- A Free Soul
Infobox_Film
name = A Free Soul
writer = Becky GardinerWillard Mack
John MeehanAdela Rogers St. Johns
starring =Norma Shearer
Leslie HowardLionel Barrymore Clark Gable
director =Clarence Brown
producer =Irving Thalberg
distributor =Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
released =June 20 ,1931
runtime = 91 min.
language = English
country = USA
imdb_id = 0021885"A Free Soul" (1931) is a
Pre-Code film which tells the story of an alcoholic defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with; a mobster whom her father had previously gotten an acquittal for on a murder charge. "A Free Soul" starsNorma Shearer , Leslie Howard,Lionel Barrymore andClark Gable (the first screen appearance together of the futureAshley Wilkes andRhett Butler ).The movie was adapted by Becky Gardiner and John Meehan (dialogue continuity) from the play by
Willard Mack , which was based on the book byAdela Rogers St. Johns . It was directed byClarence Brown ."
A Free Soul " became famous for a 14-minute uninterrupted take where Barrymore delivers a monologue that is said to be the main reason he won theAcademy Award for Best Actor that year. (Norma Shearer was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Clarence Brown for Best Director.) Gable made such an impression in the role of a gangster who pushes Shearer around that he was catapulted from supporting player to leading man, a position he held for the rest of his career."A Free Soul" was released on DVD by Warner Home Video on
March 8 ,2008 (along with "The Divorcee ", also starring Norma Shearer), as one of five Pre-Code films in the "TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Vol. 2" DVD box set.Cast
*
Norma Shearer - Jan Ashe
*Leslie Howard - Dwight Winthrop, Jan's Fiancee
*Lionel Barrymore - Stephen Ashe, Defense Attorney
*James Gleason - Eddie, Stephen's Assistant
*Clark Gable - Ace Wilfong, Gangster Defendant
*Lucy Beaumont - Grandma AsheExternal links
*imdb title|id=0021885|title=A Free Soul
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