You Only Live Once (1937)

The public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Gene Towne (screenplay), C. Graham Baker (screenplay)

Stars:

Sylvia Sidney, Henry Fonda, Barton MacLane

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sylvia Sidney	...	Joan Graham
Henry Fonda	...	Eddie Taylor
Barton MacLane	...	Stephen Whitney
Jean Dixon	...	Bonnie Graham
William Gargan	...	Father Dolan
Jerome Cowan	...	Doctor Hill
Charles 'Chic' Sale	...	Ethan (as Chic Sale)
Margaret Hamilton	...	Hester
Warren Hymer	...	Buggsy
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Roger (as Guinn Williams)
John Wray	...	Warden Wheeler
Walter De Palma	...	Monk Mendall

Storyline

Joan is the secretary to the public defender in a large city. She is in love with a career criminal named Eddie, and she believes that he is a basically good person who just had some tough breaks. She uses her influence to get him released early, and he tries to go straight after marrying her, but things don't work out, and they both go on the lam.

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Plot Keywords:

secretary | prison | truck driver | heist | on the lam | 

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Taglines:

He robbed... kidnapped... he murdered... Because of the love of one woman!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Three Time Loser

Box Office

Budget:

$575,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Wanger Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

PCA director Joseph Breen objected to the robbery scene details which were against the production code. Specifically, he listed "no flash of a man's face contorted with agony, no showing of a woman lying on the sidewalk, no hurling of bombs, no cop lying on the street, his face contorted with pain, no truck crushing out the life of a cop, no terrible screaming, no shots of bodies lying around, no figure of a little girl huddled in death, no shrieks." The print received by the PCA ran 100 minutes, and it is clear from the released print that some of these items and other scenes were cut, and the PCA finally gave it an approved certificate.

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Quotes

Joan Graham: Anywhere's our home. On the road. Out there on a cold star. Anywhere's our home.

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Connections

Spin-off Let Us Live (1939)

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Soundtracks

"A Thousand Dreams of You"
(1936) (uncredited)
Music by Louis Alter

User Reviews

One of the most intense and captivating films ever seen.

This film is the perfect definition of a masterpiece. A good story (not so different from others of the same period) perfectly developed by Lang, restless, intense, beautifully played by the characters, with a memorable end.

I will always remember the image of Henry Fonda (outstanding as ever!) blaming of his fate to Sylvia Sydney just by looking at her and framed by the little window of the visiting room of the prison; it reminded me to the speechless films of Lang where all the dialogues were replaced by the looking of the characters. No words and so much being told: pure art.