A Free Soul

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A Free Soul
Directed by	Clarence Brown
Produced by	Irving Thalberg
Written by	Becky Gardiner Willard Mack John Meehan Adela Rogers St. Johns
Starring	Norma Shearer Leslie Howard Lionel Barrymore Clark Gable
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	June 20, 1931
Running time	91 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

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 stars Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable (the first screen appearance together of the future Ashley Wilkes and Rhett 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 by Adela Rogers St. Johns. It was directed by Clarence 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 the Academy 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.

[edit] 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 Ashe

[edit] External links

• A Free Soul at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Films directed by Clarence Brown 1920s The Great Redeemer • The Last of the Mohicans • The Foolish Matrons • The Light in the Dark • Don't Marry for Money • The Acquittal • The Signal Tower • Butterfly • The Eagle • The Goose Woman • Smouldering Fires • Flesh and the Devil • Kiki • A Woman of Affairs • The Trail of '98 • Navy Blues • Wonder of Women 1930s Anna Christie • Romance • Inspiration • Possessed • A Free Soul • Emma • Letty Lynton • The Son-Daughter • Looking Forward • Night Flight • Sadie McKee • Chained • Ah, Wilderness! • Anna Karenina • Wife vs. Secretary • The Gorgeous Hussy • Conquest • Of Human Hearts • Idiot's Delight • The Rains Came 1940s Edison, the Man • Come Live with Me • They Met in Bombay • The Human Comedy • The White Cliffs of Dover • National Velvet • The Yearling • Song of Love • Intruder in the Dust 1950s To Please a Lady • Angels in the Outfield • When in Rome • Plymouth Adventure

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