Alexander Graham Bell falls in love with deaf girl Mabel Hubbard while teaching the deaf and trying to invent means for telegraphing the human voice. She urges him to put off thoughts of marriage until his experiments are complete. He invents the telephone, marries and becomes rich and famous, though his happiness is threatened when a rival company sets out to ruin him.
04-04-1939
1h 38m
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Irving Cummings
Production:
20th Century Fox
Key Crew
Story:
Ray Harris
Screenplay:
Lamar Trotti
Producer:
Darryl F. Zanuck
Associate Producer:
Kenneth Macgowan
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Don Ameche
Don Ameche born Dominic Felix Amici May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was a versatile and popular American film actor in the 1930s and '40s, usually as the dapper, mustached leading man. He was also popular as a radio master of ceremonies during this time. As his film popularity waned in the 1950s, he continued working in theater and some TV. His film career surged in a comeback in the 1980s with fine work as an aging millionaire in Trading Places (1983) and a rejuvenated oldster in Cocoon (1985). Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor.
Ameche, standing in at a height of 5' 11" (1.8 m) was born May 31, 1908 (Gemini) in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA as Dominic Felix Amici to mother, Barbara Edda (Hertel) and father, Felice Amici, a bartender. Has a younger brother Jim Ameche. His father was an Italian immigrant. His mother had German, English, Irish and Scottish ancestry. Americans pronounced his last name incorrectly in Italian ("Ah-mee-see"). So he changed it from "Amici" (correctly pronounced "Ah-mee-chee") into "Ameche", in order to keep the original Italian pronunciation. He had the nickname "The Latin Lover". Married Honore Prendergast on the 6th of December 1932. They had 6 children together. Became a father for the first time at age 25 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Dominic Felix Ameche--aka Don Ameche Jr. on October 3, 1933. Became a father for the second time at age 27 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Ronald Ameche on December 30, 1935. He died on January 2, 2001 in Iowa, aged 65. Became a father for the third time at age 31 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Thomas Anthony Ameche on July 20, 1939. Became a father for the fourth time at age 32 when his wife Honore gave birth to their son Lawrence Michael Ameche on July 20, 1940. Became a father for the fifth time at age 36 when his wife Honore gave birth to their daughter Barbara Balinda Ameche on March 13, 1945. Became a father for the sixth time at age 39 when his wife Honore gave birth to their daughter Constance Victoria Ameche on February 22, 1948. His wife of 54 years, died on the 5th of September 1986. He died on December 6, 1993 at the age of 85 in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA from prostate cancer.
Loretta Young (January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the 1948 best actress Academy Award for her role in the 1947 film The Farmer's Daughter, and received an Oscar nomination for her role in Come to the Stable, in 1950. Young then moved to the relatively new medium of television, where she had a dramatic anthology series called The Loretta Young Show, from 1953 to 1961. The series earned three Emmy Awards, and reran successfully on daytime TV and later in syndication. Young, a devout Catholic, later worked with various Catholic charities after her acting career.
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Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor who had a career that spanned five decades in Hollywood. Fonda cultivated a strong, appealing screen image in several films now considered to be classics, earning one Academy Award for Best Actor on two nominations.
Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor and made his Hollywood film debut in 1935. His film career began to gain momentum with roles such as Bette Davis's fiancee in her Academy Award-winning performance in Jezebel (1938), brother Frank in Jesse James (1939), and the future President in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), directed by John Ford. His early career peaked with his Academy Award-nominated performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, about an Oklahoma family who moved to California during the Dust Bowl 1930s. This film is widely considered to be among the greatest American films.
In 1941 he starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the screwball comedy classic The Lady Eve. Book-ending his service in WWII were his starring roles in two highly regarded westerns: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) and My Darling Clementine (1946), the latter directed by John Ford, and he also starred in Ford's western Fort Apache (1948). After a seven-year break from films, during which Fonda focused on stage productions, he returned with the WWII war-boat ensemble Mister Roberts (1955). In 1957 he starred as Juror No.8, the hold-out juror, in 12 Angry Men. Fonda, who was also co-producer, won the BAFTA for Best Foreign Actor.
