A Successful Calamity (1932)
Directed by John G. Adolfi / John G. Adolphi
Genres - Comedy, Drama |
Sub-Genres - Domestic Comedy, Sophisticated Comedy |
Release Date - Sep 17, 1932 (USA - Unknown) |
Run Time - 72 min. |
Countries - United States |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Veteran stage and screen star George Arliss forsakes his biographical roles for domestic comedy in A Successful Calamity. Arliss plays an elderly millionaire saddled with a selfish young second wife (Mary Astor) and a pair of spoiled grown children (William Janney and Evelyn Knapp). To test his family's mettle, Arliss pretends to have gone broke. Just as he suspected they would, his children rally to their father's side and change their ways: The daughter forsakes a fortune hunter (Hardie Albright) for the nice young man she's really in love with (Randolph Scott), while the son applies for a demanding job and performs admirably. Only Arliss' young wife seems to desert him--but even she turns out to be true blue, hocking her jewels to save Arliss from ruin. A Successful Calamity was based on a play by Claire Kummer.
Characteristics
Keywords
riches-to-rags, millionaire, crisis, family, child, wife, daughter, employment, selfishness, son
