A Free Soul (1931)

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Adela Rogers St. Johns (book)
John Meehan (dialogue continuity)
(more)

Release Date:

20 June 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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.

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholic | Murder | Lawyer | Engagement | Polo Player

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Norma Shearer	...	Jan Ashe
Leslie Howard	...	Dwight Winthrop
Lionel Barrymore	...	Stephen Ashe
James Gleason	...	Eddie
Clark Gable	...	Ace Wilfong
Lucy Beaumont	...	Grandma Ashe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roscoe Ates	...	Man Shot at in Men's Room (uncredited)
Ann Brody	...	Hamburger Saleslady (uncredited)
Edward Brophy	...	Slouch (uncredited)
James Donlan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Birthday Party Guest (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Skid Row Drunk (uncredited)
Henry Hall	...	Detective in Raid (uncredited)
George Irving	...	Johnson - Defense Attorney (uncredited)
Edward LeSaint	...	Judge (uncredited)
Sam McDaniel	...	Casino Valet (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Frank Sheridan	...	Prosecuting Attorney (uncredited)
Phillips Smalley	...	Birthday Party Guest (uncredited)
William Stack	...	Dick Roland (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Ed - Casino Official (uncredited)
Carl Stockdale	...	Drug Store Proprietor (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	One of Ace's Gang (uncredited)
E. Alyn Warren	...	Bottomley - Ace's Chinese Butler (uncredited)
Claire Whitney	...	Aunt Helen (uncredited)

Directed by
Clarence Brown

Writing credits
Adela Rogers St. Johns		(book)
John Meehan		(dialogue continuity)
Becky Gardiner		(adaptation)
Willard Mack		play (uncredited)

Produced by
Clarence Brown	....	producer
Irving Thalberg	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
William Axt		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Hugh Wynn

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Dorian	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Anstruther MacDonald	....	sound recording engineer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Milton Brown	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Al Lane	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Nelson McEdwards	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
William Riley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Other crew
Howard Dietz	....	press representative (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1931) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design

Also Known As:

Free Souls (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-G | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Point Lobos, Point Lobos State Reserve, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In the outdoor location sequence where the donkey chases James Gleason, the actor, not a stuntman, is clearly knocked down by the animal, a scene which clearly wasn't planned as Norma Shearer's reaction attests.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the emotional scene when Shearer promises to give up Gable, Barrymore's hair changes between close-ups and medium shots.

Quotes:

[after Ace and Jan are shot at, he takes her to his hideaway]
Ace Wilfong, Gangster Defendant: Slouch, tell her why the Hardy mob tried to fix me up. Tell her the facts, Slouch.
Slouch: Well, the mug that was rubbed out, Miss, was a snooper of the chief's running with the Hardy mob, slipping us the lowdown. Hardy gets hep to it and he puts the rat on the spot. They nab the boss's "kelly" and plants it. Your old man jaws him out and the Hardy mob grabs the typewriters and the ukeleles.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Tiny Toon Adventures: Prom-ise Her Anything (#1.17)" (1990)

Soundtrack:

By the River Sainte Marie

A New Kind of Man in a New Kind of World

Yeah, yeah, it's Gable and Howard 8 years before Gone With the Wind, and even then the former makes the latter look like a eunuch. A number of posters seem flummoxed by this little coincidence and by the early-talkie theatricality of this movie. But for its time it really moves and breathes, particularly in the impressive scenes of Norma Shearer and Lionel Barrymore camping in the Sierras, trying and failing to leave their addictions behind and repair their broken relationship.

Technically, this movie may be primitive, but in terms of content and meaning you couldn't get it made today: it's the story of a woman who uses a thug only for her own sexual pleasure, and the baffled and violent way the men in her life react. All three of them are outwardly brilliant and successful -- the lawyer, the gangster, and the rich polo player -- but have their vanity and weakness exposed when confronted with a powerful woman making her own choices. Some of the quieter moments of this movie are pretty devastating.

p.s. strange how the myth that Gable "slaps" Shearer persists... are people really watching this movie? He shoves her back onto a couch twice, and that's it. The real violence is what she does to him by treating him as a boy toy.