You Only Live Once (1937)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Gene Towne (screenplay) &
C. Graham Baker (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 January 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

He robbed... kidnapped... he murdered... Because of the love of one woman!

Plot:

Joan is the secretary to the public defender in a large city. She is in love with a career criminal named Eddie...

Plot Keywords:

Secretary | Prison | Circumstantial Evidence | Truck Driver | Electric Chair

Cast

Sylvia Sidney	...	Joan Graham Taylor
Henry Fonda	...	Eddie Taylor
Barton MacLane	...	Stephen Whitney
Jean Dixon	...	Bonnie Graham
William Gargan	...	Father Dolan
Jerome Cowan	...	Dr. Hill
Charles 'Chic' Sale	...	Ethan (as Chic Sale)
Margaret Hamilton	...	Hester
Warren Hymer	...	Buggsy
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Rogers (misspelled Roger in closing credits) (as Guinn Williams)
John Wray	...	Warden Wheeler
Walter De Palma	...	Monk Mendall

Also Known As:

Three Time Loser (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)

Certification:

New Zealand:M | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (1960) | Finland:(Banned) (1937) | USA:Approved (PCA #2944) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Walter Wanger Productions

Trivia:

The song "A Thousand Dreams of You" was probably played as background music, since the published sheet music cover showed pictures of Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda. It is known that Fonda recorded the song on 6 November 1936, but his singing does not appear in the film.

Quotes:

Joan Graham: Anywhere's our home. On the road. Out there on a cold star. Anywhere's our home.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984)

Soundtrack:

A Thousand Dreams of You

Gritty Drama

During the Depression, a young couple goes on the lam after the man is accused of a crime. This gritty drama is an early example of film noir, expertly directed by Lang, the great Expressionist filmmaker, although he sometimes goes overboard with the symbolism. Lang explored similar themes in Fury (with Sidney in a similar role to this), made a year earlier, but this one is better, not marred by the melodrama and overacting of the earlier film. Fonda and Sidney are excellent as the unfortunate couple, helped by a fine supporting cast. Memorable scenes include the escape from prison, tinged with irony, and the finale, as the couple makes a run for the border.