This Day in Ann Dvorak History: Ann Starts “Gentlemen Are Born”

Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 207

On July 26, 1934, Warner workhorse Ann Dvorak reported to the set of Gentlemen Are Born. She had finished working on I Sell Anything the day before, which was thankless role in a quickie programmer. Unfortunately, Gentlemen Are Born would not give her much more to do.

When I first saw Gentlemen Are Born a number of years ago, I absolutely hated it, mainly because it is such a waste of Ann’s talents. I re-watched it 2011 when it ran on TCM as part of Ann’s “Summer Under the Stars” day, and enjoyed it much more. It still angers me for its under-utilization of Ann, but overall this tale of college graduates who have difficultly adjusting to the real world in the midst of the Great Depression is fairly engaging. It’s also very timely, considering what today’s graduates have been facing the last few years, and the film is a great example of Warner Bros. willingness to tackle topical issues of the day.

However, it’s still a minuscule role for Ann Dvorak  and therefore my job to complain about it.

2 Comments

  1. Scott July 26, 2013

    The under-utilization of Ann’s talents in projects like “Gentlemen Are Born” and “I Sell Anything” seems to underscore the willingness of Warner Brothers — and, by extension, perhaps, the other major studios of the time? — to cut off their nose to spite their face.

    Secondly, for ‘B’ pictures, “Gentlemen Are Born” and “I Sell Anything”, have fairly impressive casts.

    Finally, would the finishing and starting dates of production for these and other films you’ve cited, be a part of the studio archives? If so, are the starting and finishing dates for all WB productions — along with the duration of participation of any of the particular performers in them — a part of that record?

  2. admin July 26, 2013

    Warner Bros made movies not stars, so as long as their contract players were doing something, they were happy.

    Yes, the production dates were pulled from the Warner Bros Archives which are housed at USC. The general info should exist for all the productions, though I do not recall if the schedule of every actor was included.

    www.usc.edu/libraries/collections/warner_bros/

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