The Purchase Price (1932)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Arthur Stringer (story)
Robert Lord (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 July 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot:

Torch singer Joan Gordon, tiring of her relationship with small-time hood and racketeer Eddie Fields...

Plot Keywords:

Mail Order Bride | Singer | North Dakota | Mentally Handicapped | Fistfight

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Joan Gordon
George Brent	...	Jim Gilson
Lyle Talbot	...	Eddie Fields
Hardie Albright	...	Don Leslie
David Landau	...	Bull McDowell
Murray Kinnell	...	Spike Forgan
Leila Bennett	...	Emily - the Hotel Maid

Runtime:

68 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The blood during the fight between the two male leads was real.

Quotes:

Eddie 'Ed' Fields: Ya daffy little tahmata, I'm bugs about ya. I'd marry ya myself, if I wasn't already married.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire (1991) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Irish Washerwoman

Unusual city girl/country boy drama

This peculiar but interesting drama has Barbara Stanwyck as a weary nightclub torch singer with a "who cares?" attitude. To escape her underworld boyfriend, she decides to hide out in the bleak plains of North Dakota as a mail-order bride. As her shy farmer husband, the normally debonair George Brent is almost unrecognizable in a pair of overalls, but gives a sensitive characterization. The bulk of the plot follows the growing feeling between the reserved ‘country mouse' and the tough ‘city mouse', complicated by several villains. Tough guy director William Wellman keeps things moving at a clip, and uses his low budget wisely to stage several good set-pieces, including a drunken shivaree for the happy couple. In the supporting cast, Leila Bennett stands out as a plain-talking maid.