Half a Sinner (1940 film)

Last updated

Half a Sinner
Halfaspos.jpg
Original film poster
Directed by Al Christie
Written by Frederick J. Jackson
Story by Dalton Trumbo ("Lady Takes a Chance")
Produced byAl Christie (uncredited)
Jack H. Skirball [1] (uncredited)
Starring Heather Angel
John "Dusty" King
Cinematography Charles Van Enger
Edited by Barney Rogan
Production
company
Arcadia Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • April 5, 1940 (1940-04-05)
Running time
59 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Half a Sinner is a 1940 American comedy crime film directed by Al Christie. It stars Heather Angel as a schoolteacher who in one day becomes Public Enemy Number One in Pennsylvania. The film is based on Dalton Trumbo's short story "Lady Takes a Chance". The working titles of this film were Everything Happens to Ann and The Lady Takes a Chance.

Contents

Plot

On the last day of the school year, plain 25-year-old teacher Anne Gladden has her student Willy write punishment lines on the blackboard. After the class is dismissed, she releases the boy and tells him that few can do what they want in life, so they might as well make the best of what they have. She is overheard by Margaret Ree, an older teacher. Margaret tells Anne that she regrets not doing wild things when she was young. She advises Anne to do what she never did and Anne decides to take her advice for one day.

She buys a pretty dress and hosiery and releases her pet canary. Sitting in a public park, Anne is propositioned by "Handsome", a persistent guy who will not go away. Anne finally knocks him down and drives off in his car. Handsome turns out to be a killer, he stole the car she is in and on the floor of the back seat is a body, that he and his partner Red, have murdered. Slick, their boss, is displeased when he learns that the body is hidden under his overcoat, which has a label with his name on it. Slick gives Red ten hours to get the coat back, or else. The police are also looking for the stolen vehicle. Unaware of any of this, Anne picks up a man named Larry Cameron, whose car has broken down.

Police officer Kelly spots the car and gives chase, but Anne manages to lose him. They head to the local country club for refreshments. Larry turns out to know far more about Anne's predicament than she does, pointing out that she has a corpse in the back seat. Snuffy, a snitch, runs into Red and tells him he found the car he is looking for. After Red leaves, Snuffy telephones Kelly. When Larry sees Kelly by the car, he points Red out as the driver. While Kelly is chasing Red, Larry and Anne drive away.

They stop for gas at a station. The attendant recognizes them as fugitives, but Larry ties him up. A rich elderly woman, Mrs Breckenbridge, pulls up in her chauffeur-driven limousine and while they are distracted, Larry switches license plates.

Then Larry and Anne break into an empty house, but Red and Handsome track them down. Fortunately, Larry manages to knock Red out and Handsome runs away after Anne burns him with a cigarette. Mrs Breckenbridge also shows up, after an encounter with Kelly. It comes out that they "broke into" Larry's home; the car is also Larry's. Despite Anne's assumption, he is not a crook. When the pair return the car to the park for the police to find, two other gang members take them at gunpoint to Slick. Then Mrs Breckenbridge bursts in. She was following in her car and, when she saw her friends being captured, sent her chauffeur for the police, who arrive and capture the gang.

Afterward, Anne tells Granny Gladden that she and Larry are getting married. Granny tells her that her canary has returned too, also with a companion.

Cast

Production

The film is Dalton Trumbo's second screen credit and the last of Jack Skirball's Arcadia Pictures. Skirball, an ordained rabbi, later produced Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt . [2] The film started production in February 1939 and was to be released by Grand National Films. After the 1939 demise of Grand National, the completed film was picked up for release by Universal Pictures. [3]

This film was the last under King's Universal Pictures contract.

Notes

  1. Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Company. 1939. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  2. "JACK H. SKIRBALL - NYTimes.com". nytimes.com. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
  3. "Half a Sinner (1940) - Notes - TCM.com". tcm.com. Retrieved March 19, 2015.

Related Research Articles

<i>Merrily We Live</i> 1938 film directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Merrily We Live is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and written by Eddie Moran and Jack Jevne. It stars Constance Bennett and Brian Aherne and features Ann Dvorak, Bonita Granville, Billie Burke, Tom Brown, Alan Mowbray, Clarence Kolb, and Patsy Kelly. The film was produced by Hal Roach for Hal Roach Studios, and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Throw Momma from the Train</i> 1987 American comedy film

Throw Momma from the Train is a 1987 American crime comedy film starring and directed by Danny DeVito in his theatrical directorial debut. It co-stars Billy Crystal, Anne Ramsey, Rob Reiner, Branford Marsalis, Kim Greist and Kate Mulgrew.

<i>Herbie Rides Again</i> 1974 film directed by Robert Stevenson

Herbie Rides Again is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh, based on a story by Gordon Buford. The film is the second installment in the Herbie film series and the sequel to The Love Bug (1968). It stars Helen Hayes, Stefanie Powers, Ken Berry, and Keenan Wynn reprising his villainous role as Alonzo Hawk.

<i>The Magician</i> (1958 film) 1958 film by Ingmar Bergman

Ansiktet, also released as The Magician, is a 1958 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin. The plot follows a traveling magician named Albert Vogler, whose allegedly supernatural live shows are challenged by the skeptical population of a small village.

