Success at Any Price (1934)

Director:

J. Walter Ruben

Writers:

John Howard Lawson (play)
John Howard Lawson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 March 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Joe comes from a rough neighborhood and when his brother Mike is gunned down in 1927, he decides to go into legitimate business...

Plot Keywords:

Gunfire | Advertising | Golf | Handkerchief | Funeral

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Joe Martin
Genevieve Tobin	...	Agnes Carter
Frank Morgan	...	Raymond Merritt
Colleen Moore	...	Sarah Griswold
Edward Everett Horton	...	Harry Fisher
Nydia Westman	...	Dinah McCabe
Henry Kolker	...	Mr. Hatfield
Allen Vincent	...	Geoffrey Halliburton

Runtime:

74 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1516-R: 11 September 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The play, "Success Story," opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA on 26 September 1932 and closed in January 1933 after 121 performances. The opening night cast included Stella Adler as Sarah, Franchot Tone as Raymond, Luther Adler and Morris Carnovsky.

Goofs:

Continuity: Allen Vincent's character name was spelled "Geoffrey" in the credits but was "Jeffrey" on his office door.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Little White Lies

Incomplete Drama

Joe Martin (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) is a poor guy who never gets any breaks. He sits and wonders what it'd be like to be rich with his girlfriend Sarah (Colleen Moore), but can't seem to plot a scheme to achieve wealth. Finally, he realizes that he can weasel his way into Sarah's office by taking advantage of Mr. Merritt's (Frank Morgan) taste for a good gamble. He achieves his goal, and skyrockets to the top so fast, Mr. Merritt isn't able to say a word before Joe steals his society girlfriend Agnes Carter (Genevieve Tobin). Agnes knows that Joe only wants her because she represents what he can't have, but she marries him anyway, and the more Joe gets what he thinks he wants, the more unhappy he becomes.

This film tries unsuccessfully to fully illustrate its point that happiness is not always achieved through the methods society glorifies. Joe does all he can to better himself thinking he'll be happier with Mr. Merritt's job when true happiness was his in Sarah all along. However, the movie is much too short, and although his motives are explained in short throwaway sentences, his actions do not always make sense from one moment to the next. If more time were given to shooting (this movie is less than 90 minutes long) and a little more dialogue added to the script, it could have been a much better film.