Frisco Jenny (1932) User Reviews

Familiar plot with excellent directing and acting gives several lessons

[morrisonhimself · 8/10 · 4 August 2009]

At this writing, Ruth Chatterton has been gone nearly 50 years but, as someone else here wrote, she deserves to be rediscovered.

She gives a marvelous performance in this gritty down-to-earth film that offers several lessons: Wild Bill Wellman was a great director; Ruth Chatterton was a superb actress, a woman of a different appeal than the fluffier types; vices ought not to be made crimes.

Nearly all of the problems suffered by the characters in "Frisco Jenny" would not have been there if the rowdy Barbary Coast character of San Francisco had not been changed by the blue-noses.

"Nearly all" because the terrible earthquake of 1906 wreaked its own havoc, and I believe "Frisco Jenny" presents the best motion picture version of that particular killer. Some of the footage must have been from newsreels taken at the time. Spectacular and horrifying.

Yes, some of the premises of "Frisco Jenny" had been used before and have been since, but that in no way detracts from the drama and heartbreak presented here.

There is a superlative cast, including such greats as Harold Huber and Louis Calhern in a great and mostly sympathetic role.

Two wonderful actresses don't get screen credit, but will always live in my heart: Dorothy Granger and Gertrude Astor; and Wild Bill himself also has an uncredited bit, as does Syd Saylor who is more readily identifiable.

And listen for the legendary Clarence Muse.

This is one you ought to see.

Underrated, a really involving and complex film

[secondtake · 8/10 · 22 October 2014]

Frisco Jenny (1932)

I found this remarkable. I can guess that some people will balk at the "oldness" of the scenes and acting. Yeah, of course it's black and white. It ahs characters that might seem like caricatures, simple and obvious. But more important is the leading woman, who is terrific, Ruth Chatterton.

And key to it all is the great San Francisco earthquake. The movie is set in 1906 (this is shown in the opening frames) and so the incredible devastation is a given. And it's really well done, with buildings falling, the ground rolling (really!), and even what looks like some actual footage of the burning. Despite a lighthearted element throughout (there is a healthy sense of humor even in some of the serious moments), the overall intention is a serious social drama. Not only do we see the difficulty brought on by the quake, but the problem of an unwed mother in the middle of it all.

Only a pre-code film could pull off this kind of crossed intentions and make a drama without all kinds of covering up. So expect something terrific.

William Wellman is a great underrated director, a little like Michael Curtiz a decade later, making mainstream films really well. Both of these directors (and throw in William Wyler) were part of the Hollywood style, and in some ways helped formulate that "style." So they seem unexceptional in some ways even if their movies are really sophisticated. Here, Wellman pulls one great move after another, with moving camera, or a slow track in on a face, or quick pans instead of cuts from one face to another, and so on. The filming and editing is unsually smart. The acting works well in every case, and sometimes works exceptionally. Besides Chatterton in the title and lead role, who is remarkable in every way, there are a few side parts, including one by the dependable Louis Calhern.

And the story moves and moves. It's like an epic novel going through many years in just over an hour.

If you are plot oriented, I think you'll also find this movie special. The first scenes lead to the quake leading to a series of different kinds of scenearios that are really unexpected. So it continually surprises. And there is a weird and wonderful conflict between utter virtue (a mother watching out for her child) and ruthlessness (a mother coolly breaking the law to do so). Not all goes smoothly, of course, and so the movie takes on still other levels.

So, watch this with fascination and visual appreciation. If you let it, it will tug on your heart strings (even if the baby is an unsympathetic shouting brat!). If you have trouble finding it, look for Warner Archive Instant, which has a ton of old movies set up a little like Netflix. Enjoy!

Ruth Chatterton deserves to be re-discovered

[kidboots · 8/10 · 15 June 2009]

Ruth Chatterton was a very versatile actress who deserves to be re- discovered. She was at home in every genre - drawing room comedies ("Charming Sinners" (1929), "The Laughing Lady" (1930)), "weepies" ("Sarah and Son" (1930), "Frisco Jenny" (1932)) and contemporary dramas ("The Rich are Always With Us" (1932), "Female" (1933)). Her greatest triumph was "Dodsworth" (1936) where she played a completely different role as an older woman trying to cling on to her lost youth. "Frisco Jenny" was Chatterton's favourite role. Even though it was only a variation on her own "Madame X" role, she gives a marvellous performance as Jenny, who was required to age from a young teenager to an elderly prostitute. Although they got off to a bad start she and director Wellman ended up great friends.

