The Strange Case of Clara Deane (1932)

A young dress designer marries an insurance agent. They soon have a daughter, but what the wife doesn't know is that her husband is actually a criminal, who soon involves her--unwittingly--... See full summary »

Directors:

Louis J. Gasnier, Max Marcin

Writers:

Arthur Brilliant (play), Max Marcin

Stars:

Wynne Gibson, Pat O'Brien, Dudley Digges

Cast

Cast overview:
Wynne Gibson	...	Clara Deane
Pat O'Brien	...	Frank Deane
Dudley Digges	...	Detective Garrison
Frances Dee	...	Nancy Deane
George Barbier	...	Richard Ware
Russell Gleason	...	Norman Ware
Lee Kohlmar	...	Moses Herzman
Cora Sue Collins	...	Nancy Deane (as a child)
Florence Britton	...	Miriam Ware
Clara Blandick	...	Mrs. Lyons (scenes deleted)

Storyline

A young dress designer marries an insurance agent. They soon have a daughter, but what the wife doesn't know is that her husband is actually a criminal, who soon involves her--unwittingly--in a robbery. Sentenced to prison, she gives up her baby for adoption. When she is released 15 years later, she sets out to find her long-lost daughter. A police inspector gets involved in her search and, for reasons of his own, tries to dissuade her from finding her child.

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Plot Keywords:

daughter | criminal | prison | based on play

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Il delitto di Clara Deane

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

User Reviews

Good mother-love junk

Wynne Gibson didn't get to play a lot of leading roles, and she proves up to the task in this Stella Dallas/ Madelon Claudet/ Madame X-type weepie about the bad things that happen to a good woman. She's a talented dress designer circa 1912 who marries a shady insurance dealer (Pat O'Brien, cast against type and convincingly smarmy) and ends up an unwilling accomplice in an armed robbery. Forced to give up her adorable daughter, she emerges from prison and tries to track her down, hindered by a Javert-like but not entirely unsympathetic inspector (Dudley Digges). Gibson's makeup job doesn't convince you she spent 15 years at hard labor, but it's a sincere performance, and the mother-love suds churn up to a satisfying climax. This one isn't even shown on TCM (I saw it at Cinefest 2006, in Syracuse), and it's a shame, because it's faster-moving and less pretentious than other, more famous titles in this often-annoying subgenre.