The World Moves On (1934)

Richard Girard is part of a New Orleans family working closely with the English Warburtons. When Richard meets Mary Warburton she is engaged to Erik von Gerardt. He does wed Mary but their time in America is financially difficult.

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Reginald Berkeley (screenplay), Reginald Berkeley (story)

Stars:

Madeleine Carroll, Franchot Tone, Reginald Denny

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Madeleine Carroll	...	Mrs. Warburton, 1825 / Mary Warburton Girard, 1914
Franchot Tone	...	Richard Girard - 1825 / Richard Girard - 1914
Reginald Denny	...	Erik von Gerhardt
Sig Ruman	...	Baron von Gerhardt (as Siegfried Rumann)
Louise Dresser	...	Baroness von Gerhardt
Raul Roulien	...	Carlos Girard (1825) / Henri Girard (1914)
Stepin Fetchit	...	Dixie
Lumsden Hare	...	Gabriel Warburton (1825) / Sir John Warburton (1914)
Dudley Digges	...	Mr. Manning
Frank Melton	...	John Girard (1825)
Brenda Fowler	...	Madame Agnes Girard (1825)
Russell Simpson	...	Notary (1825)
Walter McGrail	...	The Duallist (1825)
Marcelle Corday	...	Madame Girard II (1914)
Charles Bastin	...	Jacques Girard, the Boy (1914)

Storyline

Richard Girard is part of a New Orleans family working closely with the English Warburtons. When Richard meets Mary Warburton she is engaged to Erik von Gerardt. He does wed Mary but their time in America is financially difficult.

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Plot Keywords:

family relationships | reference to adolf hitler | ship sinking | benito mussolini | stock market crash 1929 | 

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Taglines:

THE LOVE STORY OF A CENTURY THEIR love IS YOUR LOVE THEIR fear IS YOUR FEAR THEIR hope IS YOUR HOPE (Print Ad- New York Sun, ((New York NY)) 27 June 1934)

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first film to be granted the production seal of approval under new guidelines set forth by the Production Code Administration Office and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. (MPPDA Certificate No. 1). The modern US ratings system continued its numbering system, which has granted certificates to over 52,000 titles by 2021.

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Connections

Featured in Directed by John Ford (1971)

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Soundtracks

Rhapsody in Blue
(uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin (1924)
Played as background to introduce the year 1924

User Reviews

plot

In the tradition of Fox Studios' Oscar-winning Cavalcade, The World Moves On covers over one hundred years in the lives of two Louisiana families: The Girards, of French extraction, and the Warburtons, formerly of Manchester. Forming an alliance by marriage in 1825, the families rapidly corner the cotton business in the South. Years later, three of Girard/Warburton sons split up to head business operations in England, France and Germany: as a result, descendants of the original families find themselves fighting on opposite sides during WW I (this episode is similar to a memorable sequence in the 1928 silent Four Sons, which like World Moves On was directed by John Ford). Surviving the war, Richard (Franchot Tone), the last of the descendants becomes a sharkish Wall Street speculator in the 1920s, ultimately losing his fortune in the Wall Street Crash. Bloody but unbowed, Richard and his wife Mary (Madeleine Carroll) cut their losses and return to their ancestral home, to start all over again. Both The World Moves On and the subsequent Fox production Road to Glory rely to a considerable extent upon stock footage from the grim 1931 French antiwar drama Wooden Crosses.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

31 August 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paz en la Tierra

Box Office

Budget:

$727,400 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1