Of Human Hearts
(1938)
100 or 105 mins | Drama | 11 February 1938
Director:
Clarence BrownWriter:
Bradbury FooteProducer:
John W. Considine Jr.Cinematographer:
Clyde De VinnaEditor:
Frank E. HullProduction Designer:
Cedric GibbonsProduction Company:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.The working title of the film and the title of the novel on which it was based, Benefits Forgot was taken from a quotation in William Shakespeare's As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7: "Freeze, Freeze, thou bitter sky, Thou dost not bite so nigh as Benefits Forgot." According to the Var review and the film's presskit, the final title of the picture Of Human Hearts was selected by M-G-M after a nation-wide contest was advertised on the studio's radio program, "Good News of 1938," to determine who could select the best title. The prize, $5,000, was awarded to Greenville, SC high school student Ray Harris; in addition to the prize money, Harris was also a specially invited guest at the film's world premiere, which was held in his hometown. Information in the SAB in the AMPAS Library file on the film includes telegrams and letters indicating that at one time writer Conrad Richter had considered going to arbitration to receive screenplay credit on the picture. After reading the script, however, he sent a telegram stating: "Mr. Foote entitled to sole credit please give it to him." Richter was subsequently given credit for his contribution to the treatment, but his name was not included in the onscreen credits.
Portions of the film were shot on location in Agoura Ranch, Agoura, CA and Lake Arrowhead, CA. According to information in news items and the presskit, over seven hundred people worked at the Arrowhead location for more than two weeks on a specially built village, the largest special location site built by M-G-M since ...
The working title of the film and the title of the novel on which it was based, Benefits Forgot was taken from a quotation in William Shakespeare's As You Like It, Act II, Scene 7: "Freeze, Freeze, thou bitter sky, Thou dost not bite so nigh as Benefits Forgot." According to the Var review and the film's presskit, the final title of the picture Of Human Hearts was selected by M-G-M after a nation-wide contest was advertised on the studio's radio program, "Good News of 1938," to determine who could select the best title. The prize, $5,000, was awarded to Greenville, SC high school student Ray Harris; in addition to the prize money, Harris was also a specially invited guest at the film's world premiere, which was held in his hometown. Information in the SAB in the AMPAS Library file on the film includes telegrams and letters indicating that at one time writer Conrad Richter had considered going to arbitration to receive screenplay credit on the picture. After reading the script, however, he sent a telegram stating: "Mr. Foote entitled to sole credit please give it to him." Richter was subsequently given credit for his contribution to the treatment, but his name was not included in the onscreen credits.
Portions of the film were shot on location in Agoura Ranch, Agoura, CA and Lake Arrowhead, CA. According to information in news items and the presskit, over seven hundred people worked at the Arrowhead location for more than two weeks on a specially built village, the largest special location site built by M-G-M since The Good Earth (see entry). A Life magazine article noted that the film's battle scene, which was not based on a specific battle, cost $50,000, and required 2,000 men to film. Life also noted that the picture was one of a "new cycle of interest in the Civil War aroused by the novel Gone With the Wind." Early HR production charts include Ted Healy in the cast, however, Healy died on 21 Dec 1937, shortly before the end of filming for Of Human Hearts. Although he is visible very briefly in one scene, he is not credited in the CBCS or in any post-production sources. According to news items, Healy was forty-one when he died of a heart attack after a party subsequent to the press preview of the Warner Bros. film Hollywood Hotel, in which he had a featured role. His last completed film was Love Is a Headache (see entry).
Robert McWade, who portrayed Dr. Lupus Crumm in the picture, died after completing his role. According to news items in HCN and MPD, director Clarence Brown had told McWade, "Well, Bob, you played your last scene. You might as well go home," just before McWade died of heart failure.
John Miljan was listed in the CBCS as Captain Griggs, however, that role was played by Minor Watson. Because Miljan was not seen in the viewed print, or mentioned in any other source, it is possible that he was erroneously included in the CBSC. News items and reviews variously note that John Carradine was borrowed from Fox for his role, Beulah Bondi was borrowed from Paramount, and the film marked the screen debut of child actress Leatrice Joy Gilbert, the daughter of silent screen stars Leatrice Joy and John Gilbert. The HR review and some news items incorrectly noted that Charles Coburn was making his motion picture debut in Of Human Hearts. Although Coburn had not appeared in films for several years, he made his debut in Boss Tweed (1933), and had also appeared in The People's Enemy in 1935 (see entries above and below). Marjorie Main was identified in a production still, but is not seen in the released film. Apparently, her part was cut before the film's release. Of Human Hearts received one Academy Award nomination, for Bondi as Best Supporting Actress, however, she lost to Fay Bainter for Jezebel (see entry). Bondi portrayed James Stewart's mother for the first time in Of Human Hearts. She subsequently portrayed his mother in the 1938 film Vivacious Lady, the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (see entry and above), and the 1947 film It's a Wonderful Life.
