The Petrified Forest
Encyclopedia
The Petrified Forest is a 1936 American film, starring Leslie Howard
, Bette Davis
, and Humphrey Bogart
. A precursor of film noir
, it was adapted from Robert E. Sherwood
's 1936 stage play of the same name. The screenplay was written by Delmer Daves
and Charles Kenyon
, and adaptations were later performed on radio and television as well.
Alan Squier (Howard), once a British intellectual and writer, now a penniless alcoholic drifter, wanders into a roadside diner in the Petrified Forest
area in northern Arizona
. The diner is run by Jason Maple (Porter Hall
), his daughter Gabrielle (Davis), and her grandfather (Charley Grapewin), "an old man who was missed by Billy the Kid
."
Alan recounts his European adventures and Gabrielle is instantly smitten with him. Gabrielle's mother, a French war bride who fell in love with Jason when he was a young, handsome American serviceman, left her "dull defeated man" and moved back to France when Gabrielle was a baby. She now sends poetry to Gabrielle, who dreams of moving to Bourges
to become an artist. She shows Alan her paintings - the first time she has shown them to anyone - and reads him a favorite Villon
poem. Boze Hertzlinger (Dick Foran
), Gabrielle's blue-collar boyfriend, grows jealous of Alan, who assures him that he intends to leave forthwith. Alan mooches a ride from wealthy tourists Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm (Paul Harvey
and Genevieve Tobin
), but before they can depart, Duke Mantee (Bogart), a famous gangster fleeing a massive police pursuit, invades the diner with his gang and takes the entire group hostage.
Everyone is of course terrified, except Alan, who has little to live for. Indifferent to the danger, he engages Duke in lively conversation and toasts him as "the last great apostle of rugged individualism." As the police converge on the restaurant, Duke prepares to flee, announcing that he will bring Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm with him as human shields. Alan has an inspiration: With Gabrielle in another room, he produces a life insurance policy he is carrying with him, and amends it, making Gabrielle the beneficiary. Then he asks Duke to kill him, so that Gabrielle can use the insurance money to make her dream of studying art in France a reality. "It couldn't make any difference to you, Duke. After all, if they catch you, they can hang you only once...Living, I'm worth nothing to her; dead, I can buy her the tallest cathedrals, and golden vineyards, and dancing in the streets."
The police close in; Duke obliges Alan by shooting him. "So long, pal," growls Duke, "I'll be seein' ya soon." He exits, only to be gunned down himself by the waiting posse. Alan dies in Gabrielle's arms, secure in the knowledge that she, alone among the film's principals, will escape her dead-end existence to pursue her dreams.
production of The Petrified Forest had starred Howard, who was an established star, and Bogart, a newcomer in his first major role. Sherwood based the Duke Mantee character on John Dillinger
, the notorious criminal who in 1933 was named the FBI's first "Public Enemy #1" by J. Edgar Hoover
, and in 1934 was ambushed and gunned down in spectacular fashion by FBI agents. Bogart, who won the stage role in part because of his physical resemblance to Dillinger, studied film footage of the gangster and mimicked some of his mannerisms in his portrayal.
For the film, Warner Brothers intended to cast the more bankable Edward G. Robinson
as Duke; but Howard informed the studio that he would not appear in the movie version without Bogart as his co-star. (Robinson objected as well; after playing a series of gangsters in such films as Little Caesar
and Bullets or Ballots
, he reportedly feared being typecast
.) The film made Bogart a star, and he remained grateful to Howard throughout his life. In 1952 Bogart and Lauren Bacall
named their daughter Leslie Howard Bogart in honor of Howard, who had been killed in a plane crash under controversial circumstances during World War II
.
In 1948 Robinson portrayed a character very similar to Duke—a famous gangster holding a disparate group of people hostage in a Florida hotel—in Key Largo
. That film's hero was played by Bogart. In his penultimate film, The Desperate Hours
(1955), Bogart played another gangster holding a suburban family hostage. He described that character as "Duke Mantee grown up."
