Stolen Heaven (1931)

Director:

George Abbott

Writers:

George Abbott (adaptation), Dana Burnet (story),

Stars:

Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, Louis Calhern

Cast

Cast overview:
Nancy Carroll	...	Mary
Phillips Holmes	...	Joe Bartlett
Louis Calhern	...	Steve Perry
Edward Keane	...	Detective Morgan
Joan Carr	...	Mrs. Woodbridge-Wood
G. Albert Smith	...	Harvey
Dagmar Oakland	...	Dorothea
Guy Kibbee	...	Police Commissioner
Joseph Crehan	...	Henry - Steve's Butler
Edward Ryan	...	Child on Beach (as Eddie Ryan)
Margaret McNamara	...	Child on Beach
Tom Carter	...	Traffic Controller

Storyline

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Céu Roubado

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edward Ryan's first film performance.

User Reviews

Nancy Carroll and Phillips Holmes

Interesting pre-coder directed by famous stage director, George Abbott, and with several excellent scenes.

Nancy Carroll plays a hooker who gets followed by a young man through an ugly and shadowy city. She thinks he's drunk (Phillips Holmes) but is turns out he's been wounded in a robbery of a radio factory where he used to work. As the police swarm into the seedy tenement, she decides to help him and the two forms an uneasy alliance culminating in a suicide pact.

He's gotten $20,000 and they decide to go out on a high note, blowing all the money and then killing themselves. Both have been beaten down by life. They escape to Palm Springs where we catch up with them in a great shot that starts with a marimba band and slowly pulls back to reveal the lush resort filled with fashionable people. Then we spot the young couple on the dance floor, immaculately dressed and rubbing elbows with the rich. Louis Calhern plays a rich lech who's after Carroll.

But the cops track them down as they are about out of money. They must decide on their agreed-to suicides or to keep running or go back and pay for their "crimes." Calhern gets involved in the conclusion.

Carroll and Holmes are quite good even when they're overacting, just because the story is so surreal. The moral of the story seems to be that life is good as long as there is plenty of money. But is it?