Jenny Sandoval's father (Robert Emmett O'Connor) owns a flourishing saloon on the Barbary Coast. She and Dan McAllistar, a piano player are having an affair and just as she confesses all to her father, the San Francisco earthquake erupts. Jenny finds Dan's name among the lists of the dead but determines to keep her baby, doing everything she can to give Dan all he needs.

She becomes a Madam with a roster of girls, who she hires out for parties and conventions. J. Carroll Naish has a small part as a gambling cheat who is killed by Steve Dutton (Louis Calhern) on the eve of his party. Calhern is at his oily best as the villain - not only does he let Jenny take the blame for the murder but he also persuades her to give up her beloved son to a wealthy family. She plans to retire when Dan is older and take him on an overseas trip, but when she visits, she finds he has forgotten her and regards his adopted mother as his real one. (Cloying Buster Phelps plays Dan as a child. A little of him goes a long way.)

Jenny then renounces her good intentions and rises to become a top bootlegger, although she secretly keeps a scrapbook of Dan's achievements through the years. When Dan (Donald Cook) runs for District Attorney, Steve threatens to tell him the truth about his parentage but is killed by Jenny, who then stands trial for his murder. There is no happy ending in this film as Jenny goes to her death without revealing to Dan that he is her son.

This film could have been run of the mill but William Wellman's direction makes it special. With the role of Dan McAllistar, James Murray had one of his last parts of note before alcohol made him unemployable. Noel Francis, a beautiful Follies showgirl, who should have had a bigger career, has a showy role at the beginning of the film, as Rosie, a mercenary saloon girl.

Highly Recommended.

Top notch precode Wellman

[jfawell · 14 December 2007]

This is an excellent early film by Wellman, filled with all sorts of lovely detail and efficient film-making. The opening tracking shot through the swinging doors of the whorehouse sets the key note for what will be a pretty stylish little film. The opening scenes in the house are musical and full of bustle, rich in their suggestion of off screen space.

The film is chock full of little musical touches that lend it rhythm and style, like the scene in which Chatteron finds out about her lover's death--Wellman finishes it with a sweet rendition, by nearby musicians, of "My Gal Sal", a very effective and surprising bit of counterpoint. And look at the interesting way he has of presenting all the observers of Chatterton's trial, in a series of little pan shots from one to the the other, each shot tied to the rhythm of Donald Cook's speech. You get the sense that Wellman's creative energy was really flowing here.

Chatterton is always good but particularly so here. Orry-Kelly's gowns really suit her and cinematographer Sid Hickock films her and the gowns well. There are a few frames here worthy of MGM. In her final scene, Wellman strips her of all make-up, a pretty unusual approach for the time, but typical of Wellman, who took pride in deglamorizing his actresses when the film called for it. It was a pretty brave scene for Chatterton. She and Wellman were both difficult to work with but liked each other, oddly enough.

Lots of fun character bits. Donald Cook (resident Warner Brothers good guy) is better than usual. James Murray, from King Vidor's "The Crowd" has an early role as the father of Chatterton's child. I like Harry Holman as the john whose pocket gets picked and Wellman regular Nick Copeland as the drunk in the bar.

This is an underrated film. I made a point of seeing it because Wellman, himself, who could be hard on himself, liked it a lot. He was right--it's top notch.

A lot to recommend here

[JohnSeal · 6/10 · 17 May 2003]

TCM's print of Frisco Jenny benefits from being in near pristine condition, and luckily the film itself is pretty good, too. Director William Wellman never settles for static shots, relying on almost constant camera movement to keep the story moving and culminating in a cleverly shot (though somewhat gimmicky) courtroom sequence. Ruth Chatterton looks somewhat younger than in most of her features but by film's end she's reverted to her more natural (and to my mind, more attractive) look. It's unfortunate that a Caucasian actress who specialised in ethnic roles, Helen Jerome Eddy, was cast in the important role of Amah, Chatterton's Chinese housekeeper and confidante, but that shouldn't be taken as criticism of Eddy's performance, which is quite fine. Throw in a decent recreation of the great quake of 1906, and you have an entertaining and ultimately very moving household drama that doesn't pull its punches.

The Madam version of Madam X

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 18 July 2015]

Give the great Ruth Chatterton credit for continuing to play leading roles in films into her forties. It's easier to do that today but back then, with Joan Crawford not even being walked to her car when she left MGM at 40, it wasn't so easy. People always say, well, that's not true, those actresses worked. Really? Did they work like Harrison Ford works today? Clint Eastwood? Or were they playing character parts that weren't leads and starring in B, black and white movies?

Chatterton here stars in "Frisco Jenny" from 1932. After the San Francisco earthquake, she and her baby are left destitute. She becomes the boss of a thinly-disguised bordello and rakes it in. During a soirée one night, her friend and partner Steve (Louis Calhern) catches someone cheating him at craps and kills him. Jenny helps him cover it up and winds up in prison. He bails her out.

