''One Mile from Heaven'' is a 1937 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

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...

and written by Lou Breslow and John Patrick. The film stars

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

Sally Blane Sally Blane (born Elizabeth Jane Young; July 11, 1910 – August 27, 1997) was an American actress who appeared in over 100 movies. Early life Blane was born in Salida, Colorado. She was the sister of actresses Polly Ann Young and Loretta Young ...

Douglas Fowley Douglas Fowley (born Daniel Vincent Fowley, May 30, 1911 – May 21, 1998) was an American movie and television actor in more than 240 films and dozens of television programs, He is probably best remembered for his role as the frustrated m ...

Fredi Washington Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African-American descent. She was one of the first black American ...

Joan Carroll Joan Carroll (born Joan Marie Felt, January 18, 1931 – November 16, 2016) was an American child actress who appeared in films until retiring in 1945. Childhood career Carroll was born Joan Marie Felt to Wright and Freida Felt on January ...

and

Ralf Harolde Ralf Harolde (born Ralph Harold Wigger, May 17, 1899 – November 11, 1974) was an American character actor who often played gangsters. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including '' Smart Money'' with Edward G. Robinson and ...

. The film was released on August 18, 1937, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Plot

While investigating a bogus murder story in a black neighborhood, a reporter, Lucy "Tex" Warren (

) notices a little girl named Sunny who appears to be white. Tex also encounters Sunny's mother, Flora Jackson (

), a black seamstress. Suspicious of the claim, Tex and other reporters investigate, only to turn up evidence (photos and a hospital record) that support Flora's claim. Tex then encounters a prison convict who claims that Sunny is the child of a deceased criminal Cliff Lucas, who took the baby from his wife, Barbara (

) when she attempted to leave him and then hired Flora to take care of the child. After Lucas was killed by police, Flora did not want the baby to go to an orphanage, so she reared Sunny as her own. Barbara, on being informed that her daughter is still alive (Cliff Lucas had told her that the baby had drowned), applies to recover her child and, after seeing Flora's strong attachment to Sunny, asks Flora to live with them as a nurse. Meanwhile, the judge forbids Tex to publish the story, feeling that the notoriety would negatively affect Sunny. According to the Museum of Modern Art in 2013, One Mile from Heaven was "the last of the six Claire Trevor 'snappy' vehicles

llan Llan may be: * Llan (placename), a Celtic morpheme, or element, common in British placenames ** A short form for any placename . * Llan, Powys, a Welsh village near Llanbrynmair * Llan the Sorcerer La Lunatica Lacuna Lady Bullseye Lady De ...

Dwan made for Fox in the 1930s tests the limits of free expression on race in Hollywood while sometimes straining credulity."

Cast

as Lucy 'Tex' Warren *

as Barbara Harrison *

as Jim Tabor *

as Flora Jackson *

as Sunny *

as Moxie McGrath *

John Eldredge John Eldredge (born June 6, 1960 in Los Angeles) is an American author, counselor, and lecturer on Christianity. He is known for his best-selling book '' Wild at Heart''. Life and work Eldregde received his undergraduate degree in theater from ...

as Jerry Harrison *Paul McVey as Johnny * Ray Walker as Mortimer (Buck) Atlas *

Russell Hopton Harry Russell Hopton (February 18, 1900 – April 7, 1945) was an American film actor and director. Biography Hopton was born in New York City, New York. He appeared in 110 films between 1926 and 1945, often playing streetwise characters f ...

as Peter Brindell * Chick Chandler as Charlie Milford *

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson Edmund Lincoln Anderson (September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977) was an American comedian and actor. To a generation of early radio and television comedy he was known as "Rochester". Anderson entered show business as a teenager on the vaudevi ...

as Henry Bangs *

Howard Hickman Howard Charles Hickman (February 9, 1880 – December 31, 1949) was an American actor, director and writer. He was an accomplished stage leading man, who entered films through the auspices of producer Thomas H. Ince. Career In 1900, Hickman d ...

as Judge Clarke *

Bill Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...

as Officer Joe Dudley

References

External links

* 1937 films 20th Century Fox films American drama films 1937 drama films Films directed by Allan Dwan American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-drama-film-stub