'histoire est celle d'un esclave tortueux libéré sous caution (joué par George Bancroft), de son amante de longue date (Judith Anderson) et d'un femme mondaine à la recherche de sensations fortes qui attire son attention (Frances Dee).
Broadway Thru a Keyhole (1933)
, 1h30Directed by Lowell Sherman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Musical films
Actors Paul Kelly, Constance Cummings, Russ Columbo, Texas Guinan, Gregory Ratoff, Lucille Ball
Racketeer Frank Rocci is smitten with Joan Whelan, a dancer at Texas Guinan's famous Broadway night spot. He uses his influence to help her get a starring role in the show, hoping that it will also get Joan to fall in love with him. After scoring a hit, Joan accepts Frank's marriage proposal, more out of gratitude than love. The situation gets even stickier when she falls for a handsome band leader during a trip to Florida. Can she tell Frank she's in love with someone else?
Advice to the Lovelorn (1933)
, 1h2Directed by Alfred L. Werker
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Lee Tracy, Sally Blane, Paul Harvey, Sterling Holloway, Jean Adair, C. Henry Gordon
This script must be run from the command line
Gallant Lady (1933)
, 1h24Directed by Gregory La Cava
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Ann Harding, Clive Brook, Otto Kruger, Tullio Carminati, Dickie Moore, Janet Beecher
This script must be run from the command line