''Letter of Introduction'' is a 1938 American
comedy-drama film
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
directed by
John M. Stahl
John Malcolm Stahl (January 21, 1886 – January 12, 1950) was an American film director and producer.
Life and work
He was born Jacob Morris Strelitsky in Baku (Azerbaijan) to a Russian Jewish family. When he was a child, his family le ...
.
In 1966, the film entered the
public domain in the United States
Works are in the public domain if they are not covered by intellectual property rights (such as copyright) at all, or if the intellectual property rights to the works have expired.
All works first published or released in the United States b ...
because the claimants did not renew its
copyright registration
The purpose of copyright registration is to place on record a verifiable account of the date and content of the work in question, so that in the event of a legal claim, or case of infringement or plagiarism, the copyright owner can produce a cop ...
in the 28th year after publication.
Plot
An aging actor, John Mannering, is surprised when his estranged daughter, Kay Martin, shows up. She is an actress trying to succeed on Broadway. He is persuaded to perform on Broadway for the first time in twelve years in a play with her. He is anxious about his performance, so turns to alcohol to overcome his self-doubt. He tries to re-establish his relationship with his daughter while trying to hide from the press that she is his daughter.
Cast
*
Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley K ...
as John Mannering
*
Andrea Leeds
Andrea Leeds (born Antoinette Lees, August 18, 1913 – May 21, 1984) was an American film actress. A popular supporting player of the late 1930s, Leeds was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ''S ...
as Katherine "Kay" Martin
*
George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor, and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild fro ...
as Barry Paige
*
Edgar Bergen as himself
*
Rita Johnson
Rita may refer to:
People
* Rita (given name)
* Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984)
* Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962)
* Rita (Japanese singer)
* Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita
Places
* Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...
as Honey
*
Ann Sheridan as Lydia Hoyt
*
Ernest Cossart
Ernest Cossart (born Emil Gottfried von Holst, 24 September 1876 – 21 January 1951) was an English-American actor. After a stage career in England, he moved to the US, appearing on Broadway and all around the country. In the 1930s and 1940s, ...
as Andrews, the Butler
*
Frank Jenks
Frank Jenks (November 4, 1902 – May 13, 1962) was an acid-voiced American supporting actor of stage and films.
Biography Early years
Jenks was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and his mother gave him a trombone when he was 9 years old. By his ...
as Joe, theatre prompter
*
Eve Arden
Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades.
Beginning her film career in 1929 ...
as Cora Phelps
*
Charlie McCarthy
Charlie McCarthy is Edgar Bergen's famed ventriloquist dummy partner. Charlie was part of Bergen's act as early as high school, and by 1930, was attired in his famous top hat, tuxedo, and monocle. The character was so well-known that his popularit ...
as Himself - dummy
*
Mortimer Snerd
Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Ch ...
as Himself - dummy
*
Ray Walker as Reporter
References
External links
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1938 films
1938 comedy-drama films
American comedy-drama films
1930s English-language films
Films directed by John M. Stahl
American black-and-white films
Films about actors
Universal Pictures films
1930s American films
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