In the early 1850s, Rev. Ethan Wilkins moves from a prosperous parish in Maryland to an impoverished village on the banks of the Ohio River. Though his devoted wife Mary knows that a minister's family must make sacrifices, their son Jason cannot adjust to their austere new life. He idolizes Dr. Charles Shingle, the alcoholic local physician, and is resentful when Ethan refuses to let him accept the magazines that Shingle offers. When Mary sells some silver spoons to buy the boy a subscription to Harper's Monthly , Ethan finds even that magazine inappropriate for a minister's son and creates a serious breach between himself and Jason. Ten years later, the now-grown Jason is still resentful of his father. When Ethan insists that his son accompany him on a backwoods tour of distant parishoner's cabins, Jason refuses to wear a shabby second-hand coat that an elderly woman kindly gives to him. After a bitter argument, Jason leaves home and goes to study medicine in Virginia. Over the years, the broken-hearted Mary sells all of her family mementoes to send money to Jason, but she never complains, nor does Ethan, whose health gradually deteriorates. Just before Jason becomes a doctor, Mary writes to him that Ethan is dying, but by the time Jason returns home, his father is dead. Now an impoverished widow whose only happiness is her son's infrequent letters, Mary must take in sewing to survive. One winter, Jason writes to say that he is coming home for Christmas, then sends another letter saying that he must stay in Virginia during the holidays and needs more money. Mary sells her last ...
In the early 1850s, Rev. Ethan Wilkins moves from a prosperous parish in Maryland to an impoverished village on the banks of the Ohio River. Though his devoted wife Mary knows that a minister's family must make sacrifices, their son Jason cannot adjust to their austere new life. He idolizes Dr. Charles Shingle, the alcoholic local physician, and is resentful when Ethan refuses to let him accept the magazines that Shingle offers. When Mary sells some silver spoons to buy the boy a subscription to Harper's Monthly , Ethan finds even that magazine inappropriate for a minister's son and creates a serious breach between himself and Jason. Ten years later, the now-grown Jason is still resentful of his father. When Ethan insists that his son accompany him on a backwoods tour of distant parishoner's cabins, Jason refuses to wear a shabby second-hand coat that an elderly woman kindly gives to him. After a bitter argument, Jason leaves home and goes to study medicine in Virginia. Over the years, the broken-hearted Mary sells all of her family mementoes to send money to Jason, but she never complains, nor does Ethan, whose health gradually deteriorates. Just before Jason becomes a doctor, Mary writes to him that Ethan is dying, but by the time Jason returns home, his father is dead. Now an impoverished widow whose only happiness is her son's infrequent letters, Mary must take in sewing to survive. One winter, Jason writes to say that he is coming home for Christmas, then sends another letter saying that he must stay in Virginia during the holidays and needs more money. Mary sells her last possession of value, her gold wedding ring, to greedy general store-owner George Ames in order to send Jason the money. When Dr. Shingle finds out, however, he convinces Ames that his health requires a "bleeding" by leeches, and slips the ring off Ames' finger and gives it back to Mary. Some time later, as the Civil War rages, Jason is called to duty and stops writing to his mother. One day, he receives a summons to the White House and is astonished to meet President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln tells Jason that Mary had written to him asking for information on her son's grave; because Jason had not written for so long she was certain he was dead. Lincoln then admonishes Jason for being such a selfish son and makes him promise to write to his mother every week. As Jason returns to his post, he sees Pilgrim, his family's faithful old horse, and finally realizes how dire his mother's straits must be to have sold the animal. When Jason saves the arm of his superior, Captain Griggs, his reward is a leave to see Mary. Jason then rides home on Pilgrim and is reunited with his grateful mother. At supper, Jason dines with Mary, Dr. Shingle and his childhood sweetheart, Annie Hawks, and Mary thanks God for her blessings.
TOP SEARCHES
Gone with the Wind
[ Note from the Editors : the following information is based on contemporary news items, feature articles, reviews, interviews, memoranda and corporate records. Information obtained from modern sources ... >>
Androcles and the Lion
The onscreen title card reads: "Gabriel Pascal presents Bernard Shaw's Androcles and the Lion ." Although Shaw's play is set in 150 A.D., during the reign of Antoninus ... >>
Groundhog Day
According to production notes in AMPAS library files, actor Bill Murray, co-screenwriter Danny Rubin, and first assistant director Mike Haley attended a Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, PA, but ... >>
Raiders of the Lost Ark
According to production notes in AMPAS library files, filmmaker George Lucas conceived Raiders of the Lost Ark as a story called “The Adventures of Indiana Smith” in ... >>