Later in his career, Fonda moved into darker roles, such as the villain in the epic Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), underrated and a box office disappointment at its time of release, but now regarded as one of the best westerns of all time. He also played in lighter-hearted fare such as Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball, but also often played important military figures, such as a Colonel in Battle of the Bulge (1965), and Admiral Nimitz in Midway (1976). He finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 54th Academy Awards for his final film role in On Golden Pond (1981), which also starred Katharine Hepburn and his daughter Jane Fonda, but was too ill to attend the ceremony. He died from heart disease a few months later.
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Charles Douville Coburn (June 19, 1877 – August 30, 1961) was an American film and theatre actor. Best known for his work in comedies, Coburn received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1943's The More the Merrier.
Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia, the son of Scotch-Irish Americans Emma Louise Sprigman (May 11, 1838 Springfield, Ohio – November 12, 1896 Savannah, Georgia) and Moses Douville Coburn (April 27, 1834 Savannah, Georgia – December 27, 1902 Savannah, Georgia). Growing up in Savannah, he started out at age 14 doing odd jobs at the local Savannah Theater, handing out programs, ushering, or being the doorman. By age 17 or 18, he was the theater manager. He later became an actor, making his debut on Broadway in 1901. Coburn formed an acting company with actress Ivah Wills in 1905. They married in 1906. In addition to managing the company, the couple performed frequently on Broadway.
After his wife's death in 1937, Coburn relocated to Los Angeles, California and began film work. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a retired millionaire playing Cupid in The More the Merrier in 1943. He was also nominated for The Devil and Miss Jones in 1941 and The Green Years in 1946. Other notable film credits include Of Human Hearts (1938), The Lady Eve (1941), Kings Row (1942), The Constant Nymph (1943), Heaven Can Wait (1943), Wilson (1944), Impact (1949), The Paradine Case (1947), Everybody Does It (1950), Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), Monkey Business (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and John Paul Jones (1959). He usually played comedic parts, but Kings Row and Wilson were dramatic parts, showing his versatility.
For his contributions to motion pictures, in 1960, Coburn was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6268 Hollywood Boulevard.
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Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957) was a Canadian-American character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of popular songs. He became a United States citizen in 1939.
Born in London, Ontario, the son of John Coats Lockhart and Ellen Mary (née Delaney) Lockhart, he made his professional debut at the age of six when he appeared with the Kilties Band of Canada. He later appeared in sketches with Beatrice Lillie.
Lockhart is mostly remembered for his film work. He made his film debut in the 1922 version of Smilin' Through, as the Rector, but did not make his sound debut until 1934 in the film By Your Leave, where he played the playboy Skeets. Lockhart subsequently appeared in more than 300 motion pictures. He often played villains, including a role as the treacherous informant Regis in Algiers, the American remake of Pepe le Moko, which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also played the suspicious Georges de la Trémouille, the Dauphin's chief counselor, in the famous 1948 film Joan of Arc, starring Ingrid Bergman. He had a great succession of "good guy" supporting roles including Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (1938) and the judge in Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
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Spring Byington (October 17, 1886 – September 7, 1971) was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player, appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.
One of four actress sisters, the others being Polly Ann Young, Georgiana Young and Loretta Young. Sally retired from the screen ca. 1939.
Although this lovely, light brown-haired leading lady would wind up better known as one of Loretta Young's three acting sisters, Sally Blane nevertheless enjoyed a modest "B" film career during the late 20s and 30s. The resemblance to her "A" level sister was very strong -- the same graceful, elongated face and fawn-like, wide-set eyes. Unlike her sister, however, Sally lacked strong determination and ambition. Although she remained on the second or third Hollywood tier throughout her career, her film output was considerable if mostly routine.
Watson was a member of the Watson Family, famous in the early days of Hollywood as being a houseful of child actors. He was brother to Coy Watson Jr., Harry, Billy, Delmar, Garry, Vivian, Gloria, and Louise, all of whom acted in motion pictures.
The family, known as "the first family of Hollywood", lived by the Echo Park area of Los Angeles and Bobs attended nearby Belmont High School.
They were honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce by placing the Watson family star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6674 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California.
