''Together We Live'' is a 1935
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film distributed by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
. The film was directed by
Willard Mack
Willard Mack (September 18, 1873 – November 18, 1934) was a Canadian-American actor, director, and playwright.
Life and career
He was born Charles Willard McLaughlin in Morrisburg, Ontario. At an early age his family moved to Brooklyn, New ...
. The film's events are related to the
1934 West Coast waterfront strike
The 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike (also known as the 1934 West Coast Longshoremen's Strike, as well as a number of variations on these names) lasted 83 days, and began on May 9, 1934 when longshoremen in every US West Coast port walked out ...
. Two starring actors were dead at the time of release which led to them receiving lower billing, including Mack who directed the film.
Premise
Hank Kavanaugh is a civil war veteran with five children. His sons Max and George are often absent from family meetings held after dinner. When Kavanaugh reads about the San Francisco strike by communists, he voices his distaste for communism while Max and George state that communism has virtues. They then reveal that they were at communist meetings during the family meetings. Kavanaugh has to contend with changing the views of his sons while also dealing with the communist-led strike that Max is involved with.
Production and release
The film's working titles were ''Call to Arms'' and ''The Soldier Story''. In December 1935, the film was banned from releasing in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
although the reason is unknown. It was produced during the
1934 West Coast waterfront strike
The 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike (also known as the 1934 West Coast Longshoremen's Strike, as well as a number of variations on these names) lasted 83 days, and began on May 9, 1934 when longshoremen in every US West Coast port walked out ...
in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
Joseph Breen
Joseph Ignatius Breen (October 14, 1888 – December 5, 1965) was an American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America who applied the Hays Code to film production.Staff report (December 8, 1965). Joseph I. ...
, the director of the
Production Code Administration
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios#Present, five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Pic ...
, certified the film once changes were made including "the removal of any direct attacks on organized labor, capitalism, or constituted forces of law and order".
The changes were meant "to specify that the strike was the work of outside agitators".
While the film was being produced at a Columbia Pictures studio,
Wera Engels
Wera Engels (12 May 1905 – 16 November 1988) was a German actress. After successful leading roles in productions of the well-established German UFA-studios in Babelsberg as well as in France, she was invited to Hollywood. Producers saw her as ...
took a saw out of a package which caused the carpenters there to proclaim, "She can't do that to us – she's not in the
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
!" Actor
Ben Lyon
Ben Lyon (February 6, 1901 – March 22, 1979) was an American film actor and a studio executive at 20th Century-Fox who later acted in British radio, films and TV.
Early life and career
Lyon was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Alvine ...
calmed the carpenters down by explaining that Engels "was an experienced
musical saw
A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque f ...
operator", leading to the majority of the studio's carpenters trying to produce music using their saws.
Actors Willard Mack and
Lou Tellegen
Lou Tellegen (born Isidor Louis Bernard Edmon van Dommelen;"Lou Tellegen, Idol of Stage and Silent Screen, Stabs Himself Seven Times." Spartanburg (SC) Herald, October 30, 1934, pp. 1-2. November 26, 1881 or 1883 – October 29, 1934) was a ...
were dead by the time of release which led to both actors not receiving top billing. Tellegen died by
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
. The film was held back from an earlier release due to trade reasons.
Reception
The ''
South Bend Tribune
The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper" ...
'' praised Willard Mack's role of Kavanaugh, saying that "Mack's characterization is a part of the story" and that his role was of "a lovable old man very convincing in his talk against his son's new ideas".
The ''
Wisconsin State Journal
The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of September ...
'' wrote that films such as ''
Red Salute'' and this film are
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
and that "they may be exceedingly dangerous, for there is no counteracting propaganda". The article continued to say that the film is "
nationalistic
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
" and "
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
".
Cast
From the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
.
*
Willard Mack
Willard Mack (September 18, 1873 – November 18, 1934) was a Canadian-American actor, director, and playwright.
Life and career
He was born Charles Willard McLaughlin in Morrisburg, Ontario. At an early age his family moved to Brooklyn, New ...
as Hank Kavanaugh
*
Ben Lyon
Ben Lyon (February 6, 1901 – March 22, 1979) was an American film actor and a studio executive at 20th Century-Fox who later acted in British radio, films and TV.
Early life and career
Lyon was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Alvine ...
as Max Kavanaugh
*
Esther Ralston
Esther Ralston (born Esther Louise Worth, September 17, 1902 – January 14, 1994) was an iconic American silent film star. Her most prominent sound picture was '' To the Last Man'' in 1933.
Early life and career
Ralston was born Esther Loui ...
as Jenny Kavanaugh
*
Sheila Bromley
Sheila Bromley (born Sheila LeGay; October 31, 1911 – July 23, 2003), (The reference work ''Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003'' gave her birth date as October 31, 1907). sometimes billed as Sheila LeGay, Sheila Manners, Sheila Manno ...
as Mary Kavanaugh
*
Carlyle Moore Jr. as Arthur Kavanaugh
*
Hobard Bosworth as Colonel Dickinson
*
Wera Engels
Wera Engels (12 May 1905 – 16 November 1988) was a German actress. After successful leading roles in productions of the well-established German UFA-studios in Babelsberg as well as in France, she was invited to Hollywood. Producers saw her as ...
as Sonia
*
Charles Sabin as George Kavanaugh
*
William Bakewell
William Bakewell (May 2, 1908 – April 15, 1993) was an American actor who achieved his greatest fame as one of the leading juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Early years
Bakewell was a native of Los Angeles, where he at ...
as Billy Graham
*
Claude Gillingwater
Claude Benton Gillingwater (August 2, 1870 – November 1, 1939) was an American stage and screen actor. He first appeared on the stage then in more than 90 films between 1918 and 1939, including the Academy Award-nominated ''A Tale of Two ...
as Dick
*
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 Johnny
*
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 Charlie
*
Lou Tellegen
Lou Tellegen (born Isidor Louis Bernard Edmon van Dommelen;"Lou Tellegen, Idol of Stage and Silent Screen, Stabs Himself Seven Times." Spartanburg (SC) Herald, October 30, 1934, pp. 1-2. November 26, 1881 or 1883 – October 29, 1934) was a ...
as Bischofsky
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0027116
1935 films
American black-and-white films
American drama films
1935 drama films
Columbia Pictures films
Films directed by Willard Mack
1930s English-language films
1930s American films