Frisco Jenny
| Frisco Jenny | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | William A. Wellman |
| Produced by | Raymond Griffith |
| Written by | Gerald Beaumont (story) Lillie Hayward (story) John Francis Larkin (story) Robert Lord Wilson Mizner |
| Starring |
Ruth Chatterton Louis Calhern |
| Cinematography | Sidney Hickox |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | First National Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
71-73 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Frisco Jenny is a 1932 American Pre-Code drama film starring Ruth Chatterton and Louis Calhern, and directed by William A. Wellman.
In 1906 San Francisco, Frisco Jenny Sandoval (Ruth Chatterton), a denizen of the notorious Tenderloin district, wants to marry piano player Dan McAllister (James Murray), but her saloonkeeper father Jim (Robert Emmett O'Connor) is adamantly opposed to it. An earthquake kills both men and devastates the city. In the aftermath, Jenny gives birth to a son, whom she names Dan.
With financial help from crooked lawyer Steve Dutton (Louis Calhern), who himself came from the Tenderloin, she sets herself up in the vice trade, providing women on demand. Jenny has one loyal friend, the Chinese woman Amah (Helen Jerome Eddy), who helps take care of the baby.
At a party in Steve's honor, he catches gambler Ed Harris (an uncredited J. Carrol Naish) cheating him in a back room. In the ensuing struggle, Steve kills him, with Jenny the only eyewitness. The pair are unable to dispose of the body before it is found and are questioned by the police. However, neither is charged. The scandal forces Jenny to temporarily give up her baby to a very respectable couple who owe Steve a favor to keep the child from being taken away from her.
After three years, she tries to take her son back, but the boy clings to the only mother he can remember, so she leaves him where he is. He grows up and goes to Stanford University, where he becomes a football star, graduates with honors, and becomes first a lawyer, then an assistant district attorney. Jenny lovingly follows his progress. Meanwhile, she takes over the vice and bootlegging in the city.
...
Wikipedia