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A Free Soul (1931) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   594 votes
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Up 14% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Clarence Brown
Writers:
Adela Rogers St. Johns (book)
John Meehan (dialogue continuity)
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Contact:
View company contact information for A Free Soul on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 June 1931 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama | Romance more
Plot:
An alcoholic lawyer who successfully defended a notorious gambler on a murder charge objects when his free-spirited daughter becomes romantically involved with him. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations more
User Comments:
Lionel Barrymore Gives An Oscar Winning Acting Lesson more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Norma Shearer ... Jan Ashe
Leslie Howard ... Dwight Winthrop

Lionel Barrymore ... Stephen Ashe
James Gleason ... Eddie

Clark Gable ... Ace Wilfong
Lucy Beaumont ... Grandma Ashe
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Free Souls (USA) (working title)
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Runtime:
93 min (Turner library print)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
USA:TV-G | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The film ranked as ninth best picture in 1935 by the annual Film Daily poll of critics. more
Goofs:
Continuity: In the emotional scene when Shearer promises to give up Gable, Barrymore's hair changes between close-ups and medium shots. more
Quotes:
Stephen Ashe, Defense Attorney: I wish my mother belonged to some other family. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Tiny Toon Adventures: Prom-ise Her Anything (#1.17)" (1990) more
Soundtrack:
By the River Sainte Marie more

FAQ

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21 out of 23 people found the following comment useful:-
Lionel Barrymore Gives An Oscar Winning Acting Lesson, 23 April 2000
10/10
Author: Ron Oliver (revilorest@juno.com) from Forest Ranch, CA

They are alike, this father & daughter. Liberal, passionate, willful - they live life on their own terms, disdaining their narrow-minded relations. Few regrets & even fewer apologies cloud either conscious - yet each harbors a character trait that threatens to destroy them. Hers is emotional instability; his, acute alcoholism. Although both will make bad choices that will haunt them, each will continue to see their reflection in the other, unique & individual, A FREE SOUL.

Based on a book by Adela Rogers St. Johns, Norma Shearer gets top billing in this aged but enjoyable soap opera, and she is very good, turning on the histrionics most effectively. But it is Lionel Barrymore who gets full honors - and a Best Actor Oscar - for his portrayal of her brilliant, tragic, lawyer father. Masterfully, he dominates his every scene. His final appearance, a tempestuous summation to a murder trial jury, is considered a classic.

Playing the two very different men in Shearer's life are Clark Gable & Leslie Howard. Gable is excellent, oozing the virility that was about to make him a huge star. Howard deftly underplays his less flashy role and becomes the film's calm center. James Gleason as Barrymore's factotum, and Lucy Beaumont as Barrymore's patrician mother, both give memorable performances. Film mavens will spot Edward Brophy as one of Gable's henchmen & master stutterer Roscoe Ates as the man in the washroom window.

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