The Man Called Back
Cast & Crew
Robert Florey
Conrad Nagel
Doris Kenyon
John Halliday
Juliette Compton
Reginald Owen
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Dr. David Yorke, who left England after having operated on a child while under the influence of alcohol, has exiled himself to the South Seas. Here he grows drunken and dissolute, disdained by everyone. Diana St. Claire, visiting the settlement, has a riding accident and must request Yorke's help when no other doctor is available. As Yorke nurses Diana back to health, the two have a beneficial influence on each other. After she returns to London, Yorke's skills are again required to remove Mr. St. Claire's appendix in an emergency operation on board his yacht. However, Yorke is unaware that St. Claire is Diana's husband. In gratitude, the wealthy patient persuades Yorke to return to London and set up a practice at his expense. Introduced into the social elite as St. Claire's personal physician, Yorke is dismayed to discover that his benefactor is Diana's philandering husband. St. Claire's flagrant affair with Vivien Lawrence leads Yorke and Diana to decide not to deny their love, despite the financial help her husband gave Yorke. The obligation Yorke feels is eliminated by St. Claire's cavalier treatment of Diana. Suddenly St. Claire dies from poison and Diana is placed on trial for murder. She is saved when it is revealed that St. Claire was addicted to the native drugs of his Asian mistress Lilaya. In reaching for the usual dose, St. Claire ingested the contents of the wrong bottle and accidentally killed himself. Free to pursue their romance, Diana and Yorke leave London for their island home.
Director
Robert Florey
Cast
Conrad Nagel
Doris Kenyon
John Halliday
Juliette Compton
Reginald Owen
Mona Maris
Alan Mowbray
Gilbert Emery
Mae Busch
John T. Murray
Edgar Norton
Lionel Belmore
Clarissa Selwynne
Winter Hall
May Beatty
George Pearce
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of the film was Silent Thunder. According to a Film Daily news item, Fox Film Corp. protested Tiffany's use of the release title The Man Called Back because they felt it would conflict with the exhibition of The Man Who Came Back (see below). An arbitration board of producers working through the Hays Office voted in favor of Tiffany. According to modern sources, The Man Called Back was shot on a budget of $68,000. One reason for the low figure, given by director Robert Florey, was access to an elaborate jungle set recently constructed for Bird of Paradise, which doubled for the South Seas in the early scenes of The Man Called Back. Florey indicates that he initially suggested adapting Andrew Soutar's novel to producer Sam Bischoff, and that he also collaborated with Robert Presnell on the script.
