Parnell (1937)

Director:

John M. Stahl

Writers:

Elsie T. Schauffler (play)
John Van Druten (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 June 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

The life of Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell, following from 1880 onward his struggle to free his country from English rule...

Plot Keywords:

Ireland | Aunt | Divorce | Falsely Accused | Forgery

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Charles Stewart Parnell
Myrna Loy	...	Mrs. Katie O'Shea
Edna May Oliver	...	Aunt Ben Wood
Edmund Gwenn	...	Campbell, Parnell's Secretary
Alan Marshal	...	Captain William 'Willie' O'Shea
Donald Crisp	...	Michael Davitt
Billie Burke	...	Miss Clara Wood
Berton Churchill	...	The O'Gorman Mahon
Donald Meek	...	Murphy
Montagu Love	...	William Ewart Gladstone
Byron Russell	...	Timothy Healy
Brandon Tynan	...	John Redmond
Phyllis Coghlan	...	Ellen, Katie's Maid (as Phillis Coghlan)
Neil Fitzgerald	...	Richard Pigott
George Zucco	...	Sir Charles Russell

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #3145)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

To get Clark Gable and Myrna Loy in the mood for the sad ending of the movie, the director put on sad music over and over again. Gable complained to then-girlfriend Carole Lombard and the next day instead of the regular music a jazzy version of "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You" started playing.

Quotes:

Charles Stewart Parnell: Ours could be a great love story, Katie.
Mrs. Katie O'Shea: Great love stories are always unhappy ones.
Charles Stewart Parnell: Then I hope ours *won't* be great.

Soundtrack:

Wearin' of the Green

Mixing politics and melodrama was perhaps not a good idea in the first place.

John Stahl is famous for his tear-jerkers -often excellent- which make ladies (and gentlemen)cry rivers of tears.Remember "only yesterday" "back street" or his precedent movie "the magnificent obsession"."Parnell " is another matter because it deals with the life and times of an Irish hero who fights for his people right ,a real human being ,not,say, a Fanny Hurst's character.The problem is that Gable's and Loy's characters resemble Fanny Hurst's characters.The movie runs almost two hours and the screenplay is often muddled and confuse.Arguably,Stahl hesitates between a straight political biography -and he's not really good at that- and a full bore melodrama -Gable's and Loy's impossible love)and it satisfies neither the fans of the first genre nor the soap operas' buffs.The ending ,which is guaranteed to send the sensitive people tearing through a ton a kleenex,is pure Stahl Stuff. Best part comes from Edna May Oliver ,playing Loy's auntie.Otherwise,a disappointment and .. a bore.