Old Lady 31 | |
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Directed by | John Ince Sherry Harris (asst. director) |
Written by | Louise Forsslund (novel) Rachel Crothers (play) June Mathis (scenario) |
Produced by | Marcus Loew |
Starring | Emma Dunn |
Cinematography | William Beckway |
Distributed by | Metro Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 6 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Old Lady 31 is a 1920 American silent comedy-drama film produced and distributed by Metro Pictures and directed by John Ince. It is based on a novel by Louise Forsslund that was turned into a play by Rachel Crothers. The film starred actress Emma Dunn reprising her 1916 stage success for the screen. [1] [2] The film was remade in 1940 as The Captain Is a Lady .
Based upon a summary of the plot in a review in a film publication, [3] Angie (Dunn) and Abe (Harmon) have been married for many years when bad investments force them to sell their homestead. Angie is to go to the old ladies' home while Abe is to go to live on the poor farm. When the twenty-nine inmates of the old ladies' home see how hard it is for the couple to part, they agree to take Abe in, and he is listed on their roster as "Old Lady 31." There are several comic situations as Abe wins his way into the hearts of his female companions. When some apparently worthless mining stock is found to have some value, the couple are able to return to their home.
Angela Michelle Harmon is an American actress and model. She won Seventeen's modeling contest in 1987 at age 15, signed with IMG Models, and appeared on covers for magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Esquire. Her acting breakthrough came with the role of Ryan McBride on Baywatch Nights (1995–1997), and she earned four Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for playing Abbie Carmichael on Law & Order (1998–2001). Harmon also appeared in a number of film roles, which notably include voicing Barbara Gordon in the animated Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000) and Ronica Miles in Agent Cody Banks (2003).
Rachel Crothers was an American playwright and theater director known for her well-crafted plays that often dealt with feminist themes. Among theater historians, she is generally recognized as "the most successful and prolific woman dramatist writing in the first part of the twentieth century." One of her most famous plays was Susan and God (1937), which was made into a film by MGM in 1940 starring Joan Crawford and Fredric March.
Harold Fraser, known professionally as Snub Pollard, was an Australian-born vaudevillian who became a silent film comedian in Hollywood, popular in the 1920s.
Francis William Powell was a Canadian-born American stage and silent film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter who worked predominantly in the United States. He is also credited with "discovering" Theda Bara and casting her in a starring role in the 1915 release A Fool There Was. Her performance in that production, under Powell's direction, quickly earned Bara widespread fame as the film industry's most popular evil seductress or on-screen "vamp".
Katherine Duffy, known professionally as Kate Price, was an Irish-American actress. She is known for playing the role of Mrs. Kelly in the comedy series The Cohens and Kellys, made by Universal Pictures between 1926 and 1932. Price appeared in 296 movies from 1910 to 1937.
Mary Maguire Alden was an American motion picture and stage actress. She was one of the first Broadway actresses to work in Hollywood.
Billy West was a silent film actor, producer, and director. Active during the silent film era, he is best known as the premier Charlie Chaplin impersonator. He was a star in his own right, appearing in more than 100 films for nine different companies. Beyond acting, he also directed short comedies in the 1910s and '20s, and produced films. West retired as an actor in 1935, but remained in the employ of Columbia Pictures into the 1950s.
Emma Dunn was an English actress. After starting her acting career on stage in London, she became known for her works in numerous films and Broadway productions.
Agnes Vernon was an American film actress of the silent era. While still in her teens, she experienced a meteoric ascent from obscurity to box-office sensation. After turning twenty-three and a movie career fading away, she abandoned the silver screen forever. Vernon performed in over 90 films between 1913 and 1922. She completed most of her roles under contract with Universal Pictures.
The Centaur Film Company was an American motion picture production company founded in 1907 in Bayonne, New Jersey, by William and David Horsley. It was the first independent motion picture production company in the United States. In 1909 the company added a West Coast production unit, the Nestor Film Company, which established the first permanent film studio in Hollywood, California, in 1911. The company was absorbed by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company in 1912.
Midnight Alibi is a 1934 American pre-Code crime comedy drama film directed by Alan Crosland, produced by First National Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros. and starring Richard Barthelmess. The film is an adaptation of Damon Runyon's 1933 short story The Old Doll's House. This was Barthelmess' last film for First National after 15 years at the studio.
The Captain Is a Lady is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Robert B. Sinclair and written by Henry Clark, adapted from the play by Rachel Crothers. The film stars Charles Coburn, Beulah Bondi, Virginia Grey, Helen Broderick, Billie Burke and Dan Dailey. It was released on June 21, 1940, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Charles Pearce Coleman was an Australian-born American character actor of the silent and sound film eras.
Alfred Emory Johnson was an American actor, director, producer, and writer. As a teenager, he started acting in silent films. Early in his career, Carl Laemmle chose Emory to become a Universal Studio leading man. He also became part of one of the early Hollywood celebrity marriages when he wed Ella Hall.
My Boy is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Victor Heerman and Albert Austin, and starring child actor Jackie Coogan.
The Morals of Hilda is a 1916 American silent film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The melodrama is based on the story of Henry Christeen Warnack and features Gretchen Lederer, Lois Wilson and Emory Johnson.
Barriers of Society is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. Universal based the film on the story written by Clarke Irvine and adapted for the screen by Fred Myton. The feature film stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and an all-star cast of Universal contract players.
Two Mothers is a 1916 American silent short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on a story by I.A.R. Wylie. Calder Johnstone developed the adaptation for the screen. The drama's features Dorothy Davenport, Alfred Allen and Emory Johnson.
The Way of the World is a 1916 American silent Feature film. The film was directed by Lloyd B. Carleton, while F. McGrew Willis adapted the screenplay from Clyde Fitch's play. The cast of this drama includes Hobart Bosworth, Dorothy Davenport, and Emory Johnson.
Black Friday was a 1916 American silent Feature film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. Universal based the film on the novel written by Frederic S. Isham and adapted for the screen by Eugenie Magnus Ingleton. The drama stars Dorothy Davenport, Emory Johnson, and a cast of Universal contract players.