Crooks with a Heart (1938)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A crook with a heart |
| Original title | The Young in Heart |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1938 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Wallace |
| script |
Paul Osborne Charles Bennett |
| production |
David O. Selznick for Selznick International Pictures distributed by United Artists |
| music | Franz Waxman |
| camera | Leon Shamroy |
| cut | Hal C. Kern |
| occupation | |
| |
Gauner mit Herz (Original title: The Young in Heart ) is an American comedy film starring Janet Gaynor and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. from 1938 and directed by Richard Wallace. It was the penultimate leading role of Janet Gaynor, who retired from the big screen in late 1938.
action
The Carleton clan has so far lived quite well from various scams and swindles. But now they are burnt down and stuck in Monte Carlo without proper perspective. Chance brings the acquaintance with the rather naive, but apparently extremely wealthy Miss Ellen Fortune. The plan is quickly made to live a full life in her London city residence at Miss Fortune's expense and in the end to deprive the old lady of her considerable fortune. But things take a completely unexpected turn after the family members take paid work for the first time in their lives in order to mislead Miss Fortune's attorneys of their real intentions. Col. Anthony Carleton develops unimaginable skills as a luxury car seller, his son Richard shows talent as a post office worker and daughter George-Ann is tormented by his love for a poor but respectable engineer. In the end, Miss Fortune helps to steer things in a positive direction for everyone involved.
background
Janet Gaynor became very popular alongside Charles Farrell towards the end of the silent movie era as part of the screen couple. She quickly rose to become the biggest star of Fox Film Corporation and was able to hold her position through the merger to form 20th Century Fox until 1936. The dispute about the further direction of her career with the studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck finally led to the break and Gaynor began, following the example of Ronald Colman and Irene Dunne, only to conclude short-term contracts for a defined number of films with various studios. In 1937 she signed a contract for three films for a fee of 137,000 US dollars each with David O. Selznick . The very first film A Star Rises gave Gaynor one of the greatest successes of her career and a nomination for the Oscar for best actress.
Casting Miss Fortune turned out to be complex for Selznick. The originally planned Maude Adams , a former big stage star, turned down the role. Also Laurette Taylor , one of the biggest stars of Broadway around the turn of the century was not drawn from their voluntary retirement itself. In the end, Selznick could be happy at least to convince Minnie Dupree. The film originally ended tragically with the death of Miss Fortune, but the negative reactions during various previews caused the producer to shoot a happy ending.
Despite the offer from David O. Selznick to play the role of Melanie Hamilton in his production of Gone With the Wind and a variety of other interesting offers from other studios, Janet Gaynor retired from the screen in late 1938. For the next few decades she lived for most of the year on a farm in Brazil at the side of her second husband, the costume designer Adrian .
Reviews
The film received excellent reviews. This is how Variety called The Young in Heart a beautiful and moving film (“a beautiful and deeply touching picture”). The Time Magazine praised the intelligence with which an obsolete itself substance would put new and inspired on the canvas ( "however, if it has oft been told before, the story has rarely been told better.") The lexicon of international film says that it was "cheerful old Hollywood-style entertainment."
Awards
The film went to the 1939 Academy Awards with three nominations , but received none of the awards:
- Best Cinematography - Leon Shamroy
- Best film music - Franz Waxman
- Best original film score - Franz Waxman
Web links
- Rogue with heart in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Young in Heart on Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ A crook with a heart. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 8, 2017 .