Title Street scene / directed by King Vidor ; produced by Samuel Goldwyn

Published Pottstown, PA : Music Video Distributors, 1931

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Description 1 online resource (80 minutes) Summary One of the great stage-to-screen adaptations of the early sound film era, Street Scene (1931) presents a New York City tenement melting pot, boiling over with summer heat, resentment, and longing. Independent producer Samuel Goldwyn acquired the rights of the Pulitzer Prize winning and hit Broadway play by Elmer Rice, who also penned the screenplay. Under the direction of King Vidor, the relatively simple set (building, sidewalk, street) becomes a canvas of human emotion, achieved through dynamic camerawork and powerhouse performances by Sylvia Sidney, Estelle Taylor, and Beulah Bondi--a member of the original Broadway cast who made her film debut as the busybody Mrs. Jones. Composer Alfred Newman's score offers musical cues carefully timed to character dialogue, along with a Gershwin-esque theme that Newman reused during his long career at 20th Century-Fox. The film's restoration allows us to fully experience the power of Street Scene, seeing and hearing in vivid clarity as Anna Maurrant (Taylor), her daughter Rose (Sidney), and neighbor Sam Kaplan (William Collier, Jr.) open their hearts and crash against the limitations of their environment Notes Adapted for the screen by Elmer Rice from his Pulitzer prize play Cast Sylvia Sidney, William Collier, Jr., Estelle Taylor, Beulah Bondi, David Landau, Matt McHugh, Russell Hopton, Greta Grandstedt, Eleanor Wesselhoeft, Max Montor, Walter Miller, T. H. Manning, Conway Washburne, John M. Qualen, Anna Kostant, Adele Watson, Lambert Rogers, George Humbert, Allan Fox, Nora Cecil, Margaret Robertson, Helen Lovett, Richard Powell, Jane Mercer, Walter James, Monte Carter, Harry Wallace Notes In English Title from title screen (viewed January 03, 2025) Subject Rice, Elmer, 1892-1967. Street scene -- Film adaptations Tenement houses -- New York (State) -- New York -- Drama Jews -- New York (State) -- New York -- Drama Adultery -- New York (State) -- New York -- Drama Women social workers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Drama Lower East Side (New York, N.Y.) -- Drama Genre/Form Fiction films. Feature films. Form Streaming video Author Vidor, King, 1894-1982, director Goldwyn, Samuel, 1879-1974, producer Motion picture adaptation of (work): Rice, Elmer, 1892-1967. Street scene Music Video Distributors, Inc., publisher

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