''Sweepings'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the 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 censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by John Cromwell, written by Lester Cohen, and starring

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931 ...

Eric Linden Eric Linden (September 15, 1909 – July 14, 1994) was an American actor, primarily active during the 1930s. Early years Eric Linden was born in New York City to Phillip and Elvira (née Lundborg) Linden, both of Swedish descent. His father ...

William Gargan William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...

Gloria Stuart Gloria Frances Stuart (born Gloria Stewart; July 4, 1910 September 26, 2010) was an American actress, visual artist, and activist. She was known for her roles in Pre-Code films, and garnered renewed fame late in life for her portrayal of Rose ...

and

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

. It was released on April 14, 1933, by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

Plot

Young, ambitious Daniel Pardway opens a store in Chicago called the Bazaar. Each time his wife Abigail gives birth, he adds a department to his store, dreaming of eventually putting his grown child in charge of that department. After the birth of his fourth offspring, he is left widowed. He raises his three sons and one daughter the best he can, denying them nothing. Meanwhile, his business grows into a huge

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...

. General manager Abe Ullman has been with Pardway since the beginning and devoted himself completely to the store, so much so that he is unmarried and alone. One day, he asks Pardway for a share of the business, but Daniel refuses. He wants it all to go to his children. When they are all adults, he turns to each of his sons in turn (he dismisses his daughter because she is a girl), but all of them prove unwilling or unable to manage the store. Gene, the eldest, prefers to be a playboy, drinking and keeping a mistress. Bert, next in age, dutifully accepts the position of assistant general manager, but is a plodder. Eventually, he tells his father he is happier as a

window dresser Window dressers are retail workers who arrange displays of goods in shop windows or within a shop itself. Such displays are themselves known as " window dressing". They may work for design companies contracted to work for clients or for department ...

, so Daniel lets him do that job. Freddie, the youngest, seduces one of the Bazaar saleswomen; Daniel has to pay her off to keep silent. (Freddie eventually leaves and wanders the world as a hobo.) Nevertheless, after incorporating the store, Daniel gives all four a tenth share of the business. Aging, Daniel tells Abe that his job is secure as long as he is alive, but once his children inherit the store, he will be out. A resentful Abe then tells him that he secretly bought the shares of some of Daniel's offspring. When Daniel is on his deathbed, his sons and daughter are summoned. Daniel tells them he is disappointed in all of them, and that if they do not prove worthy within six months, he is leaving his majority share to Abe. After Daniel dies, Freddie promises to try.

Cast

as Daniel Pardway *

as Freddie Pardway *

as Gene Pardway *

as Phoebe *

as Thane Pardway *

Gregory Ratoff Gregory Ratoff (born Grigory Vasilyevich Ratner; russian: Григорий Васильевич Ратнер, tr. ; April 20, c. 1893 – December 14, 1960) was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was bes ...

as Abe Ullman *

Helen Mack Helen Mack (born Helen McDougall; November 13, 1913 – August 13, 1986) was an American actress. She started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving to Broadway plays and touring one of the vaudeville circuits. Her greater succ ...

as Mamie Donahue *

Lucien Littlefield Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men befor ...

as Grimson * George Meeker as Bert Pardway * Ninetta Sunderland as Abigail Pardway *

Esther Muir Esther Muir (March 11, 1903 – August 1, 1995) was an American actress on Broadway and in Hollywood films. Early years Born in Andes, New York, Muir had six sisters and three brothers. She began modeling in New York City while still a h ...

as Violet *

Franklin Pangborn Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...

Photographer (uncredited)

Connection to real people

The Daniel Pardway character is based on

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of quality and customer ...

, American founder of the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-based department store chain.Erickson, Hal. ''Any Resemblance to Actual Persons: The Real People Behind 400+ Movie Characters''. New York: McFarland, 2017, p. 164.

References

External links

* * * * {{John Cromwell 1933 films 1933 drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films American drama films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films directed by John Cromwell Films set in Chicago Films set in department stores RKO Pictures films