''Chances'' is a 1931 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

war drama film directed by

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...

and starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. It is based on the 1930 novel by A. Hamilton Gibbs. According to Fairbanks, the film was a hit.

Plot

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, brother officers Jack (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and Tom Ingleside (Anthony Bushell) are in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, headed home on furlough. In the dense fog, Jack bumps into a young woman and tries to pick her up. She laughs at him, promises they will meet again, and rides off in a cab. When the brothers arrive at the family home, their mother is having tea with Molly Prescott (Rose Hobart), a childhood neighbor who has grown up to be a lovely young woman—the woman in the fog. Tom tells his mother he has always loved Molly. Jack, who is known as a lady's man, is newly smitten. He confesses to sowing some wild oats, but “all this time I've been looking for you.” Mrs. Ingleside is holding a benefit ball for the Red Cross, and Archie, Ruth and Sylvia, friends of the boys, spend the weekend. Sylvia is an old flame of Jack's. Jack and Molly step away from the dance. He tries to tell her how he feels and she laughingly replies, “How many girls have you said that to?” but it gets serious and they kiss. She goes back to dance where Tom is waiting. When their mother tells Jack of her joy at the love between Tom and Molly, he is shocked. He thought Tom was not interested in girls. Heartbroken, he makes love to Sylvia in Molly's presence. Wounded, Molly turns away. Meanwhile, they have been called back to France and their artillery unit. Tom asks Molly to wait for him. Ecstatic, he tells Jack of the engagement. Jack congratulates him, At the front, bodies and debris fill a gun emplacement and the communicating trench. Lieutenant Taylor brings the news and dies. Jack is assigned to take a crew of volunteers to put the gun back in order, returning over the same terrain that killed Taylor. The mission is a success, but four men die. The Major sends Jack on leave. Tom gives him a letter for Molly, who does not write to him Then in the French town Jack sees Molly, driving for the Army. One look says it all. She confesses that she agreed to marry Tom out of anger, and she cannot bear his letters. She asks for one day of Jack's leave. He agrees to come back early. She promises to write to Tom and tell him the truth. They meet as planned and go to a place on the shore. She did not write to Tom. Jack says “Saying goodbye is to die a little.” He puts a ring on her left hand. She gives him a picture. They have an hour left, perhaps their last, and she cannot bear to let him go. She curls up on the grass, weeping. They embrace, passionately. At the front, Jack says it was impossible to talk to their mother. There was a stone wall between them. Tom observes that the letters they send home are lies, just another thing they will have to conceal when the war is over. Tom takes Jack's coat by mistake and finds Molly's picture. He assumes Jack forgot to give it to him, but when he teases Jack about it, the truth comes out. Tom, furious and betrayed, refuses to listen. Major Bradford is ordered to withdraw his artillery group as part of a feint. Men, teams of horses, wagons race to a new position under a constant barrage. They fire on the advancing German infantry, then remove the breech blocks and fall back to their trenches, still under constant fire.. Tom lingers by the guns, apparently in despair. Calling Tom, Jack returns through barbed wire and across shattered ground to reach his brother, now wounded. He drags Tom back. Cut to an ambulance, a car, a train, then a foggy London station. Jack has lost his left arm and walks with a cane. Molly steps out to meet him. They kiss. Tom died, but Jack finds consolation in the fact that his brother said they were pals at the end. He asks her to light his cigarette. “You'll have to do it from now on.” They walk together into the fog.

Cast

* Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. as Jack Ingleside *

Rose Hobart Rose Hobart (born Rose Kefer; May 1, 1906 – August 29, 2000) was an American actress and a Screen Actors Guild official. Early years Born in New York City, Hobart was the daughter of a cellist in the New York Symphony Orchestra, Paul Ke ...

as Molly Prescott * Anthony Bushell as Tom Ingleside *

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sour ...

as Major Bradford *

Mary Forbes Mary Forbes (born Ethel Louise Young; 1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974) was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where she died. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1919 and 1958.

as Mrs. Ingleside *

Edmund Breon Edmund Breon (born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty; 12 December 1882 – 24 June 1953) was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952. Life and career Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Br ...

as The General ''uncredited'' * Billy Bevan as Cuthbert, Pub Waiter * Florence Britton as Sylvia * David Cavendish as Bit * Tyrell Davis as Archie *

Ethel Griffies Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods; 26 April 1878 – 9 September 1975) was an English actress of stage, screen, and television. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic '' The Birds'' (1963). Sh ...

as Drunk Flower Vendor * Ruth Hall as Girl at Party *

Forrester Harvey Forrester Harvey (27 June 1884 – 14 December 1945) was an Irish film actor. From 1922 until his death year Harvey appeared in more than 115 films. He was credited for about two-thirds of his film appearances, but some of his roles were un ...

as Joe, News Vendor * Mae Madison as Ruth * Edward Morgan as Lt. Wickham *

Jameson Thomas Jameson Thomas (born Thomas Roland Jameson; 24 March 1888 – 10 January 1939) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1939. He was born in St George Hanover Square, London. On the stage from his early ...

as Lt. Taylor

Preservation status

Preserved at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' by The American Film Institute (1978), p. 28

References

External links

* * * * 1931 films 1931 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American war drama films American black-and-white films Films based on British novels Films directed by Allan Dwan Films set in London First National Pictures films War romance films Warner Bros. films American World War I films 1930s war drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{WWI-drama-film-stub