Chasing Yesterday
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
George Nicholls Jr.
Anne Shirley
O. P. Heggie
Helen Westley
Elizabeth Patterson
Etienne Girardot
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In turn-of-the-century France, elderly bachelor Sylvestre Bonnard, an archaeology professor and bibliophile, has his romantic dreams reawakened when Coccoz, a down-and-out door-to-door bookseller reminds him of a rare book, The Golden Legend , for which he had been searching for years. Inspired by his memories, Sylvestre leaves Paris and returns to the country house of his long-dead sweetheart, whose family once owned The Golden Legend . Although he fails to turn up the book, he does find his sweetheart's orphaned daughter, Jeanne Alexandre, a sensitive fifteen year old, whose greedy guardian, lawyer Mouche, forces her to attend a boarding school run by the cold-hearted Mademoiselle Prefere. Touched by the bright girl, Sylvestre visits her at the school, where his credentials as a French Academy member impress the spinster Prefere and soften her behavior toward Jeanne. Eager for freedom, Jeanne lies to Prefere that Sylvestre desires her and has invited them both for a weekend in Paris. After several blissful, romantic outings in Paris, Perfere all but proposes to a shocked, confused Sylvestre. Ashamed, Jeanne confesses her fibs to Prefere and Mouche, who punish her by making her a prisoner in the boarding school. Sylvestre, longing for Jeanne's company, steals her away, but is confronted by Mouche, who offers to "sell" adoption rights for a large sum. To raise the necessary money, Sylvestre decides to sell his rare book collection. In the middle of the auction, however, Coccoz returns with The Golden Legend and reveals that earlier Mouche had stolen and unwittingly sold it to him. After striking a deal with Mouche, Sylvestre and Jeanne are legally reunited.
Director
George Nicholls Jr.
Cast
Anne Shirley
O. P. Heggie
Helen Westley
Elizabeth Patterson
Etienne Girardot
John Qualen
Trent Durkin
Doris Lloyd
Hilda Vaughn
Crew
Lucien Andriot
L. Armstrong
Carl Axcelle
Roy Beaver
Pete Bernard
Adele Cannon
Carroll Clark
Edith Clark
Tom Clement
Alberto Colombo
Doran Cox
Mike Cullen
George D. Ellis
Francis Edwards Faragoh
Wally Fox
Leo Green
Clem Harrington
Gwen Holden
Fred Hynes
Tom Little
George Lollier
Elizabeth Mcgaffey
Joe Noriega
Van Nest Polglase
Cliff Reid
Gene Rossi
Arthur Schmidt
Ralph Spotts
Charles Straumer
Harry Wild
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Prince Charming, Golden Legend, Spring in Paris, Paris in Spring, Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard and Sylvestre Bonnard. Daily Variety reviewed it under the title Paris in Spring. Hollywood Reporter news items note that after a week's worth of shooting at the RKO lot, the production moved to Prudential Studios, and later shot on location in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles. Hollywood Reporter news items add Mary Bovard, David Worth, Fred Kohler, Sr., Fred Kohler, Jr., Akim Tamiroff, Jerry Miley, Anne Neal, George Davis and Charles Martin to the cast, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. A French film version of France's novel, which was directed by André Berthomieu and starred Emile Matrat and Simone Bourday, was filmed in 1929 as Le crime de Sylvestre Bonnard.
