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Warner Bros., 1932. Directed by
John G. Adolfi. Camera: James Van Trees. With George
Arliss,
Bette Davis, Violet Heming, Andre Luguet, Donald Cook, Hedda Hopper,
Murray Kinnell,
Ray Milland. |
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Famous pianist Montgomery Royle is the toast of
Paris. He is idolized by his student, twenty-five-year-old Grace Blair,
who professes her love for him. He agrees that if she still loves him in
six months, he will marry her.
At the special request of a king, Monty agrees to
give an additional recital, where an anarchist's bomb, meant for the king,
destroys Monty's hearing, which is already weakened by a hereditary illness.
After their return to New York, Grace begs Monty to continue playing, but he
refuses, railing against God for making him deaf. Finally, his sister
Florence convinces him to learn lip reading. An old friend, Mildred
Miller, suggests that perhaps this is God's first test of Monty's strength.
Grace leaves for a visit to Santa Barbara, planning
to marry Monty on her return. Completely distraught, Monty tries to jump
from his apartment window, but is stopped by his butler, Battle. Trying to
interest Monty in the life surrounding him, Battle hands him a pair of
binoculars, which Monty uses to read the lips of people walking through Central
Park below his window. He learns that a young couple are in trouble
because the man has tuberculosis and they do not have enough money for his cure.
Monty decides to help them and sends Battle down to offer them the needed money.
Meanwhile, in Santa Barbara, Grace has fallen in
love with Harold Van Adam, a young man her own age, but she stubbornly intends
to go ahead with her plan to marry Monty. During Grace's absence, Monty
has regained his faith through his efforts to help the people he sees below.
While demonstrating his abilities to Mildred one afternoon, Grace, who has
returned from her trip, walks beneath the window with Harold. By reading
her lips, Monty learns of her love for Harold, and when she arrives upstairs, he
sends her away. At peace, Monty visits the church to examine the organ he
has donated. Mildred encourages him to play and he discovers that he can
have his music after all. |
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