''The Narrow Corner'' is a 1933 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 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 Alfred E. Green and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.,

Patricia Ellis Patricia Ellis (born Patricia Gene O'Brien; died March 26, 1970) was an American film actress of the 1930s. Early years Born in Birmingham, Michigan, most likely in 1915 (although she gave her year of birth to the Social Security Administration ...

and

Ralph Bellamy Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and ...

. It is an adaptation of

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

's 1932 novel ''

The Narrow Corner ''The Narrow Corner'' is a novel by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham, published by William Heinemann in 1932. A quote from ''Meditations'', iii 10, by Marcus Aurelius, introduces the work: "Short therefore, is man's life, and narrow is th ...

''.Rogal p.190 It was remade in 1936 as

Isle of Fury ''Isle of Fury'' is a 1936 American adventure film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Humphrey Bogart, Margaret Lindsay, and Donald Woods. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was adapted by Robert Hardy Andrews and ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Robert M. Haas Robert M. Haas (January 3, 1889 – December 17, 1962) was an American art director. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Academy Award for Best Production Design, Best Art Direction. He worked on over 120 films between 19 ...

Synopsis

A fugitive Englishman, wanted for murder, ends up in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

Cast

* Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Fred Blake *

as Louise Frith *

as Eric Whittenson *

Dudley Digges Sir Dudley Digges (19 May 1583 – 18 March 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1629. Digges was also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia ...

as Doctor Saunders *

Arthur Hohl Arthur Hohl (May 21, 1889 – March 10, 1964) was an American stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s. He played a great number of villainous or mildly l ...

as Captain Nichols *

Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs. Career The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...

as Mr. Frith *

Henry Kolker Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874 ome sources 1870– July 15, 1947) was an American stage and film actor and director. Early years Kolker was born in Quincy, Illinois. Career Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Wa ...

as Mr. Blake, Fred's Father *

William V. Mong William V. Mong (June 25, 1875 – December 10, 1940) was an American film actor, screenwriter and director. He appeared in almost 200 films between 1910 and 1939. His directing (1911–1918) and screenwriting (1911–1922) were mostly for ...

as Jack Swan *

Willie Fung Willie Fung (3 March 1896 – 16 April 1945) was a Chinese-American film actor who played supporting roles in 125 American films between 1922 and 1944. Like many Chinese actors working in Hollywood during the era, he often played Japanese charac ...

as Ah Kay, Saunder's Servant *

Sidney Toler Sidney Toler (born Hooper G. Toler Jr., April 28, 1874 – February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his p ...

as Ryan, the Go-Between

References

Bibliography

* Samuel J. Rogal. ''A William Somerset Maugham Encyclopedia''. Greenwood Publishing, 1997.

External links

* 1933 films 1933 drama films American drama films Films directed by Alfred E. Green Warner Bros. films American black-and-white films Films based on British novels Films based on works by W. Somerset Maugham 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films scored by Bernhard Kaun {{1930s-drama-film-stub