's Lux Radio Theater
in 1937, with Herbert Marshall
, Margaret Sullavan
, and Donald Meek
in the principal roles; and again on the same program in 1945, with Ronald Coleman
, Susan Hayward
, and Lawrence Tierney
. Another radio adaptation starring Joan Bennett
, Tyrone Power
, and Bogart, aired on The Screen Guild Theater
on January 7, 1940.
In 1955, a live television version was performed as an installment of Producer's Showcase, a weekly dramatic anthology, featuring Bogart (now top-billed) as Mantee, Henry Fonda
as Alan, and Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall as Gabrielle. Jack Klugman
, Richard Jaeckel
, and Jack Warden
played supporting roles. In the late 1990s, Bacall donated the only known kinescope
of the 1955 performance to The Museum Of Television & Radio (now the Paley Center for Media), where it remains archived for viewing in New York City
and Los Angeles
.
, (1934) earlier play-based film with a similar plot
Leslie Howard (actor)
Leslie Howard was an English stage and film actor, director, and producer. Among his best-known roles was Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind and roles in Berkeley Square , Of Human Bondage , The Scarlet Pimpernel , The Petrified Forest , Pygmalion , Intermezzo , Pimpernel Smith...
, Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, and Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
. A precursor of film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, it was adapted from Robert E. Sherwood
Robert E. Sherwood
Robert Emmet Sherwood was an American playwright, editor, and screenwriter.-Biography:Born in New Rochelle, New York, he was a son of Arthur Murray Sherwood, a rich stockbroker, and his wife, the former Rosina Emmet, a well-known illustrator and portrait painter known as Rosina E. Sherwood...
's 1936 stage play of the same name. The screenplay was written by Delmer Daves
Delmer Daves
Delmer Daves was an American screenwriter, director, and producer.-Life and career:Born in San Francisco, Delmer Daves first pursued a career as a lawyer...
and Charles Kenyon
Charles Kenyon
Charles Kenyon was an American screenwriter, who wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for 114 films between 1915 and 1946...
, and adaptations were later performed on radio and television as well.
Plot
Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest National Park is a United States national park in Navajo and Apache counties in northeastern Arizona. The park's headquarters are about east of Holbrook along Interstate 40 , which parallels a railroad line, the Puerco River, and historic U.S. Route 66, all crossing the park...
area in northern Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The diner is run by Jason Maple (Porter Hall
Porter Hall
Porter Hall was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s...
), his daughter Gabrielle (Davis), and her grandfather (Charley Grapewin), "an old man who was missed by Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
."
Alan recounts his European adventures and Gabrielle is instantly smitten with him. Gabrielle's mother, a French war bride who fell in love with Jason when he was a young, handsome American serviceman, left her "dull defeated man" and moved back to France when Gabrielle was a baby. She now sends poetry to Gabrielle, who dreams of moving to Bourges
Bourges
Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...
to become an artist. She shows Alan her paintings - the first time she has shown them to anyone - and reads him a favorite Villon
François Villon
François Villon was a French poet, thief, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for his Testaments and his Ballade des Pendus, written while in prison...
poem. Boze Hertzlinger (Dick Foran
Dick Foran
John Nicholas 'Dick' Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.-Life and career:...
), Gabrielle's blue-collar boyfriend, grows jealous of Alan, who assures him that he intends to leave forthwith. Alan mooches a ride from wealthy tourists Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm (Paul Harvey
Paul Harvey (actor)
Paul Harvey was an American actor who appeared in at least 177 films.-Selected filmography:*They Shall Have Music *Behind the News *Moonlight Masquerade *Spellbound...
and Genevieve Tobin
Genevieve Tobin
Genevieve Tobin was an American actress.The daughter of a vaudeville performer, Tobin made her film debut in 1910 in Uncle Tom's Cabin as Eva. She appeared in a few films as child, and formed a double act with her sister Vivian. Their brother, George, also had a brief acting career...
), but before they can depart, Duke Mantee (Bogart), a famous gangster fleeing a massive police pursuit, invades the diner with his gang and takes the entire group hostage.
