Edison, the Man (1940)

104 or 111 mins | Biography | 10 May 1940

Director:

Clarence Brown

Cinematographer:

Harold Rosson

Production Designer:

Cedric Gibbons

Production Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Full page view
HISTORY

The working title of this picture was The Wizard of Menlo Park. According to a news item in HR, H. Alan Dunn was to have co-scripted the picture, but his participation in the final project has not been confirmed. A HR production chart adds Regis Toomey to the cast, but he was not in the released film. The Call Bureau Cast Service list Irving Bacon in the role of the sheriff, but that part was played by Paul Hurst. Studio publicity notes that originally M-G-M had intended to produce only one picture about Edison, but when that project proved too long, they broke the story into two parts. The first, Young Tom Edison, starred Mickey Rooney as the young Edison (See Entry). Technical advisor William A. Simonds was from the Edison Institute in Dearborn, MI, and Norman R. Speiden was director of Historical Research at Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in West Orange, NJ. Dore Schary and Hugo Butler received an Academy Award nomination in the Writing (Original Story) category. ...

More Less

The working title of this picture was The Wizard of Menlo Park. According to a news item in HR, H. Alan Dunn was to have co-scripted the picture, but his participation in the final project has not been confirmed. A HR production chart adds Regis Toomey to the cast, but he was not in the released film. The Call Bureau Cast Service list Irving Bacon in the role of the sheriff, but that part was played by Paul Hurst. Studio publicity notes that originally M-G-M had intended to produce only one picture about Edison, but when that project proved too long, they broke the story into two parts. The first, Young Tom Edison, starred Mickey Rooney as the young Edison (See Entry). Technical advisor William A. Simonds was from the Edison Institute in Dearborn, MI, and Norman R. Speiden was director of Historical Research at Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in West Orange, NJ. Dore Schary and Hugo Butler received an Academy Award nomination in the Writing (Original Story) category.

Less

PERSONAL & COMPANY INDEX CREDITS
HISTORY CREDITS
CREDIT TYPE
CREDIT
Personal note credit:
SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Daily Variety
17 May 1940
p. 3
Film Daily
17 May 1940
p. 8
Hollywood Reporter
11 Jan 1939
p. 2
Hollywood Reporter
12 Jan 1939
p. 1
Hollywood Reporter
13 Dec 1939
p. 7
Hollywood Reporter
20 Jan 1940
pp. 6-7
Hollywood Reporter
23 Feb 1940
p. 6
Hollywood Reporter
9 Mar 1940
pp. 6-7
Hollywood Reporter
15 May 1940
p. 7
Hollywood Reporter
17 May 1940
p. 3
Motion Picture Daily
20 May 1940
p. 1, 4
Motion Picture Herald
30 Mar 1940
p. 58
Motion Picture Herald
25 May 1940
p. 44
New York Times
7 Jun 1940
p. 27
Variety
22 May 1940
p. 14
CAST
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
Donald Douglas
Ed J. LeSaint
Billy Arnold
+
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
PRODUCTION TEXT
Clarence Brown's Production
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTORS
Asst dir
PRODUCERS
Assoc prod
WRITERS
Orig story
Orig story
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photog
ART DIRECTORS
Art dir
Art dir assoc
FILM EDITOR
SET DECORATOR
Set dec
COSTUMES
Women's cost
Men's cost
MUSIC
Mus score
SOUND
Rec dir
MAKEUP
Makeup
PRODUCTION MISC
Prod mgr
DETAILS
Alternate Title:
The Wizard of Menlo Park
Release Date:
10 May 1940
Premiere Information:
Orange, New Jersey: 16 May 1940
Production Date:
mid Jan--mid Mar 1940
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
Loew's Inc.
13 May 1940
LP9662
Physical Properties:
Sound
Western Electric Sound System
Black and White
Duration(in mins):
104 or 111
Country:
United States
PCA No:
6216
Passed by NBR:
Yes
SYNOPSIS

In 1929, at the Golden Jubilee of Light banquet celebrating the fiftieth anniversay of the invention of the electric lamp, Thomas Edison, the guest of honor, reflects as the toastmaster recalls his achievements: Arriving in New York as an unknown inventor, Edison tries to interest Taggart, the manager of a firm that supplies gold quotes to the board of trade, in his ideas about electricity. The shortsighted Taggart ignores the young inventor until the ticker machine breaks down and Edison repairs it. Impressed by Edison's ingenuity, General Powell, the president of Western Union, offers him a job at the Western Union workshop. There Edison is befriended by Mary Stilwell, a secretary at the company. Assisted by fellow workers Bigelow, Lundstrum and Michael Simon, Edison perfects the stock ticker and sells it to General Powell and Taggart. With the proceeds, Edison opens his own laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey and weds Mary. As time passes, Edison finds himself on the verge of insolvency and is about to lose his company when his friend Powell dies and he is forced to turn to Taggart for help. When Taggart insists upon total control, Edison refuses his offer and is near bankruptcy. In the nick of time, Edison invents the phonograph, which saves his lab, but he is beset by more problems when his friend, Bunt Cavatt, tells the press that he has developed an electric light. Branded as a charlatan by the scientific community, Edison strives to perfect his light invention. Enduring years of failure, Edison perseveres until he discovers incandescent light. Opposed by the gas interests led by Taggart, Edison ...

More Less

In 1929, at the Golden Jubilee of Light banquet celebrating the fiftieth anniversay of the invention of the electric lamp, Thomas Edison, the guest of honor, reflects as the toastmaster recalls his achievements: Arriving in New York as an unknown inventor, Edison tries to interest Taggart, the manager of a firm that supplies gold quotes to the board of trade, in his ideas about electricity. The shortsighted Taggart ignores the young inventor until the ticker machine breaks down and Edison repairs it. Impressed by Edison's ingenuity, General Powell, the president of Western Union, offers him a job at the Western Union workshop. There Edison is befriended by Mary Stilwell, a secretary at the company. Assisted by fellow workers Bigelow, Lundstrum and Michael Simon, Edison perfects the stock ticker and sells it to General Powell and Taggart. With the proceeds, Edison opens his own laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey and weds Mary. As time passes, Edison finds himself on the verge of insolvency and is about to lose his company when his friend Powell dies and he is forced to turn to Taggart for help. When Taggart insists upon total control, Edison refuses his offer and is near bankruptcy. In the nick of time, Edison invents the phonograph, which saves his lab, but he is beset by more problems when his friend, Bunt Cavatt, tells the press that he has developed an electric light. Branded as a charlatan by the scientific community, Edison strives to perfect his light invention. Enduring years of failure, Edison perseveres until he discovers incandescent light. Opposed by the gas interests led by Taggart, Edison is granted six months to prove that he can light New York City. At the last minute, Edison throws the switch to his generators and miraculously illuminates the city.

Less

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

TOP SEARCHES

The Fog

The summary and note for this entry were completed with participation from the AFI Academic Network. Summary and note were written by participant Michael Thielvoldt, an independent scholar. ... >>

A League of Their Own

The film is bookended by scenes in which an aged “Dottie Hinson” attends the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League’s (AAGPBL) induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, ... >>

Hoosiers

An epilogue depicts a young boy shooting baskets in the “Hickory High School” gymnasium under a photograph of the 1952 State Championship team, accompanied by dialogue from “Coach Norman ... >>

King Kong

The working titles of this film were The Eighth Wonder, The Beast and Kong. In the opening credits, the cast list is ... >>

The Godfather

The film's opening title card reads: "Mario Puzo's The Godfather." While the first strains of a trumpet solo of Nino Rota's "Godfather" theme are heard on ... >>

The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.