''Carbine Williams'' is a 1952 American
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Richard Thorpe
Richard Thorpe (born Rollo Smolt Thorpe; February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Biography
Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, Richard Thorpe began his en ...
and starring
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
,
Jean Hagen
Jean Hagen (born Jean Shirley Verhagen; August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting ...
and
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American actor and politician. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was a board member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Biography Early years
Corey was ...
. The film follows the life of its namesake,
David Marshall Williams
David Marshall Williams (November 13, 1900 – January 8, 1975) was an American firearms designer and convicted murderer who invented the floating chamber and the short-stroke piston. Both designs used the high-pressure gas generated in or near ...
, who invented the operating principle for the
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...
while in a North Carolina prison. The M1 Carbine was used extensively by the U.S. military during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, and the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
Originally filmed in black-and-white, it is also shown in a
computer-colorized version.
Plot
The film follows the life of David Marshall Williams (
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
), who was a member of the Winchester team that invented the semi-automatic M1 Carbine used in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Williams was found distilling illegal moonshine, and was held responsible for the death of a sheriff's deputy during a raid on his still. He was sentenced to thirty years' hard labor. He cycled through the prison system until a firm but compassionate warden, H.T. Peoples (
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American actor and politician. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was a board member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Biography Early years
Corey was ...
), allowed him to work in a prison tool shop. There, he invented the gas system for his famous rifle. Williams was released from prison in 1929 and worked with
Winchester Firearms
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...
on development of the M1 Carbine.
Cast
*
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
as David Marshall 'Marsh' Williams
*
Jean Hagen
Jean Hagen (born Jean Shirley Verhagen; August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting ...
as Maggie Williams
*
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey (March 20, 1914 – November 8, 1968) was an American actor and politician. He was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was a board member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Biography Early years
Corey was ...
as Capt. H. T. Peoples
*
Carl Benton Reid as Claude Williams
*
Paul Stewart as 'Dutch' Kruger
*
Otto Hulett
Otto Hulett (February 27, 1898 – September 1, 1983) was an American film, television and stage actor.
Hulett was born in Chicago, Illinois. As an actor, he was best known for his roles in '' The Mob'' (1951), ''Saturday's Hero'' (1951), and ...
as Mobley
*
Rhys Williams as Redwick Karson
*
Herbert Heyes
Herbert Harrison Heyes (August 3, 1889 – May 31, 1958) was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1915 and 1956, including the famed 1947 film '' Miracle on 34th Street'', in which he played an ahistorical "Mr. Gimbel ...
as Lionel Daniels
*
James Arness
James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series '' Gunsmoke''. Arness has the distinction of having played the ...
as Leon Williams
*
Porter Hall
Clifford Porter Hall (September 19, 1888 – October 6, 1953) was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s. Hall typically played villains or comedic incompetent characters.
Early years
Hall wa ...
as Sam Markley
*
Fay Roope
Fay Roope (born Winfield Harding Roope; October 20, 1893 – September 13, 1961) was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from ...
as District Attorney
*
Ralph Dumke
Ralph Ernest Dumke (July 25, 1899 – January 4, 1964) was an American comedian and actor who had an active career from the early 1920s up until his death in 1964. He rose to fame as part of a comedy duo with Ed East, performing nationally in ...
as Andrew White
*
Leif Erickson as Feder
*
Henry Corden
Henry Corden (born Henry Cohen; January 6, 1920 – May 19, 2005) was a Canadian-born American actor, best known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed's death in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was in the 1 ...
as Bill Stockton
*
Frank Richards as Truex
*
Howard Petrie
Howard Alexander Petrie (November 22, 1906 – March 24, 1968) was an American radio, television, and film actor.
Early life
Howard Petrie was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on November 22, 1906. When Howard was three years old his family ...
as Sheriff
*
Stuart Randall as Tom Vennar
*
Dan Riss
Frederic Daniel Riss (March 22, 1910 – August 28, 1970) was an American actor who had a career from 1949 to 1965.
Filmography
References
External links
*
1910 births
1970 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male f ...
as Jesse Rimmer
Reception
According to MGM records the film earned $1,787,000 in the US and Canada and $802,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $575,000.
Comic book adaptation
*
Fawcett Movie Comic #19 (October 1952)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
1952 films
1950s biographical drama films
American biographical drama films
American black-and-white films
1950s English-language films
Films directed by Richard Thorpe
Films set in North Carolina
Films set in the 1920s
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Films adapted into comics
1952 drama films
1950s American films
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