The Unguarded Hour (1936)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

Ladislas Fodor (play)
Bernard Merivale (English adaptation)

Release Date:

10 April 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A woman tries to save her husband, a prosecutor, from a man who is threatening to blackmail him using letters he has written to an ex-mistress. |

Plot Keywords:

Blackmail | Courtroom | Attorney | Confession | Murder

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Lady Helen Dudley Dearden
Franchot Tone	...	Sir Alan Dearden
Lewis Stone	...	Gen. Lawrence
Roland Young	...	William 'Bunny' Jeffers
Jessie Ralph	...	Lady Agatha Hathaway
Dudley Digges	...	Samuel Metford
Henry Daniell	...	Hugh Lewis
Robert Greig	...	Henderson, Dearden's Butler
E.E. Clive	...	Lord Henry Hathaway
Wallis Clark	...	Inspector Grainger
John Buckler	...	Defense Counsel
Aileen Pringle	...	Diana Roggers
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yola d'Avril	...	French Maid (scenes deleted)
Adrian Rosley	...	French Valet (scenes deleted)
Yorke Sherwood	...	English Bobby (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #2126)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Bernard Merivale's adapted play opened in London, England, UK on 31 July 1935.

Quotes:

[at the Deardens' party, the guests are discussing the ongoing murder trial at which Sir Alan is the prosecuting attorney]
Lady Agatha Hathaway: My dear, I was at the trial today. Alan was thrilling! How he made that murderer squirm!
[she chooses an hors d'oeuvre from the tray offered by the waiter]
Lord Henry Hathaway: All the fellow did was to push his wife off a cliff.
Lady Agatha Hathaway: [as Lord Henry moves to take a canapé, Lady Agatha stops him] Henry!
[Sir Alan approaches]
Lady Agatha Hathaway: Oh, Alan, I was so proud of you today. How long will it take you to finish that little wretch?
Sir Alan Dearden: The trial may take another week.
Lady Agatha Hathaway: A whole week?
[chuckling while stuffing her face]
[...]

Loretta Young was Beautiful

This 1936 film is a great film Classic with outstanding veteran actors who made this into a great dramatic story concerning Lady Helen Dudley Dearden, (Loretta Young) who tries to protect her husband from a past relationship with a young woman. Sir Alan Dearden (Franchot Tone) is an outstanding lawyer who is about to be chosen as Attorney General and his wife Lady Helen is being blackmailed by Hugh Lewis (Henry Daniell) with a bunch of love letters that Sir Alan had sent to this woman. The story gets quite involved with a man being accused of killing his wife and also another murder of a woman Sir Alan had an affair with. There is a very tricky ending to this film that you will not be able to figure out until the very ending of this film. Roland Young, (William "Bunny" Jeffers ) gave a great supporting role to this great film classic.