This tiny rustic 70 min film was a smash success for emerging poverty row studio Monogram Pictures in 1934 and rated as one of the most heavily booked films of the year. It is on record as having 14,000 bookings in at time when there was 20,000 cinemas in the USA. It is on par with the other major hits of the day "Dinner at Eight" and the Busby Berkeley films. Listed in the industry Quigley Publications diary for 1935/6 as a blue ribbon winner of 1934 it must have come as a bombshell to anyone including the Monogram management that the film was so profitable, costing only $70k to produce and pulling $1m. in rentals. In the same year Monogram had several other 'major' releases one being KING KELLY OF THE USA which even had a minor but cute animation sequence. Most Monogram films of this period ran about 70 minutes and played the second feature on a double bill. However, GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST played as an A level feature as it commanded main feature box office sales. No wonder Herbert J Yates at Consolidated labs wanted the Monogram outfit rolled into his newly formed Republic Pictures! he accomplished that by closing their account for lab processing and forcing them to merge along with several other studio s like the serial kings Mascot Pictures. GIRL is from one of America's most widely read novels and already had a huge inbuilt audience ready to devour the film. It is a charming tale of an unappreciated child raised in the hills and facing all sorts of bumpkin emotional dilemmas. It had a solid run internationally too, so easily grossed another wad of cash before vanishing like so many other 30s pix.
4 Reviews
The First Talkie Version is a Good One
boblipton5 March 2018
There is a staccato pace to the editing of this movie that gives this first talkie version of Gene Stratton-Porter's 1909 novel an episodic quality. It begins with Marian Marsh anxious to enter high school and get an education, but her mother, Louise Dresser, hates her, because her father drowned the night of her birth. Only her aunt, Helen Jerome Eddy, and uncle, Ralph Morgan, are anxious to help her, but her sweet nature wins over a bevy of admirers, many of them silent film actors, ready to please fans of old movies: Betty Blythe, as "The Bird Lady" -- a stand-in for Mrs. Stratton-Porter -- who becomes her best friend; Henry B. Walthall, as the kindly local doctor; Baby Peggy, as a schoolmate; and Syd Saylor as a local hard case.
The real issues of abuse, poverty and, indeed, nature conservancy that run through the original novel are muted in director Christy Cabanne's handling of the material under the newly enforced Production Code, but the performances are all telling. Indeed, Ralph Morgan may never have given a better one. The material may strike the modern viewer as old-fashioned and sentimental, but the issues that underlie the movie remain real, and its messages of triumph and redemption, rather than punishment, is one I applaud.
The real issues of abuse, poverty and, indeed, nature conservancy that run through the original novel are muted in director Christy Cabanne's handling of the material under the newly enforced Production Code, but the performances are all telling. Indeed, Ralph Morgan may never have given a better one. The material may strike the modern viewer as old-fashioned and sentimental, but the issues that underlie the movie remain real, and its messages of triumph and redemption, rather than punishment, is one I applaud.
Distasteful Romance
view_and_review31 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
For the most part, I don't like movies from the early-30's, but I watch them incessantly. They are so odd, so strange, and so different. Society was so different back then, and at the same time it wasn't. Like they say: "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
In this poorly acted and poorly thought out movie we have a girl named Elnora Comstock (Marian Marsh) who was the daughter of a mean woman. Her mother, Katherine (Louise Dresser), blamed Elnora for the death of her husband, Robert. Her husband drowned while coming home late at night from another woman's place and for some strange reason she took it out on her daughter. It didn't add up at all.
Luckily for Elnora she had neighbors that really loved her: Wesley and Margaret Stinton (Ralph Morgan and Helen Jerome Eddy). They showed her the love her mother didn't. And when she decided to go to high school against her mother's wishes, they encouraged her and tried to make it as easy as possible for her.
No movie with a nubile, young woman is complete without a love interest; and that's where this movie collapsed. The movie was good enough showing the hardships Elnora had to face with limited resources and an unloving mother in rural Indiana circa 1910. Even though a romance was inevitable, it certainly didn't need the romance we got.
A doctor and his nephew, Phillip Ammon (Edward Nugent), were in Elnora's isolated part of the country to visit Wesley Stinton (Elnora's neighbor). Phillip was in college, but the moment I saw his face I knew that he and Elnora would hook up somehow. He was the only young, halfway decent-looking man in the whole movie. Plus, it was early 20th century Indiana, and I'm sure Elnora was of breeding age.
There was a connection between them right away, but Phillip was engaged (as if that's ever been a problem before). I think that if Elnora hadn't just began high school there would've been nothing to stop the big city boy from macking on the small town girl. He did the right thing and didn't romantically engage with Elnora, but he promised to stay in contact--so he could help her get to college of course.