Everyone is of course terrified, except Alan, who has little to live for. Indifferent to the danger, he engages Duke in lively conversation and toasts him as "the last great apostle of rugged individualism." As the police converge on the restaurant, Duke prepares to flee, announcing that he will bring Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm with him as human shields. Alan has an inspiration: With Gabrielle in another room, he produces a life insurance policy he is carrying with him, and amends it, making Gabrielle the beneficiary. Then he asks Duke to kill him, so that Gabrielle can use the insurance money to make her dream of studying art in France a reality. "It couldn't make any difference to you, Duke. After all, if they catch you, they can hang you only once...Living, I'm worth nothing to her; dead, I can buy her the tallest cathedrals, and golden vineyards, and dancing in the streets."
The police close in; Duke obliges Alan by shooting him. "So long, pal," growls Duke, "I'll be seein' ya soon." He exits, only to be gunned down himself by the waiting posse. Alan dies in Gabrielle's arms, secure in the knowledge that she, alone among the film's principals, will escape her dead-end existence to pursue her dreams.
Cast
- Leslie HowardLeslie Howard (actor)Leslie Howard was an English stage and film actor, director, and producer. Among his best-known roles was Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind and roles in Berkeley Square , Of Human Bondage , The Scarlet Pimpernel , The Petrified Forest , Pygmalion , Intermezzo , Pimpernel Smith...
... Alan Squier - Bette DavisBette DavisRuth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
... Gabrielle Maple - Humphrey BogartHumphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
... Duke Mantee - Genevieve TobinGenevieve TobinGenevieve Tobin was an American actress.The daughter of a vaudeville performer, Tobin made her film debut in 1910 in Uncle Tom's Cabin as Eva. She appeared in a few films as child, and formed a double act with her sister Vivian. Their brother, George, also had a brief acting career...
... Mrs. Chisholm - Dick ForanDick ForanJohn Nicholas 'Dick' Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.-Life and career:...
... Boze Hertzlinger - Joe SawyerJoe SawyerJoe Sawyer was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1930 and 1962.He was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and died in Ashland, Oregon from liver cancer....
... Jackie (billed as Joseph Sawyer) - Porter HallPorter HallPorter Hall was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s...
... Jason Maple - Charley Grapewin ... Gramp Maple
- Paul HarveyPaul Harvey (actor)Paul Harvey was an American actor who appeared in at least 177 films.-Selected filmography:*They Shall Have Music *Behind the News *Moonlight Masquerade *Spellbound...
... Mr. Chisholm - Eddie AcuffEddie AcuffEddie Acuff was an American actor. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in the Blondie movie series that starred Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake....
... Lineman - Adrian Morris ... Ruby
- Nina Campana ... Paula
- Slim Thompson ... Slim
- John Alexander ... Joseph
History
The 1936 BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of The Petrified Forest had starred Howard, who was an established star, and Bogart, a newcomer in his first major role. Sherwood based the Duke Mantee character on John Dillinger
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
, the notorious criminal who in 1933 was named the FBI's first "Public Enemy #1" by J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, and in 1934 was ambushed and gunned down in spectacular fashion by FBI agents. Bogart, who won the stage role in part because of his physical resemblance to Dillinger, studied film footage of the gangster and mimicked some of his mannerisms in his portrayal.
For the film, Warner Brothers intended to cast the more bankable Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
as Duke; but Howard informed the studio that he would not appear in the movie version without Bogart as his co-star. (Robinson objected as well; after playing a series of gangsters in such films as Little Caesar
Little Caesar (film)
Little Caesar is a 1931 Warner Bros. Pre-Code crime film. It tells the story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, the film stars Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.. The story was adapted by Francis Edward...
and Bullets or Ballots
Bullets or Ballots
Bullets or Ballots is a 1936 gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane and Humphrey Bogart. Robinson plays a police detective who infiltrates a crime gang.-Cast:*Edward G...
, he reportedly feared being typecast
Typecasting (acting)
In TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
.) The film made Bogart a star, and he remained grateful to Howard throughout his life. In 1952 Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
named their daughter Leslie Howard Bogart in honor of Howard, who had been killed in a plane crash under controversial circumstances during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 1948 Robinson portrayed a character very similar to Duke—a famous gangster holding a disparate group of people hostage in a Florida hotel—in Key Largo
Key Largo (film)
Key Largo is a 1948 film noir directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor...
