''The Silver Cord'' 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 ...

film produced and released by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

, directed by John Cromwell, and based on a 1926 Broadway play, ''The Silver Cord'' by

Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ''Gone with the Wind''. ...

, that starred

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 ...

as an overly possessive mother. Crews reprises her domineering mother role in this film with

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

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...

as her son and daughter-in-law. Another Hollywood film dealing with an overbearing mother figure was ''

Broken Laws ''Broken Laws'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Roy William Neill, remarkable for the appearance of Dorothy Davenport, who is billed as "Mrs. Wallace Reid".

'' (1924), produced by and starring

Dorothy Davenport Fannie Dorothy Davenport (March 13, 1895 – October 12, 1977) was an American actress, screenwriter, film director, and producer. Born into a family of film performers, Davenport had her own independent career before her marriage to the film a ...

Plot summary

Cast

- Christina Phelps *

- David Phelps *

- Mrs. Phelps *

Eric Linden Eric Linden (September 15, 1909 – July 14, 1994) was an American actor, primarily active during the 1930s. Early years Eric Linden was born in New York City to Phillip and Elvira (née Lundborg) Linden, both of Swedish descent. His father ...

- Robert Phelps *

Frances Dee Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American actress. Her first film was the musical ''Playboy of Paris'' (1930). She starred in the film ''An American Tragedy'' (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 Va ...

- Hester ''unbilled'' * Helen Cromwell - Delia * Paul Irving - Taxicab Driver * Perry Ivins - Phelps Family Doctor * Reinhold Pasch - Lab Technician *

Gustav von Seyffertitz Gustav von Seyffertitz (4 August 1862 – 25 December 1943) was a German film actor and director. He settled in the United States. He was born in Haimhausen, Bavaria, and died in Los Angeles, California, aged 81. Biography Gustav von Seyffertit ...

- German Doctor

Production

Director John Cromwell welcomed the opportunity to adapt ''The Silver Cord'' to the screen as he had directed Sidney Howard’s play in its 1926 Broadway production. Film historian Kingsley Canham reports that Crowell “felt that he could pull it off better than any other

ilm Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * ''I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion pic ...

director.” Canham, 1976 p. 65 Joel McCrea and Frances Dee first met during filming, and would be married soon after in October 1933. They remained married for 57 years, until McCrea's death.

Footnotes

References

* Canham, Kingsley. 1976. ''The Hollywood Professionals, Volume 5: King Vidor, John Cromwell, Mervyn LeRoy.'' The Tantivy Press, London.

External

* * * *
1946 ''Theatre Guild on the Air'' radio adaptation of original play at Internet Archive
1933 films American films based on plays Films directed by John Cromwell 1933 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films Films with screenplays by Jane Murfin 1930s American films 1930s English-language films English-language romantic drama films {{1930s-romantic-drama-film-stub