By Violet LeVoit
Penrod and Sam
Brief Synopsis
Booth Tarkington's tale of two mischievous boys in turn-of-the-century Indiana.
Cast & Crew
Read More
William Beaudine
Director
Leo Janney
Penrod [Schofield]
Junior Coghlan
Sam [Williams]
Cameo
Duke [a dog]
Margaret Marquis
Marjorie Jones
Billie Lord
Georgie Bassett
Film Details
Also Known As
The Adventures of Penrod and Sam
Genre
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Release Date
Oct
3,
1931
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Penrod and Sam by Booth Tarkington (New York, 19l6).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 11m
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
Penrod Schofield and Sam Williams are good friends and founding members of the In-Or-In boy's club. Penrod is perpetually in trouble at school and in the neighborhood because of the pranks he plays. Georgie Bassett and Rodney Bitts, two other boys at school, are always complaining to adults about Penrod and Sam, so the boys will not allow them into their club. When Georgie's father, Mr. Bassett, tells this to Penrod's father, Henry Schofield, Mr. Schofield insists that the boys invite Georgie to join their club. Having been forced into accepting Georgie, they decide to make his initiation especially unpleasant. Rodney, who also dislikes the boys, then pretends that Penrod and Sam harmed him, and the two boys are unfairly punished. Meanwhile, Penrod and Sam argue over a girl, Marjorie Jones, whom they both like, and Penrod's dog, Duke, is run over by a car. Penrod hits his lowest period when Penrod's father sells the empty lot where the clubhouse is located to Mr. Bitts, who throws the boys off the land. Out of revenge, Rodney even refuses to allow Penrod to visit Duke's grave next to the clubhouse. When he realizes how much the lot means to Penrod, Mr. Schofield buys the land back from Mr. Bitts, and having learned his lesson, Penrod makes up with Sam and invites Rodney to join the club.
Director
William Beaudine
Director
Cast
Leo Janney
Penrod [Schofield]
Junior Coghlan
Sam [Williams]
Cameo
Duke [a dog]
Margaret Marquis
Marjorie Jones
Billie Lord
Georgie Bassett
Nestor Aber
Rodney Bitts
James Robinson
Herman Washington
Robert Dandridge
Verman Washington
Matt Moore
Henry Schofield
Dorothy Peterson
Mrs. Schofield
Helen Beaudine
Margaret Schofield
Johnny Arthur
Mr. Bassett
Zasu Pitts
Mrs. Bassett
Charles Sellon
Mr. Bitts
Wade Boteler
Mr. Williams
Betty Jane Graham
Baby Rensdale
Gertrude Howard
Delia
Crew
Film Details
Also Known As
The Adventures of Penrod and Sam
Genre
Adventure
Comedy
Drama
Release Date
Oct
3,
1931
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Penrod and Sam by Booth Tarkington (New York, 19l6).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 11m
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
Adventures of Penrod and Sam (1931) -
Director William Beaudine earned the derisive nickname "One-Shot" because of the speed with which he could complete a production, flubbed takes or not. But it's not fair to lump him in with other truly excrable directors like Ed Wood or Dwain Esper: even though much of Beaudine's output was merely acceptable to audiences, he could handle any genre project handed to him by studios in the US and UK, and his lifetime total of over 400 movies he worked on as a director in some capacity is a tough record to beat. In this, an adaptation of Booth Tarkington's Gay Nineties stories about the misdeeds of small town boy pals Penrod (Leon Janney) and Sam (Frank Coghlan Jr.), the two rapscallions reluctantly haze squealers into their In-Or-In club, squabble over their grade school object of desire, Marjorie Jones (Margaret Marquis), and weather the death of Sam's dog and the loss of their beloved clubhouse. Beaudine directed the first adaptation of this story in 1923 for First Republic, but this time around got to include his daughter Helen in a small role.
By Violet LeVoit
By Violet LeVoit
Adventures of Penrod and Sam (1931) -
Director William Beaudine earned the derisive nickname "One-Shot" because of the speed with which he could complete a production, flubbed takes or not. But it's not fair to lump him in with other truly excrable directors like Ed Wood or Dwain Esper: even though much of Beaudine's output was merely acceptable to audiences, he could handle any genre project handed to him by studios in the US and UK, and his lifetime total of over 400 movies he worked on as a director in some capacity is a tough record to beat. In this, an adaptation of Booth Tarkington's Gay Nineties stories about the misdeeds of small town boy pals Penrod (Leon Janney) and Sam (Frank Coghlan Jr.), the two rapscallions reluctantly haze squealers into their In-Or-In club, squabble over their grade school object of desire, Marjorie Jones (Margaret Marquis), and weather the death of Sam's dog and the loss of their beloved clubhouse. Beaudine directed the first adaptation of this story in 1923 for First Republic, but this time around got to include his daughter Helen in a small role.
By Violet LeVoit
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although the title on the viewed print was The Adventures of Penrod and Sam, all reviews and the copyright entry list the title as Penrod and Sam. Helen Beaudine was the director's daughter. Other films based on the Booth Tarkington books include the 1922 film Penrod, directed by Marshall Neilan for his own production company and starring Wesley Barry as Penrod, and Penrod and Sam, directed by William Beaudine in 1923 with Ben Alexander and Joe Butterworth (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1921-30; F2.4199, F2.4200). Both were released by First National. Warner Bros. produced a series of three Penrod movies in 1937 and 1938, beginning with Penrod and Sam (see below). For additional information on that series, consult that entry and the Series Index. In 1951, Warner Bros. used the Tarkington stories as the basis for a musical entitled On Moonlight Bay, which starred Doris Day and Gordon MacRae and was directed by Roy Del Ruth. The same actors starred in the 1953 follow-up By the Light of the Silvery Moon, directed by David Butler.