. That film's hero was played by Bogart. In his penultimate film, The Desperate Hours
The Desperate Hours (film)
The Desperate Hours is a 1955 film from Paramount Pictures starring Humphrey Bogart and Fredric March. The movie was produced and directed by William Wyler and based on a novel and play of the same name written by Joseph Hayes which were loosely based on actual events.The original Broadway...
(1955), Bogart played another gangster holding a suburban family hostage. He described that character as "Duke Mantee grown up."
Radio and television adaptations
The Petrified Forest was performed on CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater
Lux Radio Theater, a long-run classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network ; CBS and NBC . Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences...
in 1937, with Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
, Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Brooke Sullavan was an American stage and film actress. Sullavan started her career on the stage in 1929. In 1933 she caught the attention of movie director John M. Stahl and had her debut on the screen that same year in Only Yesterday...
, and Donald Meek
Donald Meek
Donald Meek was a Scottish-born American character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish-American War and...
in the principal roles; and again on the same program in 1945, with Ronald Coleman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
, Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
, and Lawrence Tierney
Lawrence Tierney
Lawrence Tierney was an American actor, known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and hardened criminals, which mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law....
. Another radio adaptation starring Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
, Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
, and Bogart, aired on The Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater
The Screen Guild Theater was a popular radio anthology series during the Golden Age of Radio, broadcast from 1939 until 1952, with leading Hollywood actors performing in adaptations of popular motion pictures such as Going My Way and The Postman Always Rings Twice.The show had a long run, lasting...
on January 7, 1940.
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
as Alan, and Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall as Gabrielle. Jack Klugman
Jack Klugman
Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...
, Richard Jaeckel
Richard Jaeckel
Richard Hanley Jaeckel was an American actor of film and television.-Life and career:Jaeckel was born in Long Beach, New York. A short, but tough guy, he played a variety of characters during his fifty years in movies & television and became one of Hollywood's best known character actors...
, and Jack Warden
Jack Warden
Jack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
played supporting roles. In the late 1990s, Bacall donated the only known kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
of the 1955 performance to The Museum Of Television & Radio (now the Paley Center for Media), where it remains archived for viewing in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Legacy
- After the film's release, Friz FrelengFriz FrelengIsadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
made the short-length Merrie MelodiesMerrie MelodiesMerrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
cartoon parodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, She Was an Acrobat's DaughterShe Was an Acrobat's DaughterShe Was an Acrobat's Daughter is an animated short in the Merrie Melodies series, released by Warner Brothers in April 1937 and directed by Friz Freleng.-Plot:...
(1937) that portrays a cinema audience watching The Petrified Florist, starring Bette Savis and Lester Coward. - The hitchhiking scene with Leslie Howard was parodied by comedian Chris ElliottChris ElliottChristopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
in The Traveling Poet, a short film produced by Brad HallBrad HallWilliam Brad Hall is an American writer and actor, best known as a Saturday Night Live news anchor on Saturday Night News. He was also the creator of the TV series The Single Guy and Watching Ellie...
for television's Late Night with David LettermanLate Night with David LettermanLate Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
. - The novel Revolutionary RoadRevolutionary RoadRevolutionary Road, the first novel of author Richard Yates, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1962 along with Catch-22 and The Moviegoer. When it was published by Atlantic-Little, Brown in 1961, it received critical acclaim, and the New York Times reviewed it as "beautifully crafted.....
by Richard YatesRichard Yates (novelist)Richard Yates was an American novelist and short story writer, known for his exploration of mid-20th century life.-Life:...
opens with a 1955 amateur-theater production of The Petrified Forest, which is the same year as the live TV performance. - The Warner Brothers sound stage on which the movie was filmed is currently the home of Conan O'BrienConan O'BrienConan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
's TBSTBS (TV channel)TBS , stylized in the logo as tbs, is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally known as WTCG, a UHF terrestrial television station that broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, during the late 1970s...
television program.
See also
Heat LightningHeat Lightning (film)
Heat Lightning is a 1934 drama film starring Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, and Preston Foster. It is based on the play of the same name by Leon Abrams and George Abbott....
, (1934) earlier play-based film with a similar plot