By Richard Harland Smith
Man to Man
Brief Synopsis
A young man attempts to overcome the memory of his father, who was sent to jail for committing a murder.
Cast & Crew
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Allan Dwan
Director
Phillips Holmes
Michael Bolton
Grant Mitchell
Barber John Bolton
Lucille Powers
Emily
Barbara Weeks
Alice
Charles Sellon
Judge
Film Details
Also Known As
Barber John's boy
Genre
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Dec
6,
1930
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Brothers Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Barber John's Boy" by Ben Ames Williams (publication undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Black and White
Film Length
6,281ft
(8 reels)
Synopsis
Michael Bolton, a handsome and popular college athlete, is compelled to leave school when it is discovered that his father, Barber John Bolton, is serving a prison term for murder. Returning to his hometown in Kentucky, Michael gets a job in Jim McCord's bank through the influence of his Uncle Cal after other businessmen have refused to hire him. He falls in love with Emily, the banker's secretary, greatly displeasing Vint, who tries to conceal his feelings. Soon Barber John is paroled on good conduct and is greeted by his old cronies, but Michael, feeling his father has placed a stigma on him, does not go to the station to meet him. When Barber John reopens his shop, he goes to the bank to change a large bill; the same day $2,000 is stolen from the bank. Thinking his father is guilty of the theft, Michael writes a confession to save him, then attempts to escape; but he is brought back in time to hear his father admit to the crime. Emily, however, exposes Vint, who confesses to the theft, thus exonerating both father and son and restoring the latter's faith in his father.
Director
Allan Dwan
Director
Cast
Phillips Holmes
Michael Bolton
Grant Mitchell
Barber John Bolton
Lucille Powers
Emily
Barbara Weeks
Alice
Charles Sellon
Judge
Dwight Frye
Vint Glade
Russell Simpson
Uncle Cal
Paul Nicholson
Ryan
Robert E. O'connor
Sheriff
George Marion Sr.
Jim McCord
Otis Harlan
Rip Henry
James Neill
B. B. Beecham
Johnny Larkins
Bildad
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
Barber John's boy
Genre
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Dec
6,
1930
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Warner Brothers Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "Barber John's Boy" by Ben Ames Williams (publication undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Black and White
Film Length
6,281ft
(8 reels)
Articles
Man to Man (1931) -
This 1930 First National production offers a rare star performance by character actor Grant Mitchell, best known to moviegoers of the 1930s and 40s for his many roles as harried husbands, dutiful physicians, and beleaguered family men. Based on a 1920 short story by writer Ben Ames Williams (whose 1944 novel Leave Her to Heaven would be adapted for films in 1945 with Mitchell in the cast), Man to Man (1930) charts the return to society of paroled honor killer "Barber John" Bolton and the effect this has on his college age son (Phillips Holmes). Bringing an unexpected potency to the melodramatic material is director Allan Dwan, poised here between his celebrated silent work with Douglas Fairbanks (Robin Hood [1922], The Iron Mask [1929]) and such later successes as Heidi (1937), The Three Musketeers (1939), and The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). Man to Man represents a reworking of similar material (though from a different source) in Dwan's 1915 silent drama David Harum, down to the small town milieu and the plot point of the protagonist standing accused of stealing money from a bank. Man to Man is also notable for the appearance of Dwight Frye, whose next assignment was as the zoophagous madman Renfield in Tod Browning's Dracula (1931).
By Richard Harland Smith
By Richard Harland Smith
Man to Man (1931) -
This 1930 First National production offers a rare star performance by character actor Grant Mitchell, best known to moviegoers of the 1930s and 40s for his many roles as harried husbands, dutiful physicians, and beleaguered family men. Based on a 1920 short story by writer Ben Ames Williams (whose 1944 novel Leave Her to Heaven would be adapted for films in 1945 with Mitchell in the cast), Man to Man (1930) charts the return to society of paroled honor killer "Barber John" Bolton and the effect this has on his college age son (Phillips Holmes). Bringing an unexpected potency to the melodramatic material is director Allan Dwan, poised here between his celebrated silent work with Douglas Fairbanks (Robin Hood [1922], The Iron Mask [1929]) and such later successes as Heidi (1937), The Three Musketeers (1939), and The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). Man to Man represents a reworking of similar material (though from a different source) in Dwan's 1915 silent drama David Harum, down to the small town milieu and the plot point of the protagonist standing accused of stealing money from a bank. Man to Man is also notable for the appearance of Dwight Frye, whose next assignment was as the zoophagous madman Renfield in Tod Browning's Dracula (1931).
By Richard Harland Smith
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Initially reviewed as Barber John's Boy.