Hearing social services is going to take the baby, Jenny's housekeeper takes her to her family in Chinatown. Steve advises her to let the child live with friends of his who have money and will be good parents. She relents.

When the heat cools off, a few years later, she decides to take her son and move to Europe. But when she meets him again, he doesn't know her and wants to stay with his parents. She can't bear to take him and make him miserable, so she gives him up.

She carefully monitors his growing up, and even is an unseen hand in helping him. Years later, their paths cross again.

Ruth Chatterton is excellent as Jenny, a strong, loyal woman who is unapologetic about what she has to do to survive. Former matinée idol Louis Calhern gives a polished performance as Steve. Donald Cook plays her grown-up son.

Similar in many respects to Madame X. Directed by William Wellman, who gives the film extra flair.

A great film in which to see Ruth Chatterton.

Ruth Chatterton is early pre-code film

[sdave7596 · 6/10 · 28 March 2009]

"Frisco Jenny" released in 1932, stars Ruth Chatterton as a woman who has a child out of wedlock amidst the turmoil after the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. The disaster leaves her in poverty, so she has no choice but to give the baby boy to a loving and wealthy couple. "Jenny" then fights her way out of poverty through bootlegging, prostitution, and other unsavory deeds. This of course leads her to associate with some corrupt folks. It all gets quite complicated, but Jenny is tried for murder of one of these folks. Then lo and behold, the prosecutor who goes after her is -- you guessed it -- none other than her now grown and successful son (Donald Cook). Interestingly, Chatterton starred just three years earlier in a similar film, Madame X. This film is "pre-code" meaning before the motion picture code was enforced in 1934. These films were considered controversial for the time, as issues like sex, drugs, and other things were more honestly and openly displayed. Chatterton gives a good performance here, and the film is entertaining. What surprised me most is William Wellman directed it. Although most known for his macho films, Wellman showed he could also direct women's pictures and fine dramas like the original "A Star is Born."

Sadness with edge

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 20 March 2020]

Need to see a lot more of William A. Wellman's work, but the best of it is very impressive indeed, such as 'A Star is Born' and 'Wings'. Ruth Chatterton was a fine actress with a number of great performances, even if there were cases where the performance was better than the film itself. Also wanted to see how 'Frisco Jenny' would portray such a sad event, whether it would be genuinely moving or with good intentions but heavy handed.

Fortunately, 'Frisco Jenny' manages to be the former. For me, this was a great film that is not appreciated enough and criminally underseen. Yes, there are familiar plot elements but most films did in those days. What matters though is what a film does with any familiarities and recognisable conventions, which has varied. 'Frisco Jenny' is always engaging and very powerful without over-sentimentality creeping in, while also providing some entertainment value with the pre-code material. An emotional film done with edge and tact.

Close to 90 years on, 'Frisco Jenny' still looks great. The gowns are beautiful and the photography stylish, but the standout in this regard is the visuals for the earthquake. Truly spectacular and makes for quite harrowing viewing. There are some nice uses of pre-existing songs, lovely songs that fit like a glove. Wellman directs with great confidence throughout and doesn't allow the film to drag or get too sentimental or sugary.

The script has a good deal of edge and also sincerity, there are lines that leaves one in amazement in how much the film gets away with. There are moments of wit and that entertains. The story never felt dull and treats its subject with sensitively and doesn't insult the intelligence of the viewer. Much of it is genuinely poignant and uncompromising, and it does a fine job depicting the horrors of the earthquake, the amount of devastation it caused and how it affected people.

Chatterton's performance is often a powerhouse as a very strong character, full of gusto yet not overacted and also moving. The rest of the cast are very good, with sympathetic performances from Louis Calhern and Helen Jerome Eddy.

Summing up, powerful film that is underseen, undeservedly so. 9/10

Killed by Calvinism

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 17 September 2016]

The film opens in a San Francisco saloon in 1906. Jenny Sandoval wants to marry Dan, the piano player in the bar, but her father is against it. Then comes the earthquake… Good special effects of the time, and probably lots of newsreel footage. Dad dies, but so does Dan. Jenny is pregnant with his baby. To support her growing son Dan Jr. Jenny becomes a madam. Her character starts to change as she becomes more and more sharp, hard and world weary.

Steve Dutton, a lawyer, fatally shoots a gambler and Jenny helps hide the evidence. Eventually Jenny herself is accused. She allows her son to be taken in by a wealthy family to avoid his being taken away by the child welfare authorities. When she comes to collect him again and he's traumatized, she allows him to stay, at great pains to herself.

