Manslaughter (1930)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

George Abbott

Writers:

George Abbott (adaptation)
Alice Duer Miller (novel)

Release Date:

23 July 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Plot:

A spoiled young rich girl is sent to prison for accidentally running down a pedestrian. There she learns...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Women's Prison | Remake | Based On Novel

Cast

Claudette Colbert	...	Lydia Thorne
Fredric March	...	Dan O'Bannon
Emma Dunn	...	Miss Bennett
Natalie Moorhead	...	Eleanor Bellington
Richard Tucker	...	J.P. Albee, Attorney
Hilda Vaughn	...	Louise Evans
G. Pat Collins	...	John Drummond
Steve Pendleton	...	Bobby (as Gaylord Pendleton)
Stanley Fields	...	Peters
Arnold Lucy	...	Piers
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Morson
Irving Mitchell	...	Foster

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

'Clara Bow' was originally slated to play the lead, but due to her personal problems at the time, Paramount replaced her with Claudette Colbert.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Colbert drives off after being stopped by the traffic cop, we can hear the car's brakes squeal the moment it's out of camera range.

Movie Connections:

Alternate language version of Leichtsinnige Jugend (1931)

Another great Paramount talkie!

Depression moviegoers got a 2-for-1 treat with this melodrama. A festive romance, complete with water skiing and dance parties highlight the first half. An effective and convincing set up for the 'manslaughter' to follow.

Claudete Colbert is mesmerizing as the unrepentant poor-little-rich-girl Lydia Thorne. She is too busy enjoying life's party to feel her conscience, bribing a cop rather than accept a speeding ticket. And when her maid is convicted of stealing her jewels, Lydia's bridge game is more important than a kind word to the judge. A word that would bring years of freedom to her maid's life.

Enter straight shooting District Attourney Dan O'Bannon (Frederic March). He's busy schmoozing political heavyweights with "equal justice for rich and poor" when he falls under Lydia's spell.

Miss Colbert literally sparkles in Archie Stout's photography. Principally backlit, her satin gown and diamond necklace shimmer in the star filter and complete the trap for O'Bannon and viewer alike. Lots of overhead and dolly shots keep the eye-candy coming. This beautifully mounted production gives no clue why Mr. Stout would be doing the cheapo John Wayne westerns 3 years later. Amazingly, Archie Stout would go onto shoot the sumptuously photographed Angel And The Badman for Wayne years later! An automobile accident (not a run over pedestrian as suggested above) triggers the second half of the film and the regeneration of our heroine, and not without delicious plot twists and turns.

Great performances and production make this a must see for the avid talkie buff. And Claudette Colbert fans will be well pleased to find her already in top gear.