He stayed in constant contact with Elnora, sending her money whenever she could send him "Indian" (Native American) artifacts. After three years Phillip was back in town to visit with his uncle. This time he had his fiance, Edith (Gigi Parrish), with him. Apparently, they still hadn't gotten married. Personally, I thought he'd be divorced, thereby making him available for Elnora, but what happened was far more distasteful.
Immediately, you could tell that Edith was going to be a disagreeable woman. When Phillip was raving about the Stintons and the need to invite them to their engagement party, she gave some excuses as to why it would be a bad idea to invite them (read: they don't fit in).
She was your typical, rich, classist woman who prejudged the Stintons based upon where they lived. Being devil's advocate, I could say that she was only worried about how they'd be dressed at the swanky affair, which is a legitimate concern.
The Stintons and the Comstocks (i.e. Elnora and her mother) showed up to the party even though Elnora was bitterly jealous. While Phillip was dancing with his fiance he told Elnora to save a dance for him. He was all smiles. Edith was not.
"Phillip, do you realize you've been talking about her (Elnora) all evening?" Edith complained to Phillip.
"Oh, my girl's jealous," he jokingly quipped.
I don't think he could've been more daft. What person, man or woman, wants to hear their fiance raving about someone else--especially when that someone else could be a direct rival?
Phillip wasn't done being stupid and inconsiderate.
When Elnora found a moth flittering away she ran after it to perhaps catch it and add it to her moth collection. Phillip ran with her.
Can you see things taking shape now?
They lost the moth and decided to take a breather. As they were talking all too closely Phillip kissed her (who could've seen that coming?!?).
"I hope you didn't mind my doing that," he guiltily stated almost as a question, even though he was asking the wrong damn person. He should've asked his fiance, who was only a few hundred feet away being neglected, if SHE minded.
"No I didn't mind, it's just friendship," Elnora reassured him, knowing that the kiss was more than "friendship," but also knowing their relationship couldn't go anywhere.
At this time, Edith was looking all over for Phillip. When he arrived back to the party hand-in-hand with Elnora, she was not pleased.
"Phillip what does this mean?" Edith asked bluntly.
Phillip, ever the idiot, smilingly answered, "Why nothing. We almost caught a Yellow Emperor for Elnora's moth collection."
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Edith responded. She was more than a little suspicious, as she should've been. Given the opportunity Phillip may have ended up rolling in the hay with Elnora.
"Really, It's true," Elnora said.
"Oh come now. You may as well admit it. Chasing moths is a flimsy pretext," Edith chided.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Phillip asked angrily.
"You know what I mean. Now I understand why you want a summer place here," she clapped back.
"Edith!" he snapped, then turned to Elnora to apologize. He continued to Edith, "Now you apologize to Elnora!" he fumed.
"I'll do nothing of the sort," Edith calmly said.
The whole charade was infuriating to watch. Phillip was being a complete d-bag and didn't even realize it. He'd been engaged to Edith for over three years, he didn't know that she would be upset with him running off to frolic with some other girl DURING THEIR ENGAGEMENT PARTY!!! And her suspicions were correct anyway. This fool was all in Elnora's grill the moment they got out of eyesight. Yet they made Edith look like the bad guy. As if she was a paranoid jealous psycho looking for something that wasn't there.
Oh, it was there.
This was all a flimsy pretext (to use Edith's words) to set up Phillip leaving his fiance and professing his love to Elnora. It was trite, distasteful, lame, unimaginative, and cringey with a capital C. Couldn't they come up with a better scenario. At least if he was already divorced they wouldn't have to make Edith some kind of witch who wasn't good enough for the pure-hearted Phillip.
The following day we got what was being plainly foreshadowed: Phillip went to Elnora's place to tell her that he'd broken the engagement off with Edith because he's in love with her. How long had he been in love with Elnora? Since the moment he met her. When she was sixteen (and they call R. Kelly twisted).
It was a stomach-turning scene trying to pass itself off as romance. Phillip quite literally dropped his fiance of three+ years for the high school farm girl he fell in love with when she was an early-teen. Someone please tell me where's the romance in that.
Free on YouTube.
In this poorly acted and poorly thought out movie we have a girl named Elnora Comstock (Marian Marsh) who was the daughter of a mean woman. Her mother, Katherine (Louise Dresser), blamed Elnora for the death of her husband, Robert. Her husband drowned while coming home late at night from another woman's place and for some strange reason she took it out on her daughter. It didn't add up at all.
Luckily for Elnora she had neighbors that really loved her: Wesley and Margaret Stinton (Ralph Morgan and Helen Jerome Eddy). They showed her the love her mother didn't. And when she decided to go to high school against her mother's wishes, they encouraged her and tried to make it as easy as possible for her.
