''Brief Moment'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the 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 censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

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 b ...

film directed by David Burton and starring Carole Lombard and

Gene Raymond Gene Raymond (born Raymond Guion; August 13, 1908 – May 3, 1998) was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a singer, composer, screenwriter, director, producer, and decorat ...

. It is based on the 1931 play of the same name by S. N. Behrman.

Plot

Rodney Deane (

) is a rich playboy who falls in love with nightclub singer Abby Fane ( Carole Lombard). Abby wants him to get a job, so he begins working for his father. She later finds out that he is not taking the work seriously and stills spends his days at the racetrack, so she leaves him. Rodney then changes his name and gets a real job. They are reunited by Abby's boss.

Cast

as Rodney Deane * Carole Lombard as Abby Fane * Donald Cook as Franklin Deane *

Monroe Owsley Monroe Righter Owsley (August 11, 1900 – June 7, 1937) was an American stage and film actor. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Owsley, he was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a manufacturing executive, and his mother was a c ...

as Harold Sigrift *

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 la ...

as Steve Walsh *

Irene Ware Irene Ware (born Irene Catherine Ahlberg; November 6, 1910 – March 11, 1993) was an American actress. She was a beauty queen and showgirl before appearing in 29 films between 1932 and 1940, and is mostly remembered for her roles as Princess Na ...

as Joan *

Teresa Maxwell-Conover Teresa Maxwell-Conover (born Teresa Ryan; September 26, 1884 – September 1968) was an American actress in Broadway productions in the early 20th century. She was in motion pictures until the early 1940s, and was sometimes credited as Theresa ...

as Mrs. William Deane (as Teresa Maxwell) * Reginald Mason as Mr William Deane

Reception

''Brief Moment'' received positive reviews. It has been described as ' Capraesque'.

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.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 d ...

'' wrote, "An audience cannot help but be lured into a favorable reaction."

References

External links

* * * * 1933 films 1933 romantic drama films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films Columbia Pictures films American films based on plays Films directed by David Burton 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-romantic-drama-film-stub