The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

19391939
ApprovedApproved
1h 38m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

Henry Fonda, Don Ameche, and Loretta Young in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)

Biography Drama History

The story of how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.The story of how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.The story of how Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

- Irving Cummings
Writers
- Ray Harris(story)
- Lamar Trotti(screenplay)
- Boris Ingster(contributor to screenplay construction)
Stars

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
After the film was released, the telephone was commonly called the "Ameche", a slang term referring to actor Don Ameche who played the telephone's inventor. This association is explained in the film Ball of Fire (1941), showing the term was still in use two years after the release of the original film.

Goofs
One of the stories in the movie, that is set in 1873, is that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone "in his youth". But the first telephone was invented by Antonio Meucci in 1860 and Johann Philipp Reis in 1861, who also called his device "telephone", not Bell as it's stated in the movie. Bell didn't invent THE telephone but A telephone, the Bell-telephone.

Quotes
Alexander Graham Bell: Mr. Watson, come here, I want you!

Connections
Featured in AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Henry Fonda (1978)

Soundtracks
The First Noel
Traditional 17th century hymn
Sung a cappella by unidentified carollers on Christmas Eve

User reviews20

Review

Featured review

" Mr. Watson! Come here! I need you! "

Irving Cummings does an excellent job directing the cast of assembled actors in this film. The story itself is taken from the memories of the daughter of Alex Bell and follows through with all the trials and tribulations of Bell himself. Beginning with the decision he gave up teaching the deaf and dumb to speak and through the obscure and menial existence of an inventor, up through the difficult task fighting for his invention in court. Don Ameche plays Alexander Graham Bell, who does so with such spirit and vitality, audiences will later realize why this actor is so synonymous with the character. The same is true with Henry Fonda who plays Thomas Watson who also is easily identified with this movie. Loretta Young, Charles Coburn and Gene Lockhart are magnificent and help insure this black and white becomes a solid standard in any collection of what we now understand as Classic films. ****

helpful•3

thinker1691
Mar 26, 2012

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