The President Vanishes (film)

The President Vanishes
The President Vanishes
Directed by	William A. Wellman
Written by	Rex Stout (novel); Carey Wilson; Cedric Worth
Produced by	Walter Wanger
Starring	Edward Arnold; Arthur Byron; Paul Kelly; Peggy Conklin; Andy Devine
Cinematography	Barney McGill
Edited by	Hanson T. Fritch
Music by	Hugo Riesenfeld
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	November 17, 1934;
Running time	80 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$290,056
Box office	$391,542

The President Vanishes (released in the United Kingdom as Strange Conspiracy) is a 1934 American political drama film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Walter Wanger. Starring Edward Arnold and Arthur Byron, the film is an adaptation of Rex Stout's political novel of the same name.

Upon its release, the film was praised for its ensemble cast^[2]^[3] but author John Douglas Eames, in his 1985 book The Paramount Story, stated that, even with "an accomplished cast and an out-of-the-rut story, The President Vanishes couldn't buck moviegoers' apathy towards political subjects".^[3]

Premise

The film follows the story of The President Vanishes.^[4]

Cast

Edward Arnold — Secretary of War Wardell
Arthur Byron — President Craig Stanley
Paul Kelly — Chick Moffat
Peggy Conklin — Alma Cronin
Andy Devine — Val Orcott
Janet Beecher — Mrs. Stanley
Osgood Perkins — Harris Brownell
Sidney Blackmer — D.L. Voorman
Edward Ellis — Lincoln Lee
Irene Franklin — Mrs. Orcott

Hays Code

Upon its release in 1934, The President Vanishes was named by the National Legion of Decency — an organization of the United States Catholic Church — as one of Hollywood's problematic and "immoral" films. The Catholic Church demanded an implementation and enforcement of a set of industry censorship guidelines to control and remove content that the church saw as immoral. Threatened by a large scale boycott of all Hollywood films, Will H. Hays, then president of Motion Picture Association of America, came to an agreement with the church that saw the establishment of Production Code Administration and passage of the Motion Picture Production Code, also known as Hays Code.^[5] The Hays Code was in use from 1934 until 1968 when it was abandoned in favor of the MPAA film rating system.

Reception

The film recorded a loss of $145,948.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Matthew Bernstein, Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent, Minnesota Press, 2000 p435
^ Sennwald, Andre. "The Mysterious Disappearance of President Stanley in The President Vanishes, at the Paramount", The New York Times, December 8, 1934. Accessed January 29, 2010.
^ ^a ^b Eames, John Douglas, The Paramount Story; 1985, Crown Publishers, Inc.; Hardcover ISBN 0-517-55348-1 p. 100
^ Fraser A. Sherman Screen Enemies of the American Way: Political Paranoia About Nazis p.164
^ Black, Gregory D. Hollywood Censored, Indiana University Press, 1989. Accessed January 29/2010.

External links

The President Vanishes at IMDb

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[wagner-1] Matthew Bernstein, Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent, Minnesota Press, 2000 p435

[2] Sennwald, Andre. "The Mysterious Disappearance of President Stanley in The President Vanishes, at the Paramount", The New York Times, December 8, 1934. Accessed January 29, 2010.

[EAMES-3] Eames, John Douglas, The Paramount Story; 1985, Crown Publishers, Inc.; Hardcover ISBN 0-517-55348-1 p. 100

[4] Fraser A. Sherman Screen Enemies of the American Way: Political Paranoia About Nazis p.164

[5] Black, Gregory D. Hollywood Censored, Indiana University Press, 1989. Accessed January 29/2010.

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