''The Wolf of Wall Street'' is a 1929 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 directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

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 ...

Olga Baclanova Olga Vladimirovna Baklanova (russian: О́льга Влади́мировна Бакла́нова; 19 August 1893 – 6 September 1974), known professionally as Olga Baclanova, was a Russian-born actress who found success in Hollywood film and ...

, and

Nancy Carroll Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was t ...

. The story and screenplay were written by

Doris Anderson Doris Hilda Anderson, (November 10, 1921 – March 2, 2007) was a Canadian author, journalist and women's rights activist. She is best known as the editor of the women's magazine ''Chatelaine'', mixing traditional content (recipes, décor) w ...

. Originally made as a silent film, ''The Wolf of Wall Street'' was completely re-filmed with sound, becoming Bancroft's first talkie. The plot concerns a ruthless trader (Bancroft) who corners the market in copper and then sells short, making a fortune but ultimately ruining the finances of himself and his friends.

Cast

as The Wolf *

as Olga *

as Gert (the maid) *

as David Tyler *

Brandon Hurst Brandon Hurst (30 November 1866 – 15 July 1947) was an English stage and film actor. Early life Born in London, England, Hurst studied philology in his youth and began performing in theater in the 1880s. Before he began acting professionall ...

as Sturgess *

Crauford Kent Crauford Kent (12 October 1881 – 14 May 1953) was an English character actor based in the United States. He has also been credited as Craufurd Kent

as Jessup

Reception

Reception for the film was mixed. ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' criticized the film for depending too much on its novelty value; the advertising ran ''"George Bancroft talks ... Baclanova sings"'', and ''Life'' noted ''"there is the good news that George Bancroft has a fine screen voice"'', but felt the film lacked substance in the plot.''Life'', Volume 93, page xix (1929); ''"... George Bancroft talks ... Baclanova sings ... so the public flocks in to satisfy its curiosity. Thank Heaven the sound of the human voice will soon cease to be a novelty on the screen, and producers may then find it necessary to provide."'' ''Film Daily'' wrote that "George Bancroft as the roughneck engineering a pool in Wall Street to get the sucker is immense, as usual", but complained of a lack of action and weak story.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf of Wall Street 1929 drama films 1929 films American drama films American black-and-white films 1920s English-language films Films directed by Rowland V. Lee Wall Street films Films scored by Karl Hajos 1920s American films

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links