Telephone Operator (1937)

Director:

Scott Pembroke

Writers:

John W. Krafft (story)
Scott Darling (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 December 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Suddenly...disaster struck at the happiness of these two lovers...as raging flood waters swept them into the dark terror of the night!

Plot:

A telephone operator covering for a friend's "fling" finds herself in the middle of a major disaster when the city is hit by a big flood and her switchboard is the center of communications. |

Plot Keywords:

Disaster | Telephone | Telephone Operator | Flood | Co Worker

Cast

Judith Allen	...	Helen Molly
Grant Withers	...	Red
Warren Hymer	...	Shorty
Alice White	...	Dottie Stengal
Ronnie Cosby	...	Ted Molloy (as Ronnie Cosbey)
Pat Flaherty	...	Tom Sommers
Greta Granstedt	...	Sylvia Sommers
William Haade	...	Heaver
Cornelius Keefe	...	Pat Campbell
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Mrs. Molloy

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Monogram Pictures

I like any movie with a dam in it...

The version I downloaded from the Internet Archive must be heavily cut, as it's only 53m. Despite this inexcusable decimation, I found this flick to be quite satisfying, for what it is. We've got cocksure telephone linesmen, surly switchboard operators, kids with shortwave radios, a failing dam, and a terrific flood - 30's style, and stuffed into little more than an hour! The cast are all sufficiently capable in their roles, particularly leads Allen and Withers, but it was the colorful details that really sustained my interest. Things like Helen's kid brother setting his alarm for 5 so he can listen to a Boy Scout rally from England on the shortwave. The film is a nifty little time capsule of the 1930's telecommunications industry at work, and its importance to daily life in that decade.