Polly of the Circus
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Polly of the Circus
Plot
In this romantic drama, a strait-laced preacher creates controversy when he marries a seductive trapeze artist . The two meet after the swinger is injured during a performance and taken to his home to recover. Love blossoms while she heals and they surreptitiously marry. When the minister's snooty parishioners find out, they are shocked evict him from their chapel. When he is unsuccessful at finding other work, his wife selflessly returns to the circus so he can have his congregation back. This leads to the story's upbeat conclusion, but not before some exciting aerial antics ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, RoviCast
- Clark Gable - Reverend John Hartley
- Marion Davies - Polly Fisher
- C. Aubrey Smith - Reverend James Northcott
- Raymond Hatton - Downey
- David Landau - Beef
Credit
Cedric Gibbons - Art Director, Adrian - Costume Designer, Alfred Santell - Director, George Hively - Editor, Dr. William Axt - Composer (Music Score), George Barnes - Cinematographer, Douglas Shearer - Sound/Sound Designer, Laurence E. Johnson - Screenwriter, Carey Wilson - Screenwriter, Margaret Mayo - Play Author| Polly of the Circus (1917 Film), Polly Redhead (1917 Film) | |
| Polly of the Follies (1922 Film), Polly of the Storm Country (1920 Film) |
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Polly of the Circus
| Polly of the Circus | |
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| Directed by | Alfred Santell |
| Produced by | Marion Davies |
| Written by | Laurence E. Johnson (dialogue) Margaret Mayo (play) |
| Music by | William Axt |
| Cinematography | George Barnes |
| Editing by | George Hively |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | February 27, 1932 |
| Running time | 69 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Polly of the Circus is a 1932 American MGM drama film directed by Alfred Santell. The film stars Marion Davies and Clark Gable.
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Contents
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First version
An earlier silent film version of the same Margaret Mayo play was made in 1917, the first film by Goldwyn Pictures. It was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey at Universal Studios when it and many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based there at the beginning of the 20th century.[1][2][3]
Plot
When a traveling circus arrives in a small town, trapeze artist Polly Fisher (Marion Davies) is outraged to find that clothing has been added to posters of her to hide her moderately skimpy costume. She goes to see the man she mistakenly holds responsible, Reverend John Hartley (Clark Gable). He denies being the censor, but their relationship gets off to a rocky start.
When a heckler distracts Polly during her performance, she falls 50 feet (15 m) to the ground. John Hartley has her brought to his nearby house. The doctor advises against moving her. As she recuperates, Polly and John fall in love and marry. She willingly gives up the circus for him.
John's uncle, Bishop James Northcott (C. Aubrey Smith), questions the wisdom of the union, and John's congregation rebels at having an ex-circus performer as their minister's wife. As a result, he is fired and cannot obtain another church position because of his marriage.
Seeing how miserable her husband is, Polly goes to plead for the bishop's help, but he remains unmoved. When she tells Northcott she is willing to give John up, the clergyman tells her that a divorced minister is just as unacceptable. Polly sees only one way out - as a widower, John could return to the church. She pretends that she has tired of her husband and returns to the circus, planning to have a fatal "accident". However, Northcott has a change of heart. When he goes to tell the couple, Polly has already left. Northcott guesses what she intends to do. He and John speed to the circus's next stop and arrive just in time to save Polly.
Cast
- Marion Davies as Pauline 'Polly' Fisher
- Clark Gable as Reverend John Hartley
- C. Aubrey Smith as Reverend James Northcott
- Raymond Hatton as Downey, Hartley's servant
- David Landau as Beef, the circus manager who raised Polly
- Ruth Selwyn as Mitzi
- Maude Eburne as Mrs Jennings
- 'Little Billy' Rhodes as Half-Pint
- Guinn Williams as Eric Alvarez
- Clark Marshall as Don Alvarez
- Lillian Elliott as Mrs McNamara, a friend of the Hartleys
References
- ^ Kozarski, Ricchard (2004), Fort Lee: The Film Town, Rome, Italy: John Libbey Publishing -CIC srl, ISBN 0-86196-653-8, http://books.google.nl/books?id=5w0r8YKan04C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Fort+Lee:+the+film+town+Door+Richard+Koszarski&hl=nl&ei=fyO4TcjINoKeOpr32LsP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
- ^ "Studios and Films". Fort Lee Film Commission. http://www.fortleefilm.org/studios.html. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
- ^ Fort Lee Film Commission (2006), Fort Lee Birthplace of the Motion Picture Industry, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 0-7385-4501-5, http://books.google.com/books?id=ViR3b72xkK0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Fort+Lee+Birthplace+of+the+Motion+Picture+Industry&hl=nl&ei=ah3lTdmHMY7rObrH9bIG&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
External links
- Polly of the Circus at the Internet Movie Database
- Polly of the Circus at the TCM Movie Database
- Polly of the Circus at AllRovi
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Mentioned in
Polly of the Circus
(1917 Drama Film)
Margaret Mayo
(American theater)
Edith Taliaferro
(American Theater)
Wellington Playter
(Actor, Director, Drama)
Polly of the Circus
(American Theater)
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