The House on 56th Street (1933)

It is the World War I period, and Peggy Martin, a showgirl and mistress to London Fiske, marries her love, handsome Monte Van Tyle. They move into the house on 56th street and have a baby, ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

Austin Parker (screen play), Sheridan Gibney (screen play)

Stars:

Kay Francis, Ricardo Cortez, Gene Raymond

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kay Francis	...	Peggy Martin
Ricardo Cortez	...	Bill Blaine
Gene Raymond	...	Monty Van Tyle
John Halliday	...	Lyndon Fiske
Margaret Lindsay	...	Eleanor Van Tyle Burgess
Frank McHugh	...	Chester Hunt
William 'Stage' Boyd	...	Bonelli (as William Boyd)
Hardie Albright	...	Henry Burgess
Sheila Terry	...	Dolly
Phillip Reed	...	Freddy
Philip Faversham	...	Gordon
Walter Walker	...	Dr. Wyman
Nella Walker	...	Eleanor Van Tyle

Storyline

It is the World War I period, and Peggy Martin, a showgirl and mistress to London Fiske, marries her love, handsome Monte Van Tyle. They move into the house on 56th street and have a baby, Eleanor. Monte enlists in the army and is killed in action. Peggy is revisited by Fiske who wants her back or he'll commit suicide. She refuses his advances and the gun he brought accidentally goes off killing him. Peggy is convicted with murdered and jailed. Eleanor is told her mother is dead. Twenty years later, Peggy is released and meets gambler, Bill Blaine. The house on 56th street is now a gambling house owned by politician, Bonelli. Bill and Peggy get jobs there. Eleanor comes to visit them, and goes with Bill into his office. Bill threatens Eleanor, now a huge gambler, that he'll tell her husband about her huge debts. Eleanor kills Bill and Peggy takes the blame. Bonelli believes Peggy is innocent and offers to help her if she only stays at the house on 56th street.

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Plot Keywords:

gambling | showgirl | makeover | mistress | manslaughter | 

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Taglines:

A Bigger Hit Than "Mary Stevens, M.D."!

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to studio records Adolphe Menjou was to play the male lead, which was to be his first picture with Warner Bros. He was instead assigned Convention City (1933), and Ricardo Cortez was borrowed from Paramount for the role of Bill.

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Goofs

The film opens in 1905, at a performance of Florodora. However, this show, which opened on Broadway in 1900, would have closed several years before 1905.

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Quotes

Eleanor Van Tyle Burgess: I never expected you to be my friend.
Peggy Martin Van Tyle: Perhaps some day you'll look back and see that I was the best friend you ever had.

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Connections

Spoofed in The Mouse on 57th Street (1961)

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Soundtracks

Fascination
(1932) (uncredited)
Music by Fermo Dante Marchetti
Played by violin and orchestra at the restaurant
Played as background music often

User Reviews

Dated, But Decent Melodramatic Soap Opera

The House On 56th Street is a Stella Dallas like melodramatic soap opera that Kay Francis did for Warner Brothers before Bette Davis made a specialty of them for that studio. This pre-Code film is laced with irony for Kay.

Kay's a Floradora girl from the Ragtime Era who has all the men chasing her in 1905. She's the kept woman of ragtime rake John Halliday, but young Gene Raymond sweeps her off her feet and they marry and have a daughter. He takes her back to the family digs on East 56th Street in New York City and fancy digs they are.

Halliday gets some bad news from his doctor that he's only got months to live and he wants to live them with Francis, whatever the scandal. Francis tries to prevent him from committing suicide, but when Halliday does in the struggle for the pistol, she goes up for manslaughter and gets 20 years.

Fast forward to the Roaring Twenties and Kay's now free and living anonymously and making a living as a gambling lady with Ricardo Cortez and William 'Stage' Boyd. She gets an opportunity however to impart one really big favor on grownup daughter Margaret Lindsay and it's a beaut.

Although Bette Davis would later do these kind of parts, I mention Stella Dallas because The House On 56th Street also involves a mother separating herself from her daughter for her own good. Francis's role which she does a fine job with seems to fit Barbara Stanwyck even better.

Favorite scene here is the gambling scene on board a ship where Francis takes Cortez to the cleaners even though he's cheating. It reminded me a lot of the climax in Rounders with Matt Damon and John Malkovich.

Though The House On 56th Street is dated, it's still an effective film. Note the sense of irony in Francis's final line in the film.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 December 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Haus in der 56. Straße

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$211,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1