The Bridge of Sighs (1936)

Director:

Phil Rosen

Writer:

Arthur T. Horman (story)

Release Date:

15 February 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime | Thriller

Plot:

Assistant District Attorney Jeffery Powell has just sent an innocent man to prison for the murder of a gambler...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Attorney | Murder | District Attorney | Women's Prison

Cast

Onslow Stevens	...	Jeffrey 'Jeff' Powell
Dorothy Tree	...	Marion Courtney, aka Mary Court
Jack La Rue	...	Packy Lacy
Mary Doran	...	Evelyn 'Duchess' Thane
Walter Byron	...	Arny Norman
Oscar Apfel	...	Judge 'Teddy' Blaisdell
Maidel Turner	...	Mrs. Blaisdell
John Kelly	...	Tommy, the Taxi Driver-Thug
Paul Fix	...	Harrison Courtney, Jr. aka Harry West
Robert Homans	...	Homicide Capt. P.G. Otheron
Selmer Jackson	...	Defense Attorney Alan Adams
Bryant Washburn	...	Neselli
Kathryn Sheldon	...	Mabel the Maid (as Kathrine Sheldon)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lynton Brent	...	Detective (uncredited)
Al Bridge	...	Ballistics Expert (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Horace B. Carpenter	...	Juror (uncredited)
Phyllis Crane	...	Peggy Watts (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Man in crowd outside the Thornton (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Police Clerk (uncredited)
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Trial Judge (uncredited)
Jane Keckley	...	Prison Matron (uncredited)
Charles McAvoy	...	Lacy's Henchman (uncredited)
Lafe McKee	...	Lester--Taffy Peddler (uncredited)
Frances Morris	...	Lois Summers--Inmate (uncredited)
William J. O'Brien	...	Juror (uncredited)
Dorothy Roberts	...	Patsy Ross--Inmate (uncredited)
Dick Rush	...	Prison Gate Guard (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Policeman detaining Harry West (uncredited)

Directed by
Phil Rosen

Writing credits
Arthur T. Horman		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Maury M. Cohen	....	producer

Cinematography by
M.A. Anderson		(as M.A. Andersen)

Film Editing by
Ernest J. Nims

Art Direction by
Edward C. Jewell

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Melville Shyer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Richard Tyler	....	sound recording engineer

Music Department
Mischa Bakaleinikoff	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Charles Rosoff	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Lee Zahler	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Lon Young	....	production executive

Production Companies

• Invincible Pictures Corp.

Distributors

• Chesterfield Motion Pictures Corporation (I) (1936) (USA) (theatrical) (states rights system)
• First Division Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical) (states rights system)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

66 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Invincible Pictures Corp.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mau Mau Sex Sex (2001)

Filled With Caricatures, But Largely Presentable Ones.

Phil Rosen directed many films of this type - - "B" crime themed melodramas - - and always with efficiency, as in the case here, a low budget Invincible Pictures Corporation production that, although replete with expected shortcomings, possesses those elements that result from the presence of stage experienced players acquainted with developing largely hackneyed scenes and dialogue into sequences that will provide entertainment for themselves as well as to an audience. Onslow Stevens, frequently cast as a heavy, here performs as Jeffrey Powell, New York City Deputy District Attorney who just happens to be at the scene of a nightclub homicide, following which he is tasked with prosecution of the accused, Harry West (Paul Fix), who distressingly is somewhat mysteriously connected with Jeffrey's romantic target Marion Courtney (Dorothy Tree), the latter not being convinced of West's guilt and ostensibly having such a profound interest in the case that she decides to personally involve herself in an attempt to find whomever might be the actual killer. In some unknown fashion, Marion creates for herself a lengthy criminal history, becomes arrested for an unknown crime, subsequently convicted and assigned to the state prison wherein, naturally, resides "Duchess" (Mary Doran), moll of the man, Arny Norman (Walter Byron), suspected by Marion as being the true murderer, escapes with the other woman, following which the pair flees to the residence of Norman who is in hiding from yet other evildoers due to gambling debts, and so forth, with logic not expected to befog a nonsensical plot that careers toward a climax that mixes puerile violence with farce. The film's title refers to a covered and enclosed walkway bridging from a courthouse directly into a prison, only vaguely evocative of the Venetian original. Tree works hard at making something of her role and the film includes several episodes that feature rather witty dialogue, but this is an unmistakable product of skimpy resources benefiting largely from the editing of Ernest Nims (his first English language assignment) that keeps the action moving briskly, leaving little opportunity for a viewer to focus upon the plot holes and glaring lack of sense.