''Dynamite'' is a 1929 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced and directed by

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

and starring

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1940, a ...

Kay Johnson Catherine Townsend Johnson (November 29, 1904 – November 17, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. Family Johnson’s father was architect Thomas R. Johnson, the architect of several noteworthy buildings in New York City, inclu ...

Charles Bickford Charles Ambrose Bickford (January 1, 1891 – November 9, 1967) was an American actor known for supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), '' The Fa ...

, and

Julia Faye Julia Faye Maloney (September 24, 1892 – April 6, 1966), known professionally as Julia Faye, was an American actress of silent and sound films. She was known for her appearances in more than 30 Cecil B. DeMille productions. Her various roles ...

. Written by Jeanie MacPherson,

John Howard Lawson John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American playwright, screenwriter, arts critic, and cultural historian. After enjoying a relatively successful career writing plays that were staged on and off Broadway in the 192 ...

, and Gladys Unger, the film is about a convicted murderer scheduled to be executed, whom a socialite marries simply to satisfy a condition of her grandfather's will.

Mitchell Leisen James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American film director, director, art director, and costume designer. Film career He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He d ...

was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fr ...

Plot

Coal miner Hagon Derk is sentenced to hang for murder. His only concern is for his young sister Katie, who will be left all alone. Meanwhile, frivolous socialite Cynthia Crothers will not inherit her grandfather's millions and will be penniless if she is not married by her twenty-third birthday (a month away). She is "engaged" to Roger Towne, but he is married to Marcia. Marcia has her own lover, Marco, and is willing to grant Roger a divorce ... for the right price. The women settle on $100,000 behind Roger's back. Hagon, desperate to provide for Katie, offers his body for $10,000 in a newspaper ad. Cynthia offers him the money in exchange for him marrying her. He accepts. Just minutes before Hagon's execution though, the real killer is goaded into attacking a man with a gun and is fatally shot. He confesses before dying, and Hagon is released. Hagon goes to see his stunned wife. When her friends show up to party the night away, he sees Cynthia writing a $25,000 check as a down payment to Marcia and discussing their agreement. Hagon grabs the check and shows it to Roger. Roger tells Cynthia that if she gives Marcia the check, they are through. Cynthia rips up the check. She then announces that she is married. When Hagon reveals he is her husband, Cynthia is made a laughingstock. Hagon throws out the partygoers. When Cynthia locks herself in her room, Hagon breaks down her door. After a brief confrontation, Hagon flings $10,000 at her and leaves. When Cynthia is informed that she must be living with her husband on her birthday, she drives to his mining town. He refuses to go back to her apartment, so she persuades him to let her stay with him. He agrees on condition that she cook and clean, and locks up her fancy car in his tool shed. Her first attempt at cooking is a dismal failure. Katie helps out and keeps it a secret from Hagon, but Cynthia confesses. Hagon tells her it is the first honest thing he has seen her do. The next day, while shopping, Cynthia buys a gift for a young boy. His mother objects, but the child runs away with his present and is hurt in a traffic accident. The doctor says that only a brain specialist in the city can save him, but the boy only has hours to live. Cynthia breaks into the tool shed, speeds away in her car and returns with the specialist. The child is saved. Hagon returns from work to find the door of his shed demolished and learns that Cynthia withdrew $2,000 from the bank (to pay the specialist). He assumes that she got tired of his way of life and went to see Roger. When Hagon demands an explanation, Cynthia is too disheartened to reply. She telephones Roger to come for her. However, the child's mother tells Hagon what Cynthia has done. When Roger shows up, he insists on seeing Hagon before leaving. They go down into the mine to find him. A

cave-in A cave-in is a collapse of a geologic formation, mine or structure which may occur during mining, tunneling, or steep-walled excavation such as trenching. Geologic structures prone to spontaneous cave-ins include alvar, tsingy and other ...

traps the trio with only fifteen minutes worth of air. Hagon finally confesses he loves Cynthia. Then he realizes there is a way out. He quickly packs a stick of dynamite into a wall; there is another chamber on the other side with enough air to sustain them until they can be rescued. However, without a fuse cap, someone will have to strike the dynamite with a sledgehammer to set it off. The two men toss a coin for the privilege. Roger "wins", but Hagon wrestles the sledgehammer away from him. After Cynthia whispers something to Roger, he tells Hagon that Cynthia wants to say goodbye to him. Hagon asks Cynthia to say what she needs to say. Confused, she reveals that she said she loves him. With the two safely out of the way, Roger detonates the dynamite and is killed. As Hagon carries Cynthia into the opened chamber, he tells her that he was wrong about Roger.