No movie with a nubile, young woman is complete without a love interest; and that's where this movie collapsed. The movie was good enough showing the hardships Elnora had to face with limited resources and an unloving mother in rural Indiana circa 1910. Even though a romance was inevitable, it certainly didn't need the romance we got.
A doctor and his nephew, Phillip Ammon (Edward Nugent), were in Elnora's isolated part of the country to visit Wesley Stinton (Elnora's neighbor). Phillip was in college, but the moment I saw his face I knew that he and Elnora would hook up somehow. He was the only young, halfway decent-looking man in the whole movie. Plus, it was early 20th century Indiana, and I'm sure Elnora was of breeding age.
There was a connection between them right away, but Phillip was engaged (as if that's ever been a problem before). I think that if Elnora hadn't just began high school there would've been nothing to stop the big city boy from macking on the small town girl. He did the right thing and didn't romantically engage with Elnora, but he promised to stay in contact--so he could help her get to college of course.
He stayed in constant contact with Elnora, sending her money whenever she could send him "Indian" (Native American) artifacts. After three years Phillip was back in town to visit with his uncle. This time he had his fiance, Edith (Gigi Parrish), with him. Apparently, they still hadn't gotten married. Personally, I thought he'd be divorced, thereby making him available for Elnora, but what happened was far more distasteful.
Immediately, you could tell that Edith was going to be a disagreeable woman. When Phillip was raving about the Stintons and the need to invite them to their engagement party, she gave some excuses as to why it would be a bad idea to invite them (read: they don't fit in).
She was your typical, rich, classist woman who prejudged the Stintons based upon where they lived. Being devil's advocate, I could say that she was only worried about how they'd be dressed at the swanky affair, which is a legitimate concern.
The Stintons and the Comstocks (i.e. Elnora and her mother) showed up to the party even though Elnora was bitterly jealous. While Phillip was dancing with his fiance he told Elnora to save a dance for him. He was all smiles. Edith was not.
"Phillip, do you realize you've been talking about her (Elnora) all evening?" Edith complained to Phillip.
"Oh, my girl's jealous," he jokingly quipped.
I don't think he could've been more daft. What person, man or woman, wants to hear their fiance raving about someone else--especially when that someone else could be a direct rival?
Phillip wasn't done being stupid and inconsiderate.
When Elnora found a moth flittering away she ran after it to perhaps catch it and add it to her moth collection. Phillip ran with her.
Can you see things taking shape now?
They lost the moth and decided to take a breather. As they were talking all too closely Phillip kissed her (who could've seen that coming?!?).
"I hope you didn't mind my doing that," he guiltily stated almost as a question, even though he was asking the wrong damn person. He should've asked his fiance, who was only a few hundred feet away being neglected, if SHE minded.
"No I didn't mind, it's just friendship," Elnora reassured him, knowing that the kiss was more than "friendship," but also knowing their relationship couldn't go anywhere.
At this time, Edith was looking all over for Phillip. When he arrived back to the party hand-in-hand with Elnora, she was not pleased.
"Phillip what does this mean?" Edith asked bluntly.
Phillip, ever the idiot, smilingly answered, "Why nothing. We almost caught a Yellow Emperor for Elnora's moth collection."
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Edith responded. She was more than a little suspicious, as she should've been. Given the opportunity Phillip may have ended up rolling in the hay with Elnora.
"Really, It's true," Elnora said.
"Oh come now. You may as well admit it. Chasing moths is a flimsy pretext," Edith chided.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Phillip asked angrily.
"You know what I mean. Now I understand why you want a summer place here," she clapped back.
"Edith!" he snapped, then turned to Elnora to apologize. He continued to Edith, "Now you apologize to Elnora!" he fumed.
"I'll do nothing of the sort," Edith calmly said.
The whole charade was infuriating to watch. Phillip was being a complete d-bag and didn't even realize it. He'd been engaged to Edith for over three years, he didn't know that she would be upset with him running off to frolic with some other girl DURING THEIR ENGAGEMENT PARTY!!! And her suspicions were correct anyway. This fool was all in Elnora's grill the moment they got out of eyesight. Yet they made Edith look like the bad guy. As if she was a paranoid jealous psycho looking for something that wasn't there.
Oh, it was there.
This was all a flimsy pretext (to use Edith's words) to set up Phillip leaving his fiance and professing his love to Elnora. It was trite, distasteful, lame, unimaginative, and cringey with a capital C. Couldn't they come up with a better scenario. At least if he was already divorced they wouldn't have to make Edith some kind of witch who wasn't good enough for the pure-hearted Phillip.
The following day we got what was being plainly foreshadowed: Phillip went to Elnora's place to tell her that he'd broken the engagement off with Edith because he's in love with her. How long had he been in love with Elnora? Since the moment he met her. When she was sixteen (and they call R. Kelly twisted).
