Long Lost Father
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Ernest B. Schoedsack
John Barrymore
Helen Chandler
Donald Cook
Alan Mowbray
Claude King
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When she is summoned to a law office to hear the reading of her aunt Arabella's will, London nightclub singer Lindsey Lane runs into her father, Carl Bellairs, whom she hasn't seen or heard from since childhood. Carl, a nightclub manager, raconteur and former confidence man, fails to recognize his head-strong daughter and, after flirting with her, is soundly rebuffed. To the consternation of both, neither Carl nor Lindsey is bequeathed more than a pound and a shilling by the will, which ridicules them for their mutually irresponsible behavior. Later, however, when Sir Tony Gelding, the owner of Carl's nightclub, hires Lindsey to perform during happy hour, Carl protests her drinking and her interest in Gelding and his fashionable friends, unaware that she is deliberately coaxing and manipulating his paternal feelings. Then Carl advises a drunk Dr. Bill Strong, Lindsey's American fiancé, to be tough with Lindsey and bring her back from Lord George Vivian's home, where she and Gelding have been gambling. Although Bill orders Lindsey to leave with him, she persuades him to join her in a treasure hunt, which has been organized by Lord Vivian. As part of the treasure hunt, Lindsey and Bill must find, among other items, an old woman and "the seat of the mighty." After hiring Mrs. Gamp, an old flower vendor, Lindsey sneaks into Gelding's apartment and steals his trousers to present as the "seat of the mighty." While Lindsey and Bill are procuring the last item, Mrs. Gamp discovers £1,200 in Gelding's trousers and runs away with it. When Lindsey returns to Lord Vivian's party, Gelding accuses her of the theft and fires her after threatening Carl with a scandal. To help Lindsey, with whom he has now grown close, Carl and waiter Spot Hawkins, a former partner-in-crime, execute the same betting scam they had perfected years before in Australia, and cheat an unsuspecting Gelding out of £1,200. Carl, who had promised Lindsey the money on condition that she marry Bill and settle down, delivers the cash to his daughter, then sets sail with Spot, one step ahead of the police.
Director
Ernest B. Schoedsack
Cast
John Barrymore
Helen Chandler
Donald Cook
Alan Mowbray
Claude King
E. E. Clive
Reginald Sharland
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Natalie Moorhead
Doris Lloyd
Phyllis Barry
Tempe Pigott
Herbert Bunston
Charles Irwin
John Rogers
Adele Thomas
Crew
Merian C. Cooper
Al Herman
Kenneth Macgowan
Nick Musuraca
Van Nest Polglase
Max Steiner
Max Steiner
Dwight Taylor
Ivan Thomas
Paul Weatherwax
Paul F. Wiser
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to Motion Picture Herald's "In the Cutting Room," Robert Gore-Browne co-wrote the screenplay for this film, but his contribution to the final film has not been confirmed. A Hollywood Reporter news item announced that Helen Chandler replaced Elizabeth Allan after Allan suffered an ankle injury. Modern sources state that Barrymore was paid $100,000 to act in this production. In order to keep Barrymore's set time to a minimum, all of his scenes, including the close-ups, were shot in succession, according to modern sources.
