The Age of Innocence (1934 film)

The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence
Directed by	Philip Moeller
Written by	Edith Wharton (novel); Margaret Ayer Barnes (play)
Screenplay by	Sarah Y. Mason; Victor Heerman
Based on	The Age of Innocence (1920 novel); The Age of Innocence (1928 play)
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Starring	Irene Dunne; John Boles; Lionel Atwill
Narrated by	John Boles
Cinematography	James Van Trees
Edited by	George Hively
Music by	Max Steiner (uncredited)
Production; company	RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	September 14, 1934;
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Age of Innocence is a 1934 American drama film directed by Philip Moeller and starring Irene Dunne, John Boles and Lionel Atwill.^[1] The film is an adaptation of the 1920 novel The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, set in the fashionable New York society of the 1870s. Prolific on Broadway, Philip Moeller directed only two films: this, and the 1935 Break of Hearts with Katharine Hepburn.

The novel was also adapted in a 1924 silent film version starring Beverly Bayne and a 1993 film version that starred Michelle Pfeiffer. A 1928 Broadway stage adaptation starred Katharine Cornell.^[2]

Plot

At his 1875 engagement party, the wealthy Newland Archer is surprised to meet his childhood friend Ellen, beautiful and grown up and now Countess Olenska. Olenska is the cousin of his fiancee May and is considered scandalous by the strait-laced society of the time. Newland, however, treats her well and sends her two dozen yellow roses. Olenska turns to Newland for advice about a possible divorce.^[3]

Cast

Director Philip Moeller (seated center, holding eye-shade) on the set of *The Age of Innocence*. Assistant director Edward Killy (seated center foreground) rehearses actor John Boles (left); Irene Dunne is behind the lights, smiling down.

Irene Dunne as Countess Ellen Olenska
John Boles as Newland Archer
Lionel Atwill as Julius Beaufort
Helen Westley as Granny Manson Mingott
Laura Hope Crews as Augusta Welland
Julie Haydon as May Welland
Herbert Yost as Howard Welland
Teresa Maxwell-Conover as Mrs. Archer
Edith Van Cleve as Jane Archer
Leonard Carey as Jasper, the Butler
Harry Beresford as Museum Guard (uncredited)
Herbert Bunston as W.J. Letterblair (uncredited)

Reception

The film was a box-office disappointment.^[4]

References

^ "BFI | Film & TV Database | The AGE OF INNOCENCE (1934)". February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-06.
^ The Age of Innocence tcm.com ^{[dead link]}
^ "The Age of Innocence (1934) - Philip Moeller, Phillip Moeller | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.
^ Churchill, Douglas W. The Year in Hollywood: 1934 May Be Remembered as the Beginning of the Sweetness-and-Light Era (gate locked); New York Times [New York, N.Y] 30 Dec 1934: X5. Retrieved December 16, 2013.

External links

Media related to The Age of Innocence (1934 film) at Wikimedia Commons
The Age of Innocence at IMDb
The Age of Innocence at AllMovie
The Age of Innocence at the TCM Movie Database
The Age of Innocence at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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[1] "BFI | Film & TV Database | The AGE OF INNOCENCE (1934)". February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-06.

[2] The Age of Innocence tcm.com ^{[dead link]}

[3] "The Age of Innocence (1934) - Philip Moeller, Phillip Moeller | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" – via www.allmovie.com.

[4] Churchill, Douglas W. The Year in Hollywood: 1934 May Be Remembered as the Beginning of the Sweetness-and-Light Era (gate locked); New York Times [New York, N.Y] 30 Dec 1934: X5. Retrieved December 16, 2013.

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