In a small Pacific village, a widowed fisherman marries a girl young enough to be his daughter. Complications ensue when the new wife falls in love with her husband's son.In a small Pacific village, a widowed fisherman marries a girl young enough to be his daughter. Complications ensue when the new wife falls in love with her husband's son.In a small Pacific village, a widowed fisherman marries a girl young enough to be his daughter. Complications ensue when the new wife falls in love with her husband's son.
Douglass Montgomery
- Matt Law
- (as Kent Douglass)
Richard Alexander
- Sailor
- (uncredited)
Walter Brennan
- Musician
- (uncredited)
Mary Gordon
- Townswoman
- (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland
- Bartender
- (uncredited)
Marjorie Main
- Townswoman at Wedding
- (uncredited)
Vivien Oakland
- Bess
- (uncredited)
Rose Plumer
- Wedding Guest
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBette Davis was screen tested for this film.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Five Came Back: The Mission Begins (2017)
Featured review
Walter Huston is great as a really awful guy
The film opens with the funeral of Walter Huston's wife who was also Douglass Montgomery's mother. Huston's incredibly strong performance as the fisherman father with little sympathy for anybody or anything but fishing, staying alive, and drinking at the local bar is riveting. He orders a mail-order bride through a magazine - to do the housework, cook, mend the nets - you get the drift. She arrives, but she's another who's taken the place of the original girl who had already married. She's also much prettier. Only 19 and one of six daughters to a Montana wheat farmer, the girl marries Huston. She falls in love with his son, Montgomery, a man his father thinks is weak. Among bit parts, you may spot Walter Brennan, Mary Foy, Gibson Gowland, Mary Gordon, Vivien Oakland, and Marjorie Main.
The action in the film is strong, the fluidity of the camera for the year really good. The final scene is spectacular, the camera work really magnificent, as Huston straps himself into a boat to go rescue his wife, who had gone out on the fishing boat when a storm breaks out. Why was Huston strapped to the boat you might ask? Because he's now crippled, without the use of his legs, thanks to a knock-down, drag-out fight with his son where he falls down a flight of stairs. It might seem like Huston is warming up for the part of Dead Legs in Kongo the following year, but then he'd been playing that part on the stage since 1926, so maybe THAT play was the warmup for THIS movie.
There's little that redeems the character played by Huston, but the performance is superlative. Helen Chandler gives what may be her best performance. Montgomery was never better. With William Wyler's direction in one of his early sound films, this is really a knock-out. You may remember that Wyler made "Dodsworth" with Huston later. He also made "Come and Get It" in 1936, a film that resonates with the same kind of theme and a strong performance from Edward Arnold.
The action in the film is strong, the fluidity of the camera for the year really good. The final scene is spectacular, the camera work really magnificent, as Huston straps himself into a boat to go rescue his wife, who had gone out on the fishing boat when a storm breaks out. Why was Huston strapped to the boat you might ask? Because he's now crippled, without the use of his legs, thanks to a knock-down, drag-out fight with his son where he falls down a flight of stairs. It might seem like Huston is warming up for the part of Dead Legs in Kongo the following year, but then he'd been playing that part on the stage since 1926, so maybe THAT play was the warmup for THIS movie.
There's little that redeems the character played by Huston, but the performance is superlative. Helen Chandler gives what may be her best performance. Montgomery was never better. With William Wyler's direction in one of his early sound films, this is really a knock-out. You may remember that Wyler made "Dodsworth" with Huston later. He also made "Come and Get It" in 1936, a film that resonates with the same kind of theme and a strong performance from Edward Arnold.
helpful•20
- AlsExGal
- Oct 13, 2023
Details
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.20 : 1
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![Helen Chandler and Douglass Montgomery in A House Divided (1931)](https://cdn.statically.io/img/m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzdkMmI5ZjMtNWEzYi00MDUyLWI3MWItMmFmNTE4YmNjNjk1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)