Watson was best known for his role as "Pee Wee" in the 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film Boys Town and its sequel Men of Boys Town (1941), both starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. Tracy and Watson became good friends during the making of the first film, and Watson was reportedly Tracy's last visitor before his death in 1967. In 1939, Watson delivered a fine, tear-jerking performance as Pud, Lionel Barrymore's grandson, in the MGM film, On Borrowed Time. Watson later made guest appearances in many television programs, including The Twilight Zone, Lou Grant, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and The Fugitive.
In addition to working in the motion pictures business, Watson went to Claremont School of Theology to become a Methodist minister, inspired from the movie Boys Town. He retired after 30 years of serving in Burbank and La Cañada, California.
He died of prostate cancer in 1999 at Laguna Beach, California.
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Edward Russell Hicks (June 4, 1895 – June 1, 1957) was an American film actor.
Born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland, Hicks appeared in nearly 300 films between 1915 and 1956. His first appearance was an uncredited role in The Birth of a Nation (1915). He often appeared as a smooth-talking confidence man, as in the W.C. Fields film The Bank Dick (1940). Distinguished, suave and a consummate actor, Hicks played a variety of judges, corrupt officials, businessmen and attorneys, working in a variety of mediums almost until his death. Hicks appeared once in the syndicated western television series The Cisco Kid as an uncle of the Gail Davis character, whom he threatens to disinherit if she marries a known gangster.
He died in Los Angeles, California, from a heart attack.
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Paul Stanton (1884-1955) was an American character actor and bit-part player in American films.
Originally from Illinois, he appeared in about 130 films between 1918 and 1952, mostly in supporting roles. He often portrayed authoritarian figures like judges, attorneys, managers, officials and doctors.
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Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley, March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor.
Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic Corps. Hale is most well known as Dagwood Bumstead's boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, in the Blondie film series in the 1940s. He is also notable for playing Inspector Fernack in various The Saint films by RKO Pictures.
In 1950 he made two appearances in The Cisco Kid as Barry Owens. He also appeared in two different episodes of Adventures of Superman: "The Evil Three", in which he played a murderous "Southern Colonel"-type character, and "Panic in the Sky", one of the most famous episodes, in which he played the lead astronomer at the Metropolis Observatory, actually a California observatory.
Among the relatively few television programs on which Hale appeared are the religion anthology series Crossroads, The Loretta Young Show, Brave Eagle, Schlitz Playhouse, The Joey Bishop Show, and Walt Disney Presents: "A Tribute to Joel Chandler Harris".
Hale committed suicide on February 28, 1966. He was found dead that evening in his room at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. Hale had taken his own life with a .38 caliber pistol, which was found near his body. He was 74. Hale was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California. Sadly, Hale's grave went unmarked for more than four decades, until a proper headstone was erected by donations from the "Dearly Departed" fan-based group in 2013; he is now honored with the inscription, "We Remembered You".
Harold George Bryant Davenport was an American film and stage actor who worked in show business from the age of six until his death. After a long and prolific Broadway career, he came to Hollywood in the 1930s, where he often played grandfathers, judges, doctors, and ministers.
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Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in 233 films between 1915 and 1958.
Trowbridge was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where his father served in the diplomatic corps of the United States. He ran a coffee plantation in Hawaii before venturing into acting.
Trowbridge's Broadway credits include Dinner at Eight (1932), Ladies of Creation (1931), Congai (1928), The Behavior of Mrs. Crane (1927), We Never Learn (1927), Craig's Wife (1925), It All Depends (1925), The Backslapper (1924), The Locked Door (1924), Sweet Seventeen (1923), The Lullaby (1923), The Last Warning (1922), The Night Call (1921), Just Because (1921), The Broken Wing (1920), Why Worry? (1918), This Way Out (1917), Come Out of the Kitchen (1916) and Daddy Long Legs (1914).
Trowbridge died in Los Angeles, California.
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Claire Du Brey (born Clara Violet Dubrey, August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films between 1916 and 1959. Her name is sometimes rendered as Claire Du Bray or as Claire Dubrey.
