Min and Bill

Plot

This early talkie melodrama features a waterfront hotel-owner (Marie Dressler) and her relationship with an area fisherman (Wallace Beery). The two are the guardians for a young girl (Dorothy Jordan) whose mother deserted her, but they lose custody of the girl to truant officers. The couple scrape up enough money to get the child back and into a boarding school, where she finds love with a wealthy young man (Donald Dillaway). Dressler won the Oscar for Best Actress in this 1930 film, the year's box-office breakthrough. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Review

Min and Bill was incredibly popular upon its release, turning Marie Dressler overnight into the hottest (and most unlikely) star in Hollywood. Modern audiences may not understand the uproar over the film itself, but Dressler's Academy Award-winning performance is still every bit as lustrous as it was in 1930. Dressler, not a great beauty even in her younger days, nevertheless manages to light up the screen with her oversized, warm-hearted turn. She's a force of nature, a tidal wave that sweeps along everything in her path -- or would, if she wasn't paired with the equally imposing Wallace Beery. Beery keeps Dressler from dominating the film, especially surprising since her character -- and not his -- is really the focus. Together, this unlikely duo form one of the most loveable and endearing comic-romantic teams the screen has ever seen. Their chemistry is nothing short of remarkable, and they help to bring out the very best in each other's work. The rest of the cast doesn't stand a chance, although Marjorie Rambeau does manage to get in a couple of licks of her own. As stated, as a film Min doesn't stand the test of time so well. The mixture of the comic and the tragic is a bit jarring, and the blatant manipulation is often too bald-faced. In addition, some viewers will be made uncomfortable by the matter-of-fact manner in which some of the violence is played for comedy. But as long as Dressler and Beery are around, it doesn't really matter. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Marie Dressler - Min Divot
• Wallace Beery - Bill
• Dorothy Jordan - Nancy Smith
• Marjorie Rambeau - Bella Pringle

DeWitt Jennings - Groot; Russell Hopton - Alec Johnson; Frank McGlynn, Sr. - Mr. Southard; Gretta Gould - Mrs. Southard; Hank Bell - Sailor; Donald Dillaway - Dick Cameron; Henry Roquemore - Bella's Stateroom Lover; Jack Pennick - Merchant Seaman

Credit

Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Rene Hubert - Costume Designer, George W. Hill - Director, Basil Wrangell - Editor, Harold Wenstrom - Cinematographer, Frances Marion - Screenwriter, Marion Jackson - Screenwriter, Lorna Moon - Book Author

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