Turn Back the Clock (film)
| Turn Back the Clock | |
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| Directed by | Edgar Selwyn |
| Produced by | Harry Rapf |
| Written by |
Edgar Selwyn Ben Hecht |
| Starring |
Lee Tracy Mae Clarke |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Cinematography | Harold Rosson |
| Edited by | Frank Sullivan |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Turn Back the Clock is a 1933 American Pre-Code MGM fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Edgar Selwyn, written by Selwyn and Ben Hecht, and starring Mae Clarke and Lee Tracy (while under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). The Three Stooges featuring Curly Howard appear in an uncredited straight role as wedding singers. There is a small gag wherein Lee Tracy asks the Stooges to sing "Tony's Wife", a song the Stooges have not heard of; Moe Howard then asks "Tony's wife? Who is she?" Although they are not credited as the Three Stooges (indeed, they receive no screen credit at all), this marks the first time the trio appeared as a group on film without their former leader, Ted Healy. They would launch their long-running film-shorts career a few months later.
On March 23, 1933, middle-aged cigar store owner Joe Gimlet (Lee Tracy) runs into his childhood friend, banker Ted Wright (Otto Kruger). While having dinner with Joe and his wife Mary, Ted asks the couple to invest $4,000 in his company. Joe is excited by the idea, but Mary refuses to part with their savings. Angered by her reluctance, Joe gets drunk and declares to Mary that he should have married the wealthy Elvina. Drunkenly leaving their apartment, he is hit by a car and is brought to a hospital for surgery.
Joe wakes to discover that he is a young man again. After scaring his mother (Clara Blandick) with talk of the future, and after having to face the doctor who asks him if he wants to go crazy like his father, he decides to keep his past life to himself. Going to his job as a soda jerk, he meets Elvina (Peggy Shannon). They soon become engaged. The engagement announcement crushes Joe's girlfriend, Mary, and his mother, who reminds him that money does not buy happiness.
After the wedding, Joe becomes rich due to his knowledge of the future. Meanwhile, Mary and Ted, Joe’s old friend, get married. Remembering the post war problems, Joe pledges one million dollars to help returning vets. His wife is enraged, but President Woodrow Wilson hails Joe as a hero and nominates him as the head of the War Industry. Elvina openly mocks him, but they refuse to divorce to avoid scandal.
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