''Reno'' is a 1939 film directed by

John Farrow John Villiers Farrow, KGCHS (10 February 190427 January 1963) was an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Spending a considerable amount of his career in the United States, in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

and starring

Richard Dix Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

Gail Patrick Gail Patrick (born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, June 20, 1911 – July 6, 1980) was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 an ...

and

Anita Louise Anita Louise (born Anita Louise Fremault; January 9, 1915 – April 25, 1970) was an American film and television actress best known for her performances in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1935), ''The Story of Louis Pasteur'' (1935), ''Anthony ...

.Richard Jewell and Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story''. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p. 134

Plot

After a woman gambling in his

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

casino loses money and sues him trying to get it back, Bill Shear suddenly recognizes her as his own daughter, Joanne, someone he has not seen since a long-ago divorce. Shear remembers what brought him to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in the first place. As a young attorney, then known as William Shayne, he represented silver miners. He met and married Jessie Gibbs and became a father, but when the silver went bust, leaving Reno on the brink of becoming a ghost town, it was he who created a new identity for Reno as a place where unhappily married individuals could get a quick, painless divorce. Neglecting his own family due to his work, Bill ironically is left alone when Jessie obtains one of those easy divorces, taking their child and leaving him. He is also disbarred and must find another line of work, which is how he came to be in the casino business now. Joanne, moved by her father's story, abandons her lawsuit against him.

Cast

as William Shayne, aka Bill Shear *

as Jessie Gibbs *

as Mrs. Joanne Ryder * Paul Cavanagh as John R. Banton *

Laura Hope Crews Laura Hope Crews (December 12, 1879 – November 12, 1942) was an American actress who is best remembered today for her later work as a character actress in motion pictures of the 1930s. Her best-known film role was Aunt Pittypat in ''Gone ...

as Mrs. Gardner *

Louis Jean Heydt Louis Jean Heydt (April 17, 1903 – January 29, 1960) was an American character actor in film, television and theatre, most frequently seen in hapless, ineffectual, or fall guy roles. Early life Heydt was born in 1903 (not 1905, as many sou ...

as Judge Jimmy Howard *

Hobart Cavanaugh Hobart Cavanaugh (September 22, 1886 – April 26, 1950 ) was an American character actor in films and on stage. Biography He was born in Virginia City, Nevada on September 22, 1886. Cavanaugh attended the University of California. He worked in ...

as Abe Compass *

Charles Halton Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films. Life and career Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...

as Augustus Welch *

Astrid Allwyn Astrid Allwyn (born Astrid Christofferson; November 27, 1905 – March 31, 1978) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Allwyn was born in South Manchester, Connecticut, part of a family that included four sisters and a brot ...

as Flora McKenzie *

Joyce Compton Olivia Joyce Compton (January 27, 1907 – October 13, 1997) was an American actress. Biography Compton was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the daughter of Henry and Golden Compton. (Despite frequent reports to the contrary, her name was not ...

as Bonnie Newcomb * Frank Faylen as J. Hezmer "Hezzy" Briggs *

William Haade William Haade (March 2, 1903 – November 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1937 and 1957. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California. Haade was a construction boss until ...

as George Fields * Robert McKenzie as Jury Foreman (uncredited) *

Larry Steers Lawrence Wells Steers (February 14, 1888 – February 15, 1951) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 550 films between 1917 and 1951. He was born in Indiana, and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Partial filmography * ...

as Lawyer (uncredited)

Production

The film was based on a story by Ellis St Joseph which RKO bought in December 1938. Robert Sisk was assigned to be the producer By May 1939 John Twist was writing the script and Richard Dix to star. It was Dix's first film under a new long-term contract with RKO, where the actor had some of his greatest successes, notably ''Cimarron''. John Farrow was assigned to direct in July 1939. Filming started August 1939.

Reception

Frank Nugent, for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' said: "you can't believe that anything so preposterously unmotivated could ever have taken place even in ''Reno'', which is the title of the picture, incidentally. From beginning to end it is compounded of the sheerest twaddle, and the word "sheerest," in this case, may be taken to mean superlatively transparent."

References

External links

* * * * {{John Farrow American drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by John Farrow Films set in Reno, Nevada Films about gambling 1939 drama films 1939 films RKO Pictures films 1930s American films