Frisco Jenny (1932)

Frisco Jenny was orphaned by the 1906 earthquake and fire and has become the madame of a prosperous bawdy house. She puts her son up for adoption and he rises to prominence as district ... See full summary »

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Wilson Mizner (screenplay), Robert Lord (screenplay),

Stars:

Ruth Chatterton, Louis Calhern, Helen Jerome Eddy

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ruth Chatterton	...	Frisco Jenny Sandoval
Louis Calhern	...	Steve Dutton
Helen Jerome Eddy	...	Amah
Donald Cook	...	Dan Reynolds
James Murray	...	Dan McAllister
Hallam Cooley	...	Willie Gleason
Pat O'Malley	...	Policeman Pat O'Hoolihan
Harold Huber	...	George Weaver
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Jim Sandoval
Willard Robertson	...	Police Capt. Tom

Storyline

Frisco Jenny was orphaned by the 1906 earthquake and fire and has become the madame of a prosperous bawdy house. She puts her son up for adoption and he rises to prominence as district attorney dedicated to closing down such houses. When her underling Dutton proposes telling the DA that Frisco Jenny is his birth mother, she kills the underling not to cause trouble for her son now the successful DA, she must face execution.

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Plot Keywords:

district attorney | earthquake | female crime boss | vice | pre code | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Common Ground

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$286,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

First National Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min 71 min (Turner library print length)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William A. Wellman:  a newspaper reporter phoning in a scoop.

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Goofs

After the coroner tells the photographer to take a picture of a recently murdered man who died with his eyes open, the actor playing the dead man visibly blinks twice.

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Quotes

Frisco Jenny Sandoval: Cellars of Chinatown. Yeah, I was there. So was he. It was there I gave him life. He gives me death.

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Connections

Featured in Complicated Women (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Goodbye, My Lover, Goodbye"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung in the saloon by a female singer

User Reviews

Essential viewing for Ruth Chatterton fans (all three of you)

Ruth Chatterton was a fascinating early '30s leading lady - she was quite average looking and somewhat chubby, with a brittle, theatrical acting style that hasn't dated very well. And yet, there's something in every one of her performances that's worth watching. She specialized in hard-edged, independent women of the type that Bette Davis would later do with much more depth and sympathy. "Frisco Jenny" was typical of Chatterton's Warner Brothers vehicles, with a shopworn "women's picture" storyline that gave her plenty of opportunities to grit her teeth and snap off at characters who got in her way. Nice direction by William Wellman, with a well-placed earthquake to add