''Rockabye'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

drama film starring

Constance Bennett Constance Campbell Bennett (October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress and producer. She was a major Hollywood star during the 1920s and 1930s; during the early 1930s, she was the highest-paid ...

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he beca ...

, and

Paul Lukas Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; 26 May 1894 – 15 August 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance in the film ''Watc ...

. The final version was directed by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of ...

after studio executives decided that the original film as directed by

George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940, he directed ...

was unreleasable. The screenplay by

Jane Murfin Jane Murfin (October 27, 1884 – August 10, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter. The author of several successful plays, she wrote some of them with actress Jane Cowl—most notably '' Smilin' Through'' (1919), which was adapted ...

is based on an unpublished play written by Lucia Bronder, based on her original short story.

Plot

When

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

actress Judy Carroll testifies on behalf of her former lover, accused

embezzler Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

Al Howard, she loses custody of Elizabeth, an orphan she had planned to adopt. Her devoted manager Antonie "Tony" de Sola urges her to travel to Europe with her alcoholic mother Snooks to alleviate her emotional pain. While there she reads a play titled ''Rockabye'', whose plot eerily resembles recent events in her life. Despite Tony's qualms, she is determined to star in a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production. Playwright Jacob Van Riker Pell is certain the sophisticated Judy will be unable to portray his heroine, a tough girl from Second Avenue, until she confesses that she was raised there herself. The two hit it off, and Judy convinces Tony to produce the play. On the verge of divorce, Jake proposes he and Judy wed as soon as he is free. Jake fails to appear at the opening night party for ''Rockabye.'' His mother tells Judy that her daughter-in-law has just had a baby; she asks Judy to forget her son. When Jake finally arrives and assures her he still wants to marry her, Judy insists he return to his wife and newborn child. Devastated, she is comforted by Tony, who finally reveals his feelings for her.

Cast

as Judy Carroll *

as Jacob Van Riker Pell *

as Tony de Sola *

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

as Al Howard *

Jobyna Howland Jobyna Howland (March 31, 1880 – June 7, 1936) was an American stage and screen actress. Early years Howland was born on March 31, 1880, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her parents were Joby Howland, a Civil War veteran who at age 11 was one ...

as Snooks Carroll *

Clara Blandick Clara Blandick (born Clara Blanchard Dickey; June 4, 1876 – April 15, 1962) was an American character, film, stage and theater actress. She played Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). As a character actress, she ...

as Brida *

Walter Catlett Walter Leland Catlett (February 4, 1889 – November 14, 1960) was an American actor and comedian. He made a career of playing excitable, meddlesome, temperamental, and officious blowhards. Career Catlett was born on February 4, 1889, in S ...

as Jimmy Dunn *

Virginia Hammond Virginia Hammond (August 20, 1893 – April 6, 1972) was an American film and theatre actress. Born in Staunton, Virginia. Hammond was the daughter of a Confederate army major. Hammond began her career in 1907, where she made her theatre debu ...

as Mrs. Van Riker Pell * J. M. Kerrigan as Fagin *June Filmer as Elizabeth *Veda Buckland as Mrs. Evans (uncredited) *

Richard Carle Richard Carle (born Charles Nicholas Carleton, July 7, 1871 – June 28, 1941) was an American stage and film actor as well as a playwright and stage director. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1915 and 1941. Carle was born in Som ...

as Doc (uncredited) *

Lita Chevret Lita Chevret (May 27, 1908 – May 23, 2001) was an American actress who began her career at the genesis of sound films. She appeared in over 60 films between 1929 and 1940, although in most of those she had small or non-billed parts. Life Chev ...

as Party Guest (uncredited) *Charles Dow Clark as Mr. Farley (uncredited) *

Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 4, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor and voice actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Ad ...

as Speakeasy Patron (uncredited) *Virginia Howell as Mrs. Bronson (uncredited) *

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

as Water Wagon-Driver (uncredited) * Charles Middleton as District Attorney (uncredited) *

Bert Moorhouse Bert Moorhouse (sometimes incorrectly billed as Bert Moorehouse) (November 20, 1894 – January 26, 1954) was an American character actor whose career began at the very tail end of the silent era, and lasted through the mid-1950s. Biography Bo ...

as Speakeasy Patron (uncredited) *

Edwin Stanley Edwin Stanley (November 22, 1880 – December 25, 1944), was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1916 and 1946. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California. On Broadway, Stanley appear ...

as Defense Attorney (uncredited) *

Max Wagner Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 ...

as Reporter (uncredited)

Production

RKO purchased the rights to the play from

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

and hired

to direct the film adaptation. Anxious to accommodate exhibitors who were awaiting a new

film, the studio rushed the script into production with

Phillips Holmes Phillips Raymond Holmes (July 22, 1907 – August 12, 1942) was an American actor. For his contributions to the film industry, he was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Early life, education and career Born in ...

as the male lead. When the completed film was shown to executives, they declared it unreleasable and called in George Cukor to salvage it. The new director replaced Holmes with

and

Laura Hope Crews Laura Hope Crews (December 12, 1879 – November 12, 1942) was an American actress who is best remembered today for her later work as a character actress in motion pictures of the 1930s. Her best-known film role was Aunt Pittypat in ''Gone ...

, in the role of Judy's mother, with Jobyna Howland, reshot all their characters' scenes, and re-edited the balance of the film.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' observed, "There are tears enough in ''Rockabye'' to drown a plot, a circumstance which is a form of mercy in the case of this particular plot . . . As for the performance of Miss Bennett, a conservative opinion would be that she is a better actress than ''Rockabye'' makes her seem . . . Joel McCrea as the young playwright is better than the lines he has to recite." Although the reviews were poor, “''Rockabye'' performed well at the box office, actually grossing slightly more than ''What Price Hollywood''? (a “runaway box office hit”) in its first weeks of distribution, according to RKO records.”

References

External links

*
Rockabye
' at TCM * * {{David O. Selznick 1932 films 1932 romantic drama films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films 1930s English-language films Films about actors Films about adoption American films based on plays Films directed by George Cukor Films produced by David O. Selznick Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by Jane Murfin 1930s American films