The First Baby (1936)

74 mins | Comedy-drama | 15 May 1936

Director:

Lewis Seiler

Cinematographer:

Barney McGill

Production Designer:

Duncan Cramer

Production Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
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HISTORY

According to an unidentified news item dated Jun 1934 in the M-G-M story department card file at the AFI Library, Lamar Trotti and Dudley Nichols wrote an original story with this title, which was to be directed by James Tinling and to star James Dunn and Claire Trevor. No information has been located to determine if that story was the one produced in 1936. MPH noted that this film was the second in a series of American family pictures to be produced by Twentieth Century-Fox, the first of which was Every Saturday Night (see above). However, that film was the first in the "Jones Family" series, of which The First Baby was not a part. This was Shirley Deane's first leading role. According to HR, she and Johnny Downs were borrowed from Paramount. Sara Haden is listed as a cast member in the HR production charts for this film; her participation in the final film has not been confirmed. ...

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According to an unidentified news item dated Jun 1934 in the M-G-M story department card file at the AFI Library, Lamar Trotti and Dudley Nichols wrote an original story with this title, which was to be directed by James Tinling and to star James Dunn and Claire Trevor. No information has been located to determine if that story was the one produced in 1936. MPH noted that this film was the second in a series of American family pictures to be produced by Twentieth Century-Fox, the first of which was Every Saturday Night (see above). However, that film was the first in the "Jones Family" series, of which The First Baby was not a part. This was Shirley Deane's first leading role. According to HR, she and Johnny Downs were borrowed from Paramount. Sara Haden is listed as a cast member in the HR production charts for this film; her participation in the final film has not been confirmed.

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SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Box Office
25-Apr-36
---
Daily Variety
11 Apr 1936
p. 3
Film Daily
14 Apr 1936
p. 10
Hollywood Reporter
2 Mar 1936
p. 9, 11
Hollywood Reporter
23 Mar 1936
p. 11
Hollywood Reporter
11 Apr 1936
p. 3
Motion Picture Daily
13 Apr 1936
p. 6
Motion Picture Herald
11 Apr 1936
p. 43
Motion Picture Herald
18 Apr 1936
p. 36
Variety
27 May 1936
p. 14
CAST
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
Carmencita Johnson
Carol Holloway
Ralph M. Remley
+ −
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTORS
Asst dir
PRODUCER
Assoc prod
WRITER
Orig story and scr
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photog
ART DIRECTOR
Art dir
FILM EDITOR
Al De Gaetano
Film ed
COSTUMES
MUSIC
Mus dir
SOURCES
SONGS
"Joan of Arkansas," words and music by John W. Green and Edward Heyman.
SONGWRITER/COMPOSER
DETAILS
Release Date:
15 May 1936
Production Date:
2 Mar--late Mar 1936
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.
15 May 1936
LP6419
Physical Properties:
Sound
Western Electric Noiseless Recording
Black and White
Duration(in mins):
74
Length(in feet):
7,060
Length(in reels):
8
Country:
United States
PCA No:
2134
SYNOPSIS

Johnny Ellis, a clerk at an auto loan and finance corporation, who lives with his working-class parents and seven siblings, continually bickers with his sweetheart, Trudy Wells, because she feels that she has to keep their romance hidden from her socially-conscious mother Ella. At a skating rink in their town of New Rochelle, Johnny and Trudy make up after a spat, and she accepts his proposal. Despite Ella's protests, the couple marry and celebrate at the Wells home, where Johnny's father Henry and Trudy's father Arthur try to slip away for a drink while Johnny's friend from the office, Maud Holbrook, who aspires to be a "hoofer," upsets Ella by giving Johnny a passionate kiss to congratulate him. On their honeymoon, the quarrels begin anew as Trudy reveals that she promised her mother they would live at the Wells home. Johnny refuses, arguing that marriages are broken up from parental meddling, but he reconsiders after he leaves Trudy crying and agrees to try. Trudy's announcement that she is pregnant provokes an anxious Johnny to try to book a hospital room eight months early. When the baby arrives, his unthinking remark that his son is "funny-looking" upsets Trudy. Six months later, Ella's meddling insistence that "modern methods" be employed in child rearing irritates Johnny, and when the baby accidentally swallows a toy football, Ella's reprimand drives Johnny away for the night. When he returns and tells Arthur that he and Trudy are leaving, Arthur, sympathetic to his plight, lends Johnny money for an apartment and suggests that he surprise Trudy with it as a present for her upcoming birthday. However, on Trudy's birthday, ...

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Johnny Ellis, a clerk at an auto loan and finance corporation, who lives with his working-class parents and seven siblings, continually bickers with his sweetheart, Trudy Wells, because she feels that she has to keep their romance hidden from her socially-conscious mother Ella. At a skating rink in their town of New Rochelle, Johnny and Trudy make up after a spat, and she accepts his proposal. Despite Ella's protests, the couple marry and celebrate at the Wells home, where Johnny's father Henry and Trudy's father Arthur try to slip away for a drink while Johnny's friend from the office, Maud Holbrook, who aspires to be a "hoofer," upsets Ella by giving Johnny a passionate kiss to congratulate him. On their honeymoon, the quarrels begin anew as Trudy reveals that she promised her mother they would live at the Wells home. Johnny refuses, arguing that marriages are broken up from parental meddling, but he reconsiders after he leaves Trudy crying and agrees to try. Trudy's announcement that she is pregnant provokes an anxious Johnny to try to book a hospital room eight months early. When the baby arrives, his unthinking remark that his son is "funny-looking" upsets Trudy. Six months later, Ella's meddling insistence that "modern methods" be employed in child rearing irritates Johnny, and when the baby accidentally swallows a toy football, Ella's reprimand drives Johnny away for the night. When he returns and tells Arthur that he and Trudy are leaving, Arthur, sympathetic to his plight, lends Johnny money for an apartment and suggests that he surprise Trudy with it as a present for her upcoming birthday. However, on Trudy's birthday, when Ella learns about the move, she feigns a faint, and Trudy refuses to leave. Johnny goes alone to the apartment, where his friends have arranged a surprise party for Trudy, and tells them that Trudy is sick. After all the guests but Maud, whom some wags got drunk as a practical joke, have left, Trudy, who has finally decided to leave her mother, arrives. However, when she sees Maud passed out in the bedroom, she leaves and agrees to go on a trip with her mother. Johnny, now back with his parents, turns to drink when his calls to Trudy are not put through, but his mother sobers him up and convinces him to stand up to Ella. As Trudy and Ella shop for their trip, Johnny arrives at the Wells home and demands that Arthur allow him to take his son to the park. After the baby gets soaked in a rain storm, Johnny takes him to his own house, where, during the next three days, the two families live together as the baby battles for his life against a fever. Ella blames Johnny and Trudy refuses to see him, but the doctor counsels Trudy that marriage and having a baby demand unselfishness. When the baby revives, Trudy embraces Johnny and announces to the group that she forgot that the only thing that really mattered was her baby and husband. She rebukes her mother, and Arthur tells Ella to "shut up." Soon, in their aparment, Trudy tells an excited Johnny that she is pregnant again.

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Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

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