A family drama starring John Barrymore and Katherine Hepburn
This is a memorable movie for Katharine Hepburn’s screen debut. With John Barrymore as her father confined to a mental institution for 25 years, he finally escapes from the facility on the day his wife (Billie Burke) divorces him. He appears in his house unannounced stunning his daughter. The movie is dominated by the brilliant handling of the story by director George Cukor, and Barrymore’s superb performance. The brilliance of young Hepburn in her first challenging role is flawlessly expressed in this 1932 pre-code film. With her realization that insanity runs in the family, she makes painful choice of breaking up with her fiancée and remains to be single and take care of her father, and persuade her mother to re-marry her new man and move on with her life. The RKO Studios had serious reservations if the newcomer, Katharine Hepburn would be the right person for this important project. She proved them wrong and David Selznick took the credit of discovering a great talent in Hollywood!
The story is based on a play written by Clemence Dane after a law was passed in Britain in the 1920s that allowed insanity as grounds for divorce. The film begins on Christmas Eve with dancing and Christmas carols. This is a great movie and it is recommended to all fans interested in Hollywood’s golden era.
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