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Bupp Filmology
Week Eleven
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"What Becomes of the Children ?" 1936
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MOVIE NAME: WHAT BECOMES OF THE CHILDREN ?
STUDIO: SENTENIAL PRODUCTIONS.
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: ANTHONY LANDI and ROLAND C. KENNELL
DIRECTOR: WALTER SHUMWAY
DATE: 1936
TYPE: DOMESTIC, MELODRAMA
SOURCE: A F I, Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940
CAST:
JOAN MARSH as Marion Worthington, ROBERT FRAZIER as Mr. John Worthington ,NATALIE MOOREHEAD as Mrs. Edith Worthington, GLEN BOLES as Fred Worthington, SONNY BUPP as Little Freddie Worthington,CLAUDIA DELL as Gale Adams, NILES WELCH as Thomas Scott, BARBARA PEPPER as Elsie, LARRY KENT as Roy Daniels ANNE BENNETT as Little Marion Worthington
STORY: John Worthington’s family life is disintegrating around him, as he dreams of building his "Great American Railway." His wife Edith spends all her time on social endeavors, leaving the rearing of their children to Gertrude, their nanny. The children seek their parents attention and affection after witnessing the "normal" family life of the neighbor Thomas Scott. The children, Freddie and Marion bring home an abandoned dog, they are sent to bed early. Both parents are out for the evening so the children sneak out of bed to play hide and seek. Marion falls down the dumbwaiter and is seriously injured. The parents rush home, each blaming the other for the injury. Edith claims John ignores her as well as the children and files for divorce with each parent taking a child. Years later John realizes his dream of the railroad empire, but has two dilemmas, his workers are about to go on strike and his son Freddie is being thrown out another college. John breaks the union, but his son tells him he would rather be disinherited than become a mirror of his father. Freddie’s girlfriend, blues singer Gale Adams, helps him get a job as a singing piano player. Marion has led a similarly rebellious life, disowning her mother and impulsively marries Roy Daniels. On their wedding night Roy is arrested as a jewel thief and Marion is arrested as an accessory and spends a year in jail. After prison her neighbor Elsie takes her out to dinner at the restaurant where Freddie works. Roy enters the restaurant and Elsie, introduces them. Marion refuses to have anything to do with him and when he gets rough with her, Freddie comes to her aid. She tries to commit suicide by slipping pills into her drink, but freddie stops her and the two discover that they are brother and sister. They go back to his apartment and are followed by Roy , who starts a fight with Freddie and is killed, when a gun goes off. They are placed on trial for murder and their parents reconcile in light of the family tragedy. They are found innocent and the Worthingtons all return to their old home.
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