Du Brey's screen career began with Universal Studios and she played at one time or another with almost all the larger companies. More notable films in which she appeared were Anything Once (1917), Social Briars (1918), The Devil's Trail (1919), What Every Woman Wants (1919) and Dangerous Hours (1919). Other films include The Wishing Ring Man, The Spite Bride, The World Aflame, and The Walk Offs. Her career declined with the sound era and she later played mostly small roles.
Du Brey was proficient in athletics, excelling in swimming, riding, golfing, tennis and motoring. She was five feet seven inches high, weighed 130 pounds and had auburn hair and brown eyes, and took a lively interest in horticulture.
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Nora Cecil (September 20, 1878 – May 1, 1951) was a British-American character actress whose 30-year career spanned both the silent and sound film eras. Cecil's career began on the stage, where she appeared in a single Broadway production, The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast, which ran for more than 240 performances at the Broadway Theatre in 1901-02. (A 1930 newspaper article says that Cecil "made her debut, three decades ago, on the London stage.")
Cecil appeared in well over 100 feature films and film shorts.
In 1915, she moved from the stage into films, her first appearance being in a starring role in The Arrival of Perpetua, directed by Émile Chautard. She often played "thin-lipped, stern-visaged dowagers and forbidding mothers-in-law" and "welfare workers, landladies, schoolmistresses and maiden aunts".
One of the most significant roles was in the W.C. Fields vehicle, The Old Fashioned Way in 1934. Some of the other notable films in which Cecil appeared include: Ernst Lubitsch's historical romance, The Merry Widow, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald; the 1939 version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, starring Mickey Rooney; the John Ford classic, Stagecoach, with John Wayne.
Her final acting performance was in a featured role in Mourning Becomes Electra in 1947, starring Rosalind Russell.
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Richard "Dick" Elliott (April 30, 1886 – December 22, 1961) was an American character actor who played in over 240 films from the 1930s until the time of his death.
He was born Richard Damon Elliott in Boston, Massachusetts.
Elliott played many different roles, typically as a somewhat blustery sort, such as a politician. A short, fat man, Elliott played Santa Claus on the Jimmy Durante, Red Skelton, and Jack Benny programs. Elliott had a couple of memorable lines in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), in which he scolded James Stewart, who was trying to say goodnight to Donna Reed, advising him to stop hemming and hawing and "just go ahead and kiss her".
He also had a few memorable appearances in episodes of the Adventures of Superman television series. He appeared three times as Stanley on the CBS sitcom December Bride, as well as on two of ABC/Warner Brothers' western series, Sugarfoot and Maverick. He was cast as the prospector Peter Cooper and then as Sheriff Tiny Morris in two segments of CBS's Tales of the Texas Rangers. He appeared twice as Doc Thornton on ABC's The Real McCoys. Elliott is perhaps best known as Mayberry's Mayor Pike in early episodes of CBS's The Andy Griffith Show, one of his last screen works. In two of the eleven episodes featuring Elliot as mayor, actress Josie Lloyd portrayed his daughter.
On December 22, 1961, Elliott died from heart illness.
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Fern Emmett (March 22, 1896 – September 3, 1946) was an American film actress. She appeared in 212 films between 1930 and 1946.
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Mary Field (June 10, 1909 – June 12, 1996) was an American film actress who primarily appeared in supporting roles. She was born in New York City. As a child she never knew her biological parents. During her infancy she was left outside the doors of a church with a note pinned to her saying that her name was "Olivia Rockefeller". She would later be adopted.
In 1937, she was signed under contract to Warner Bros. Studios and made her film debut in The Prince and the Pauper (1937). Her other screen credits include parts in such films as Jezebel (1938), Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938), The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938), Eternally Yours (1939), When Tomorrow Comes (1939), Broadway Melody of 1940, Ball of Fire (1941), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Ministry of Fear (1944), Dark Angel (1946), Out of the Past(1947), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and Life With Father (1947). During her time in Hollywood she appeared in approximately 103 films.
Her TV credits include parts in Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, and The Loretta Young Show. In 1963, her last acting role was as a Roman Catholic nun in the television series, Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly and modeled after the 1944 Bing Crosby film of the same name. She appeared in several episodes of the television comedy, Topper, as Henrietta Topper's friend Thelma Gibney.
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Edward Keane (May 28, 1884 – October 12, 1959) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1921 and 1955.
