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United Artists, 1937. Directed by
King Vidor. Camera: Rudolph Maté. With
Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Anne Shirley, Barbara O'Neill, Alan Hale,
Marjorie Main, Tim Holt, Ann Shoemaker, Dickie Jones. |
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Young Stella Martin, the daughter of a Millwood factory
worker, is secretly attracted to Stephen Dallas, a minor executive at
the factory whose family was once wealthy. Stephen has broken his
engagement to Helen, his long-time sweetheart, because he fears that his
present lack of money and social position would not be good for her.
Stella schemes to have a chance encounter with Stephen; The
opportunity presents itself one afternoon when her brother Charlie goes
to work at the factory without his lunch, and Stephen is attracted to
her. Soon they begin to see each other in the evenings, and Stephen asks
her to marry him, even though she warns him that the differences in
their backgrounds might be a problem.
After their baby daughter Laurel is born, Stella becomes
bored with her life as the wife of a staid, rising businessman and
begins to exhibit social characteristics which Stephen finds unsuitable.
After Stella insists on dancing with the kind, but loutish Ed Munn at
the exclusive River Club, Stephen tells Stella that he will have to be
spending more time on business in New York. Stephen's visits home
become less and less frequent, and they eventually separate.
Though Stephen does not think that Stella can provide the right
atmosphere for Laurel, he allows Stella to keep the girl, knowing how
much she loves her.
Many years later, while Stephen is selecting a gift for
Laurel in a New York department store, he encounters his former fiancée.
Now Mrs. Morrison, a widow with three sons, Helen is delighted to see
Stephen again, and the two rekindle their former love. Soon, when
Laurel comes to visit her father, she stays with the Morrisons whose
opulent life and family atmosphere are far different than her lower
class life with her mother. Stephen wants to marry Helen and
informs Stella through his lawyer, but she refuses to give him a divorce
and asks for more money. She fears that Stephen and Helen are
trying to take Laurel away from her and wants the extra money to give
Laurel all of the things that she has with the Morrisons.
At a posh resort to which she takes Laurel, a minor
illness keeps Stella bedridden while the sweet and beautiful Laurel
enjoys the company of rich young people. Laurel is grateful to her
mother for the trip to the resort but, when Stella unexpectedly gets out
of bed and dresses in her gaudy new clothes, Laurel is too embarrassed
to let her new friends know that the woman they find so ridiculous is
her mother.
On the train home, Laurel and Stella each overhear some
girls talking about their discovery that the gaudy woman at the resort
is really Laurel's mother. Stella pretends to be asleep when
Laurel looks in on her, but decides that she must give Laurel to Stephen
and Helen if she is to have the kind of life she deserves. Though
Stella makes Laurel think that she wants the divorce to go to South
America with Ed Munn, Helen has been secretly visited by Stella and
knows the painful sacrifice that Stella has made for her daughter.
Some years later, the news of Laurel's forthcoming
marriage to the wealthy Richard Grosvenor, III, reaches the newspapers,
revealing that the wedding will be at the Dallas home in New York.
As preparations are being made, Helen insists that the curtains in the
living room remain open. Laurel cannot believe that her mother has
not contacted her, but Helen tells her that Stella would never miss
attending her daughter's wedding if she could. As the ceremony
takes place, Stella is in the front of the crowd looking in the window.
A policeman tells the crowd to move along, but Stella stays until after
Dick kisses Laurel. Now confident of her daughter's happiness,
Stella smiles and walks away. |
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