One More Spring (1935)

One More Spring is a 1935 film about three people (Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter, and Walter Woolf King) living together in the maintenance shed at Central Park as an alternative to living on... See full summary »

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Robert Nathan (novel), Edwin J. Burke (screenplay) (as Edwin Burke)

Stars:

Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter, Walter Woolf King

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Janet Gaynor	...	Elizabeth Cheney
Warner Baxter	...	Jaret Otkar
Walter Woolf King	...	Morris Rosenberg (as Walter King)
Jane Darwell	...	Mrs. Sweeney
Roger Imhof	...	Mr. Sweeney
Grant Mitchell	...	Mr. Sheridan
Rosemary Ames	...	Miss Weber, Sheridan's Secretary
John Qualen	...	Auctioneer
Dick Foran	...	Park Policeman (as Nick Foran)
Astrid Allwyn	...	Girl at Auction
Lee Kohlmar	...	Piccolo Player
Stepin Fetchit	...	Zoo Attendant

Storyline

One More Spring is a 1935 film about three people (Janet Gaynor, Warner Baxter, and Walter Woolf King) living together in the maintenance shed at Central Park as an alternative to living on the streets. The film was written by Edwin J. Burke from the Robert Nathan novel and directed.

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Plot Keywords:

manhattan new york city | central park manhattan new york city | great depression | social | new york city | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 February 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Otra primavera

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Farrell was originally slated to be the male lead, as part of a two-picture deal he had made at Fox, at the request of Janet Gaynor; the first film being Change of Heart (1934). Due to an argument with his wife Virginia Valli, Farrell backed out of the picture and he was replaced by Warner Baxter.

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Quotes

Elizabeth Cheney: I was born an orphan, I guess. I don't remember being anything else.

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Soundtracks

Santa Lucia
(uncredited)
Written by Teodoro Cottrau

User Reviews

Subtle masterpiece

"One More Spring" is a delicate, sensitive drama about three lost souls trying to survive during the Depression: two men and a woman, all jobless and homeless, who set up housekeeping together in the maintenance shed in Central Park. The woman is played by Janet Gaynor, a popular ingenue of the early 1930s who usually played virginal good-girl roles. In "One More Spring", she lives in a one-room shack with two men (literally "shacking up" with them), and it's very much to Gaynor's credit as an actress that she manages to convince us there's no hanky-panky going on. She's living in a shack with two men, simply because things are desperate and her only alternative is to live in the streets. Her two shackmates are well-played by Warner Baxter and Walter Woolf King. (King, who usually played villainous roles, is remarkably sympathetic here.)

"One More Spring" gives one of the most realistic depictions of the Depression that I've ever seen. Many people in Depression-era America believed that the stock-market crash was entirely caused by corporate millionaires. Here, the upper class is represented by Mr. Sheridan, who has lost nearly all of his wealth in the crash that has ruined so many. He must deal with the fact that the failure of his own company has also caused the ruin of so many hundreds of his working-class employees. Grant Mitchell gives an excellent performance in what could have been a stereotyped role. At one point - disgraced and ruined - Mitchell pauses on a bridge over the lake in Central Park. He steps onto the bridge's parapet, leans over towards the water, pauses again as he considers ending it all ... the look on Mitchell's face during this scene is unforgettable.

"One More Spring" is well-directed by Henry King, one of the two most under-rated directors of Hollywood's golden era. (The other being Sam Wood.) The only sour note in "One More Spring" is a brief appearance by Stepin Fetchit, doing his usual "I'se comin', boss" routine. Fetchit was very popular in the 1930s, and he was probably written into this film as "insurance" to help make "One More Spring" more successful at the box-office. This delicately beautiful film would work better if Stepin Fetchit's scenes - entirely irrelevant to the plot - were deleted.