<i>The Prowler</i> (1951 film) 1951 American film noir thriller film by Joseph Losey

The Prowler is a 1951 American film noir thriller film directed by Joseph Losey that stars Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes. The film was produced by Sam Spiegel and was written by Dalton Trumbo. Because Trumbo was blacklisted at the time, the screenplay was credited to his friend, screenwriter Hugo Butler, as a front.

<i>He Ran All the Way</i> 1951 film by John Berry

He Ran All the Way is a 1951 American crime drama and film noir directed by John Berry and starring John Garfield and Shelley Winters. Distributed by United Artists, it was produced independently by Roberts Pictures, a company named for Garfield's manager and business partner, Bob Roberts, and bankrolled by Garfield.

<i>Death of a Scoundrel</i> 1956 film by Charles Martin

Death of a Scoundrel is a 1956 American film noir drama film directed by Charles Martin and starring George Sanders, Yvonne De Carlo, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Victor Jory and Coleen Gray. It was distributed by RKO Pictures. This film and The Falcon's Brother are the only two to feature real-life lookalike brothers George Sanders and Tom Conway, who portray brothers in both pictures. The movie's music is by Max Steiner and the cinematographer is James Wong Howe.

<i>Night Nurse</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Night Nurse is a 1931 American pre-Code crime drama mystery film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell and Clark Gable. The film is based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Dora Macy, the pen name of Grace Perkins. The film was considered risqué at the time of its release, particularly the scenes where Stanwyck and Blondell are shown in their lingerie. Clark Gable portrays a viciously violent chauffeur who is gradually starving two little girls to death after having already purposely run over their slightly older sister with a limousine, killing her.

<i>The Burglar</i> (1957 film) 1957 film by Paul Wendkos

The Burglar is a 1957 American crime thriller film noir released by Columbia Pictures, based on the 1953 novel of the same name by David Goodis. The picture stars Dan Duryea in the title role and Jayne Mansfield. The movie was the first feature film directed by Paul Wendkos. John Facenda, a well-known Philadelphia sportscaster, is featured as a news anchor in one scene. Much of the film was shot on location in Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

<i>Baby Take a Bow</i> 1934 American comedy-drama film directed by Harry Lachman

Baby Take a Bow is a 1934 American comedy-drama film directed by Harry Lachman and is one of the earliest Hays code Hollywood films. The screenplay by Philip Klein and Edward E. Paramore Jr. is based on the 1926 play Square Crooks by James P. Judge. Shirley Temple plays the child of an ex-convict trying to make a better life for himself and his family. The film was a commercial success and is critically regarded as pleasant and sentimental. A musical number features Dunn and Temple.

<i>Lady Killer</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by Roy Del Ruth

Lady Killer is a 1933 American pre-Code crime drama film starring James Cagney, Mae Clarke, and Margaret Lindsay, based on the story "The Finger Man" by Rosalind Keating Shaffer. The picture was directed by Roy Del Ruth.

<i>The Last of Mrs. Cheyney</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Dorothy Arzner, Richard Boleslawski, George Fitzmaurice

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a 1937 American comedy drama film adapted from the 1925 Frederick Lonsdale play The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. The film tells the story of a chic jewel thief in England, who falls in love with one of her marks.

<i>Because Theyre Young</i> 1960 film

Because They're Young is a 1960 American drama film directed by Paul Wendkos and starring Dick Clark as Neil Hendry, an American high-school teacher who tries to make a difference in the lives of his students. The film co-stars Tuesday Weld, Michael Callan, Warren Berlinger, Roberta Shore, Doug McClure, Victoria Shaw and Stephen Talbot. The screenplay was based on Harrison High, a 1959 novel by John Farris.

<i>Car of Dreams</i> 1935 film by Austin Melford, Graham Cutts

Car of Dreams is a 1935 British romantic comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and Austin Melford and starring Grete Mosheim, John Mills, Norah Howard and Robertson Hare. A tycoon's son falls in love with a woman who works at his father's factory. It was based on the 1934 Hungarian film The Dream Car.

<i>Discarded Lovers</i> 1932 film

Discarded Lovers is a 1932 American Pre-Code mystery film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer.

<i>Sinners in the Sun</i> 1932 film

Sinners in the Sun is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Alexander Hall, and starring Carole Lombard, Chester Morris, Adrienne Ames, and Alison Skipworth. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

"Red-Handed" is the 15th episode of the American fairy tale/drama television series Once Upon a Time, which aired in the United States on ABC on March 11, 2012.

<i>We Who Are Young</i> 1940 American film

We Who Are Young is a 1940 American drama film directed by Harold S. Bucquet, written by Dalton Trumbo and starring Lana Turner, John Shelton and Gene Lockhart.

<i>Passion Flower</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

Passion Flower is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film directed and produced by William C. deMille and starring Kay Francis, Kay Johnson and Charles Bickford in a romantic triangle. This production includes actor Ray Milland's American screen debut, although his appearance as a party guest is uncredited.

<i>The Man Who Lived Twice</i> 1936 film by Harry Lachman

The Man Who Lived Twice is a 1936 American crime film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Ralph Bellamy, Marian Marsh and Thurston Hall. It was remade as Man in the Dark in 1953.