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IMDb > Frisco Jenny (1932)

Frisco Jenny (1932) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   201 votes
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Up 18% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Contact:
View company contact information for Frisco Jenny on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 January 1933 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Frisco Jenny was orphaned by the 1906 earthquake and fire and has become the madame of prosperous bawdy house... more | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Pre-Code Wellman and Godard's Code Unknown
 (From IFC. 31 March 2009, 7:17 AM, PDT)

[DVD Review] Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 3
 (From JustPressPlay. 29 March 2009, 8:50 AM, PDT)

User Reviews:
Entertaining Pre-Code more (11 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

Ruth Chatterton ... Frisco Jenny Sandoval
Louis Calhern ... Steve Dutton
Helen Jerome Eddy ... Amah
Donald Cook ... Dan Reynolds

James Murray ... Dan McAllister
Hallam Cooley ... Willie Gleason
Pat O'Malley ... Policeman Pat O'Hoolihan
Harold Huber ... George Weaver
Robert Emmett O'Connor ... Jim Sandoval
Willard Robertson ... Police Captain Tom
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gertrude Astor ... Miss Beulah (uncredited)
Don Brodie ... Man in Meal Line (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler ... Man Posting Earthquake Deaths (uncredited)
Wong Chung ... Chinese Man (uncredited)
Berton Churchill ... Judge Thomas B. Reynolds (uncredited)
Claudia Coleman ... Miss Tessie (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin ... Waiter Finding Body (uncredited)
Nick Copeland ... Drunk with Cigar in Bar / Dancer at Party (uncredited)
Noel Francis ... Rosie (uncredited)
Sam Godfrey ... Kilmer (uncredited)
Dorothy Granger ... Hortense, Pickpocket (uncredited)
Harry Holman ... Old Man Whose Pocket is Picked (uncredited)

Tenen Holtz ... Bail Bondsman (uncredited)
Payne B. Johnson ... Baby (uncredited)
Florence Lake ... Ticklish Girl (uncredited)

Edwin Maxwell ... Tom Ford (uncredited)
Frank McGlynn Sr. ... Good Book Charlie (uncredited)
Clarence Muse ... Voice of Singer (uncredited)
J. Carrol Naish ... Ed Harris (uncredited)
Henry Otho ... Charley in Bar / Man Pinched on Bridge (uncredited)
Franklin Parker ... Martell, a Newspaperman (uncredited)
Buster Phelps ... Dan as a Child (uncredited)
Lee Phelps ... Prison Jailer (uncredited)
Fritzi Ridgeway ... Miss Jessie (uncredited)
Syd Saylor ... Drunk Getting Socked (uncredited)
Harry Seymour ... Waiter Bumped by Rosie / Pianist at Party (uncredited)
Kathryn Sheldon ... Jail Matron (uncredited)
Nella Walker ... Janet Reynolds (uncredited)
Lucille Ward ... Miss Clark from the Children's Welfare League (uncredited)
Robert Warwick ... Kelly (uncredited)
William A. Wellman ... Reporter (uncredited)
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Directed by
William A. Wellman 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Gerald Beaumont  story
Lillie Hayward  story
John Francis Larkin  story
Robert Lord  screenplay
Wilson Mizner  screenplay

Cinematography by
Sidney Hickox  (as Sid Hickox)
 
Film Editing by
James B. Morley  (as James Morley)
 
Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas 
 
Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly (gowns)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dolph Zimmer .... assistant director (uncredited)
 
Sound Department
Charles David Forrest .... sound (uncredited)
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Wesley Anderson .... second assistant camera (uncredited)
Thomas Brannigan .... assistant camera (uncredited)
 
Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein .... conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra
Cliff Hess .... composer: music cues (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Raymond Griffith .... supervisor (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Common Ground (USA) (working title)
more
Runtime:
73 min | USA:71 min (Turner library print length)
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1933) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1934) | USA:Unrated

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
George Brent was originally cast opposite Ruth Chatterton but withdrew to star in 42nd Street (1933). more
Quotes:
Miss Tessie: Business was very gratifying this month.
Frisco Jenny Sandoval: Conventions always help.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Complicated Women (2003) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
On San Francisco Bay more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful.
Entertaining Pre-Code, 21 July 2004
Author: FERNANDO SILVA from Santiago de Chile.

Not as 'notorious' a Pre-Code, as Chatterton's 'Female', released the following year, but anyway a highly entertaining film, that tells the story of 'fast-talking' 'Jenny Sandoval', who after the big San Francisco 1906 earthquake (great special effects in these sequence), 'rises' from the slums to the 'heights' of being the most powerful Brothel Madam of the whole city, with all kinds of 'useful' connections.

Nice to watch a 'young' Louis Calhern as a politician who is Chatterton's pal (23 years before his highly amusing role as Grace Kelly's bon-vivant uncle in MGM's 'High Society'). Also good performances by Helen Jerome Eddy as Chatterton's Chinese maid and Donald Cook as Chatterton's grown-up illegitimate son.

Somewhat reminiscent of Chatterton's 1929 MGM flick 'Madame X' aka as Absinthe, but better, and much swifter.

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more (11 total)

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