The Bargain


1h 16m 1931

Film Details

Also Known As
You and I
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Sep 5, 1931
Premiere Information
New York opening: 3 Sep 1931
Production Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play You and I by Philip Barry (New York, 19 Feb 1923).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 16m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1

Synopsis

Maitland White has worked in the soap business to support his wife Nancy and son Ricky despite his desire to be an artist. The Whites plan to send Ricky to Paris to study architecture, but he announces that Veronica Daune has agreed to marry him, and so he plans to join his father at the soap factory. Although they wish that he would continued his studies, his parents cannot argue with him since they made the same decision in their youth. Ricky's decision convinces Nancy that Maitland should take up painting again. She suggests that he use Etta, the maid, as a model. Depending on his copper stock for an income, Maitland takes a leave from his soap job. After six months, however, his boss hires a replacement and the price of copper falls. To help his friend, Geoffrey Nichols takes Maitland's portrait of the maid to an art gathering, hoping to sell it. He brings it back unsold during the masquerade party the Whites give to announce Ricky and Veronica's engagement. Maitland's former boss announces, however, that he has seen the painting and wants to use it as an ad for his soap. He begs Maitland to come back as manager of the advertising campaign. Although Maitland is disappointed that his work is not fine art, he cannot turn down the money. He accepts the job and tells Ricky that an inheritance from his grandfather has made it possible for him to go to Paris with Veronica. She had just refused to marry Ricky because she believed he cared more for art than he did for her. Now, however, he can study architecture and marry at the same time.

Film Details

Also Known As
You and I
Genre
Drama
Release Date
Sep 5, 1931
Premiere Information
New York opening: 3 Sep 1931
Production Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
First National Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play You and I by Philip Barry (New York, 19 Feb 1923).

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 16m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1

Quotes

Trivia

This film is presumed lost. Please check your attic.

Director Robert Milton also directed the Broadway production.

Notes

The film's working title was You and I. According to press material, this was Doris Kenyon's first screen roll following the death of her husband, Milton Sills. Variety notes that director Robert Milton also directed the original stage play.