It was a stomach-turning scene trying to pass itself off as romance. Phillip quite literally dropped his fiance of three+ years for the high school farm girl he fell in love with when she was an early-teen. Someone please tell me where's the romance in that.
Free on YouTube.
Hicks may have nixed styx pic's, but this one takes no licks!
mark.waltz13 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
In a year where Jean Parker played with deer in "Sequoia", Jean Muir struggled as a farmwoman in "As the Earth Turns", Anne Shirley played "Anne of Green Gables" and Katharine Hepburn was "The Little Minister", Marian Marsh played the title role of Elnora Comstock in this second version of Gene Stratton-Porter's novel. While the other films above were made by major studios, this one was pumped out by the king of the poverty row studios, Monogram Pictures. It is almost an "A" picture considering the care that was taken in making it, and when seen today, it really grabs the viewer with its earthy heart and keeps them hooked.
Elnora is the daughter of the widowed Katherine (Louise Dresser), a very embittered woman who has hated Elnora since she was born, having been in labor pains with her when Katherine's husband was suddenly killed in a freak accident in the nearby swamp. Katherine still continues to grieve, crying years later over the exact spot where her husband drowned, yet treats Elnora with contempt, while Elnora's aunt and uncle (Helen Jerome Eddy and Ralph Morgan) treat her as if she was their own daughter. The opening scene shows the world weary Katherine in major pain awaiting childbirth, and quickly moves to the day when Elnora is to enter high school, a rare opportunity for a girl in her community.
The drama plays out her first days at school, going from a hick in an old dress having ham-hocks for lunch, to the next day when she shows up in a new dress which Eddy has made for her and a more fitting lunch. As her aunt and uncle's love for her gives her a new height of confidence, Dressler's hatred increases until circumstances force the neglectful mother to look deep into her soul and realize the truth about what the hatred in her soul has done to her and why it wasn't necessary in the first place.
Beautifully filmed with excellent performances rising above the mediocre quality of the available print, this is not only a story of redemption, atonement and survival, but one girl's determination to not let the lowly circumstances of her existence stop her from achieving her dreams. The art direction is fascinating, especially the locker that Marsh makes inside the trunk of a tree, and the film's heart is as big as the outdoor locations where these simple folk reside. Tommy Bupp is excellent as the little boy whom Morgan and Eddy take in (with some reluctance at first by Eddy whose character longs to be a mother but can't seem to take to at first), and silent star Betty Blythe gives a touching performance as the kindly rich woman who mentors Marsh. Best known for her role as Trilby opposite John Barrymore in "Svengali", Marsh is an excellent heroine, not too sweet to be seen as tragic, yet not too proud to keep her emotions underwraps. When Dresser makes her atonement to Marsh, it really is a five-hanky moment.
Elnora is the daughter of the widowed Katherine (Louise Dresser), a very embittered woman who has hated Elnora since she was born, having been in labor pains with her when Katherine's husband was suddenly killed in a freak accident in the nearby swamp. Katherine still continues to grieve, crying years later over the exact spot where her husband drowned, yet treats Elnora with contempt, while Elnora's aunt and uncle (Helen Jerome Eddy and Ralph Morgan) treat her as if she was their own daughter. The opening scene shows the world weary Katherine in major pain awaiting childbirth, and quickly moves to the day when Elnora is to enter high school, a rare opportunity for a girl in her community.
The drama plays out her first days at school, going from a hick in an old dress having ham-hocks for lunch, to the next day when she shows up in a new dress which Eddy has made for her and a more fitting lunch. As her aunt and uncle's love for her gives her a new height of confidence, Dressler's hatred increases until circumstances force the neglectful mother to look deep into her soul and realize the truth about what the hatred in her soul has done to her and why it wasn't necessary in the first place.
Beautifully filmed with excellent performances rising above the mediocre quality of the available print, this is not only a story of redemption, atonement and survival, but one girl's determination to not let the lowly circumstances of her existence stop her from achieving her dreams. The art direction is fascinating, especially the locker that Marsh makes inside the trunk of a tree, and the film's heart is as big as the outdoor locations where these simple folk reside. Tommy Bupp is excellent as the little boy whom Morgan and Eddy take in (with some reluctance at first by Eddy whose character longs to be a mother but can't seem to take to at first), and silent star Betty Blythe gives a touching performance as the kindly rich woman who mentors Marsh. Best known for her role as Trilby opposite John Barrymore in "Svengali", Marsh is an excellent heroine, not too sweet to be seen as tragic, yet not too proud to keep her emotions underwraps. When Dresser makes her atonement to Marsh, it really is a five-hanky moment.
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