Cast

as Roger Towne *

as Cynthia Crothers *

as Hagon Derk *

as Marcia Towne * Muriel McCormac as Katie Derk *

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

as Marco * Robert Edeson as First Wise Fool *

William Holden William Franklin Holden (né Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film '' Stalag 17'' (1953) and the Pri ...

as Second Wise Fool * Henry Stockbridge as Third Wise Fool * Leslie Fenton as Young "Vulture" Firing Gun * Barton Hepburn as Young "Vulture" Confessing Crime *

Ernest Hilliard Ernest Hilliard (January 31, 1890 – September 3, 1947) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1921 and 1947. He was born in New York City and died in Santa Monica, California, from a heart attack. In March 1925 H ...

as Good Mixer * June Nash as Good Mixer * Judith Barrett as Good Mixer * Neely Edwards as Good Mixer * Marjorie Zier as Good Mixer * Rita La Roy as Good Mixer *

Tyler Brooke Tyler Brooke (born Victor Hugo de Bierre, June 6, 1886 – March 2, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1915 and 1943. He was born in New York, New York and died in Los Angeles, California by committin ...

as The Life of the Party *

Clarence Burton Clarence Forrest Burton (May 10, 1882 – December 2, 1933) was an American silent film actor. Biography Burton was born in Fort Lyon, in Benton County, Missouri and started in show business at the age of 5, playing stock and musical comedy ...

as Police Officer * Jim Farley as Death Row Police Officer * Robert T. Haines as The Judge * Douglas Scott as Bobby Smith * Jane Keckley as Bobby's Mother * Blanche Craig as Neighbor (Mrs. Johnson) * Mary Gordon as Neighbor at Store * Ynez Seabury as Neighbor (Mrs. Johnson's daughter) * Scott Kolk as Radio Announcer * Fred Walton as Doctor Rawlins *

Wade Boteler Wade Boteler (October 3, 1888 – May 7, 1943) was an American film actor and writer. He appeared in more than 430 films between 1919 and 1943. Biography He was born in Santa Ana, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart ...

as Mine Foreman (uncredited) *

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor, whose Hollywood career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in dramas, come ...

as Coal Miner (uncredited)

Production

''Dynamite'' was DeMille's first full-length sound film (a silent version was also released simultaneously), and casting the right actors (with adequate voices) proved a difficult process. Development began on the heels of the release of his previous film, '' The Godless Girl'', which had featured hastily added sound footage (now currently unavailable for viewing) and which had been a box-office disappointment. Numerous actors were screen-tested by assistant

by December 18, 1928, and apart from

Ricardo Cortez Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career. Early years Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...

and

Monte Blue Gerard Montgomery Blue (January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was an American film actor who began his career as a romantic lead in the silent era; and for decades after the advent of sound, he continued to perform as a supporting player ...

, most of them were B-movie actors. Male actors tested but passed over included Buck Jones, Bob Custer, Jason Robards, Sr., Guinn "Big Boy" Williams,

Dean Jagger Dean Jagger (November 7, 1903 – February 5, 1991) was an American film, stage, and television actor who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Henry King's '' Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949). Early life Dean Jeffri ...

and

. Actresses tested but passed over included

Carmelita Geraghty Carmelita Geraghty (March 21, 1901 – July 7, 1966) was an American silent-film actress and painter. Early life The daughter of screenwriter Tom Geraghty, she was the sister of writers Maurice and Gerald Geraghty. Her father wrote scenario ...

Merna Kennedy Merna Kennedy (born Maude Kahler; September 7, 1908 – December 20, 1944) was an American actress of the late Silent film, silent era and the transitional period into Sound film, talkies. Career She was born in Kankakee, Illinois, Kankakee, o ...

, Leila Hyams,

Dorothy Burgess Dorothy Burgess (March 4, 1907 – August 20, 1961) was an American stage and motion-picture actress. Family, education Born in Los Angeles in 1907, Burgess was a niece of Fay Bainter. On her father's side, she was related to David C. Montgom ...

and Sally Blane. His final selections were Charles Bickford and Kay Johnson, primarily known for their stage work. Leisen reportedly tried to interest DeMille in up-and-coming

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard ...

for Johnson's role; allegedly, she can be glimpsed in the surviving versions of the film.Cady, Brian
''Dynamite''
"Film Article" at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

(TCM), Turner Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc., New York, N.Y. Retrieved January 24, 2018. Filming of ''Dynamite'' began on January 29, 1929, and lasted until April 30. Scenes for the silent version were shot beginning on May 28 and ending on June 5. Charles Bickford would later describe the script as "'a mess of corn' with terrible dialogue."Louvich, Simon; Cecil B. DeMille: a life in art; Thomas Dunne, New York, 2007; p. 290

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker ros ...

, who was living in Los Angeles at the time, was commandeered to pen the lyrics for an original song for ''Dynamite''. Her third try, titled "How Am I To Know", and set to music by Jack King, was accepted and featured in the film's prison sequence; after that introduction into the film, the music is used in a foxtrot form by a pianist in an impromptu party given at Johnson's home just after Bickford arrives there (and is hustled out of sight of the guests), a subsequent sequence in the mining town where Johnson teaches Bickford to dance (and they almost kiss) to music coming from Bickford's radio, and also under the film's "The End" credit.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.Hall, Mordaunt (1929)
"THE SCREEN; Cecil De Mille's First Talker. A Noble Scoundrel"
''Dynamite'' review, ''

'', December 28, 1929. Retrieved January 24, 2018. "Even in the work of the performers, there are moments when they are human beings and then, at times, they become nothing more than Mr. De Mille's puppets", "behaving strangely and conversing in movie epigrams". Nonetheless, Hall approved of the efforts of Johnson ("an accomplished actress") and Bickford ("a splendid performance"), though he could not say the same of Nagel ("does not act up to his usual standard").

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dynamite (1929 film) 1929 films 1929 romantic drama films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films Articles containing video clips English-language romantic drama films Films about capital punishment Films directed by Cecil B. DeMille Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Transitional sound films