A Dispatch from Reuters (1940)

Starting with a small flock of carrier pigeons, nineteenth-century entrepreneur Julius Reuter turns his small company into Europe's most respected news wire service.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Milton Krims (screen play), Valentine Williams (from a story by)

Stars:

Edward G. Robinson, Edna Best, Eddie Albert

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Edward G. Robinson	...	Baron Julius Reuter
Edna Best	...	Ida Magnus
Eddie Albert	...	Max Wagner
Albert Bassermann	...	Franz Geller (as Albert Basserman)
Gene Lockhart	...	Otto Bauer
Otto Kruger	...	Dr. Magnus
Nigel Bruce	...	Sir Randolph Persham
Montagu Love	...	Delane
James Stephenson	...	Carew
Walter Kingsford	...	Napoleon III
David Bruce	...	Bruce
Dickie Moore	...	Reuter as a Boy
Billy Dawson	...	Max Wagner as a Boy
Richard Nichols	...	Herbert - Age 5
Lumsden Hare	...	Chairman

Storyline

Starting with a small flock of carrier pigeons, nineteenth-century entrepreneur Julius Reuter turns his small company into Europe's most respected news wire service.

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | cigar | dance | apology | alcohol | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Audacia

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film's earliest documented telecasts took place in Tucson Saturday 11 August 1956 on KDWI (Channel 9), in Los Angeles Wednesday 12 September 1956 on KNXT (Channel 2), in Indianapolis Saturday 11 September 1956 on WISH (Channel 8), in Boston Thursday 11 October 1956 on WBZ (Channel 4), in Albuquerque Sunday 21 October 1956 on KOAT (Channel 7), in Salt Lake City Thursday 15 November 1956 on KUTV (Channel 2), in Miami Friday 30 November 1956 on WTVJ (Channel 4), and in Bellingham WA Tuesday 18 December 1956 on KVOS (Channel 12).

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Goofs

The report of the Lincoln assassination is shown being placed on a boat in New York (to be dropped off in Ireland). Telegraph service was operating to St. John's, Newfoundland at the time, which is 1,000 miles closer to Ireland and was routinely used to put dispatches on and off ships in the manner shown in Ireland.

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Quotes

Sir Randolph Persham: You could always retire.
Julius Reuter: What - and stagnate into senility?

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Connections

Referenced in Arena: The Orson Welles Story - Part 1 (1982)

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Soundtracks

Battle Hymn of the Republic
(1861) (uncredited)
Music by William Steffe (circa 1856)
Lyrics by Julia Ward Howe (1861)
Variations in the score when Lincoln is assassinated

User Reviews

fictionalized bio of Paul Julius Reuter

Edward G. Robinson was a most interesting movie star in classic film history. Like Bogart, James Cagney, and Spencer Tracy, he was a character actor who became a leading man. That didn't and doesn't happen to many actors or actresses. Robinson could do anything - he could be mean, pathetic, a blowhard, a loser, hilarious, whatever the role called for. Along with his Warners colleague, Paul Muni, he did his share of biopics. "A Dispatch from Reuters" from 1940 is one.

Robinson plays Julius Reuter. Since this film is really about the news agency he founded, much of Reuter's life is left out. Of interest, he was a German Jew who moved to London and ultimately converted to Christianity (before marrying Ida, who was a Christian), taking the first name of Paul. He also became a naturalized British citizen and was named a Baron by Queen Victoria. He had three sons, and the last member of the Reuter family, the widow of one of his grandsons, died in 2009.

Anyway, to get back to the film - there was some dramatic license taken, but the basic story is accurate. Reuter did start out with carrier pigeons, and the film does follow the evolution of the agency accurately as far as his news beating the ships, etc.

Edward G. Robinson is excellent as Julius, and though it's unclear how much of a struggle the real Reuter had in getting clients, Robinson shows determination and ambition throughout the film. I have to agree with one of the reviewers on this site who thought the Eddie Albert character was too lazy to have continued to be employed. Albert is good, though, as is the rest of the cast -- Albert Basserman, Edna Best, Gene Lockhart, Nigel Bruce, Otto Kruger, and Montagu Love.

Entertaining film.