In 1898, John Carteret is standing by the grave of Moonyean Clare (1849-1868). At home in his garden, he calls to her, and her spirit comes to him, wearing a wedding dress. He does not see her, but he sometimes hears her. She tells him to be patient and the years will pass quickly.
John, a wealthy man, has become a virtual recluse since Moonyean’s death. His lifelong friend Dr. Owen brings Moonyean's orphaned niece Kathleen to see him, hoping that John will adopt her. Years later, the three of them are celebrating Kathleen's birthday on June 7, 1915. John tells her that she resembles Moonyean. She knows that John mourns her aunt, but nothing more.
Caught in a violent thunderstorm with her hapless and lovelorn childhood friend Willie, Kathleen breaks into the long-deserted Wayne mansion. They find an invitation for Moonyean’s wedding. A man enters who introduces himself as Kenneth Wayne, Jeremy Wayne’s American son.
A romance between Kathleen and Kenneth develops quickly, but when Kathleen tells John of the meeting, he reacts with speechless fury. Kenneth’s father is John's long-dead mortal enemy, and John has been deprived of his vengeance. In the garden, he tells Kathleen the whole story, shown in flashback.
At a party on the night before their wedding, John only wants to listen as Moonyean sings "Smilin’ Through," ignoring Owen as he tries to warn John that his rival Jerry Wayne has been drinking heavily. Jerry comes to the back gate to talk to Moonyean, desolate and raging that she should be his. He leaves when John comes out, and the lovers share some blissful moments in the garden. In the church the next day, Jerry, drunk, stops the ceremony and tries to shoot John. Moonyean rushes forward and the bullet strikes near her heart. She dies in John’s arms as he places the ring on her finger.
When John finishes his story, Kathleen is on her knees weeping. John makes her promise never to see Kenneth again. Kenneth insists on knowing why, but he understands. However, their love proves too strong and for weeks they meet in secret at Mrs. Crouch’s tea shop, the windowpanes shaken by the guns in France.
Kathleen asks Kenneth to take her to Dover with him when his leave ends. But when John says that he will not take her back if she marries, Kenneth knows that he cannot leave Kathleen alone and without John, so they part at the station. Kathleen returns home devastated, but John has no pity because he wishes Kenneth dead. Moonyean comes to him, but his hate stands between them. She tries to make him realize that unless he can right this wrong, he can never come to her.
With World War I ending, Kathleen meets a troop train but cannot find Kenneth. Owen tends to the wounded and finds Kenneth among them. Both his legs are badly injured, but Kenneth makes Owen promise that he will not tell Kathleen. He has been discharged and plans to sail for America the next day. However, Owen does tell John of Kenneth's plan. Kathleen notices a light at the Wayne mansion and runs over. Kenneth hides his crutches and pretends that he no longer cares for her. After she leaves, he breaks down.
Finally discarding his hatred and desire for revenge, John tells Kathleen the truth and asks her to bring Kenneth back with her. On her way, she sees Owen and sends him to John. The old friends sit down to play chess, but John dozes off. Amused, Owen leaves him to his nap. But John has died; young again, he is reunited with Moonyean. They watch as Kathleen helps Kenneth walk to the house, and then the ghostly lovers drive off in a spectral carriage, feted by the spirits of their wedding guests.
Cast
Norma Shearer as Kathleen (credited)/Moonyean (uncredited)
Fredric March as Kenneth Wayne (credited)/Jeremy Wayne (uncredited)
Significant differences exist in the story in comparison with the 1922 silent film.[examples needed] The 1941 version, though not a shot-for-shot remake, does incorporate several key scenes from the 1932 film verbatim, while adding material that focuses more on World War II, including patriotic songs performed by Jeanette MacDonald.
The song "Smilin’ Through" was first published in 1919 at the time when the original play was written. The song is heard in the play and in all three film adaptions, including as musical accompaniment in the 1922 silent version. Norma Shearer's singing voice was dubbed by Georgia Stark.[2]
Stewart said he got the job as "having acquired a reputation as a humorist because of my books" the film "wasn’t exactly a laugh riot. Irving Thalberg needed some help with the dialogue there; they had shot half of it, I think, and I rewrote some of the scenes. That was my first real introduction to Hollywood."[3]
The film was rereleased in 1935. According to the MGM "Campaign Book”, it was brought back "by public demand."[4]
Box office
The film grossed a total (domestic and foreign) of $2,033,000: $1,004,000 from the U.S. and Canada and $1,029,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $529,000.[1]
↑ Eyles, Allen; Gillet, John (1986). "David Ogden Stewart: Politically Conscious". In McGilligan, Patrick (ed.). Backstory: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age. p.340.
Smilin' Through is a 1919 play by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin, written under a pseudonym, Allan Langdon Martin. Cowl also starred in the play in a double role and co-directed it with Priestly Morrison. Smilin' Through was produced by The Selwyns and opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway on December 30, 1919. It included in the cast Orme Caldara as Kenneth and Jeremiah Wayne, Henry Stephenson as John Carteret and Ethelbert D. Hales as Dr. Owen Harding. Scenic design was by Joseph Urban. The play was a popular hit and ran for 175 performances. It also played for a long run on the road, and was one of Jane Cowl's greatest commercial successes.
The Divorcee is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film written by Nick Grindé, John Meehan, and Zelda Sears, based on the 1929 novel Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrott. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, and won Best Actress for its star Norma Shearer.
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated women. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O'Neill, and William Shakespeare, and was the first five-time Academy Award acting nominee, winning Best Actress for The Divorcee (1930).
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a 1931 American pre-Code horror film, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Fredric March, who plays a possessed doctor who tests his new formula that can unleash people's inner demons. The film is an adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of science into a homicidal maniac.
Marie Antoinette is a 1938 American historical drama film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starred Norma Shearer as Marie Antoinette. Based upon the 1932 biography of the ill-fated Queen of France by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, it had its Los Angeles premiere at the legendary Carthay Circle Theatre, where the landscaping was specially decorated for the event.
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Brigadoon is a 1954 American Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film made in CinemaScope and color by Ansco based on the 1947 Broadway musical of the same name by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and stars Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse. Brigadoon has been broadcast on American television and is available in VHS, DVD and Blu-ray formats.
Norma Shearer (1902–1983) was a Canadian American film actress who was nominated five times for an Academy Award. She and her sister Athole were assisted in their pursuit of show business careers by their mother Edith Fisher Shearer. After amassing numerous letters of introduction from a variety of show business-related people in Canada, the trio relocated to New York, hoping to get into musical theatre.
Smilin' Through is a 1941 Technicolor MGM musical film based on the 1919 play of the same name by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin.
Smilin' Through is a 1922 American silent drama film based on the 1919 play of the same name, written by Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin. The film starred Norma Talmadge, Harrison Ford, and Wyndham Standing. It was co-written and directed by Sidney Franklin, who also directed the more famous 1932 remake at MGM. The film was produced by Talmadge and her husband Joseph M. Schenck for her company, the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation. It was released by First National Pictures. Popular character actor Gene Lockhart made his screen debut in this film.
Smilin' Through may refer to:
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Cora Susan Collins is an American former child actress who appeared in films during the Golden Years of Hollywood, and although she did not make the transition to adult star, and her career in Hollywood ran a brief 13-year tenure, she appeared in 47 films.
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