Dan Jr. grows up to be a prosecuting attorney and tries none other than his own mother, who is now in the bootlegging racket and who has killed Steve Dutton to prevent him from telling Dan who she is . Dan has no idea Jenny is his mother. Even when she is sentenced to death and awaits the noose, Jenny will not tell Dan the truth, out of her own sacrifice and love for her son. It's a kind of inverted Madame X- instead of her son being her defense attorney, her son is the prosecutor who sends her to the gallows.

Ruth Chatterton is terrific in this film! Very believable in her change from a good hearted 'innocent' in the beginning of the film to a woman hardened by life. Her final scene in the jail, she stripped of makeup and looking devastated, is raw and powerful.

My problem with the film is the "self-sacrifice" thing. She chooses death over "shaming" her son? I don't find that kind of choice noble and touching, I find it twisted and frustrating. How can it be that somebody's "name" is more important than another person's life? In Calvinist America at the time, you were your roots, and Dan would not have been accepted in society if they knew if he was a Barbary Coast love child. But I dunno - some values never change. Like choosing to stay alive. So she 'd tell her son who he really is. If he's the decent and fine man we're led to believe he is, he'd be strong enough to withstand society's criticism ... of the fact that he exited the wrong birth canal??? .

In spite of that I've always enjoyed the precodes - lusty men, bawdy women, prostitution, bootlegging, gambling, etc.

Great but Sad...

[guitarboy7677 · 9/10 · 25 May 2019]

I love William Wellman's films. Frisco Jenny is a beautifully sad film played brilliantly by Ruth Chatterton. I'm gonna keep this review short and sweet. Give it a watch. It will keep you enthralled until the end.

Tough Old Bird

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 15 August 2023]

"Frisco Jenny" has a certain ring to it. It could be a female gunslinger or a woman known to get around. In this case it was a smart tough woman from San Francisco who had her hooks in many local politicians so she could bootleg.

Frisco Jenny was Jenny Sandoval (Ruth Chatterton), a young woman who was brought up in a brothel/bar in San Francisco. She fell in love and wanted to marry the piano player (James Murray) at her father's establishment though her father (Robert Emmett O'Connor) vehemently objected. None of it would matter after the earthquake (the movie began in 1906) because both, Jenny's dad and lover, died. What Jenny hadn't mentioned to her father, and what we didn't know, was that she was pregnant.

Frisco Jenny gave birth to a baby boy and named him Dan after his father (a common thing in 1930's movies whenever the father dies or is out of the picture). Jenny became a matron in order to make ends meet and provide for her baby. She was doing perfectly fine until she helped cover up a fatal shooting.

When Steve Dutton (Louis Calhern), a young upstart lawyer, killed a man for cheating at dice Jenny kicked into action to help get him off the hook. Though the law couldn't touch her for her silence, they could have her baby taken away, and that she couldn't allow. Instead of letting her child be taken by the Children's Welfare League, Jenny handed over her baby to a nice well-to-do couple in Oakland to take care of him until she was clear. When she went to retrieve her little boy three years later she had to make the tough decision to leave him in the nurturing home she was going to take him from and love him from afar.

That wouldn't be the only sacrifice she made for her boy. By the end she made the greatest sacrifice anyone could make. Jenny was a tough old bird. If she could go to jail for Steve Dutton, an acquaintance, what could she do for her own son?

"Frisco Jenny" is one of those movies that shows the redeeming qualities of those who operate on the other side of the law. She wasn't the hooker with a heart of gold because she was higher up on the criminal food chain than a prostitute. She was, however, a gangster with a heart for her son. And make no mistake about it, even though the term gangster wasn't used for her, if she were a man it would've been.

Free on YouTube.

Sad Situation With A Soft Style

[LeonLouisRicci · 8/10 · 9 September 2014]

Another Pre-Code Entertainer from Prolific Director William Wellman. This One Stars an Actress that is Virtually Unknown Today but has a Fan Following, Ruth Chatteron. The Recycled Soap Opera Plot is for those who like Weepy Melodrama with Strong Female Sufferers in Tragic Situations.

It Spans a Generation of Time in its 70 Minutes and is Another Example of Movie Making Magic in its Most Concise Form. The Opening is the Year of the San Francisco Earthquake and the Barbary Coast is the Backdrop for that Natural Disaster as the Story Begins to Unfold a Natural Disaster of it Own.

The Pre-Code Only "Bastard Child" to a Woman of Ill Repute who must Relinquish Her Son because to Society its a Sin to Sell Your Body and the Baby must be Taken Away. But the Heart of Gold Mother Fights, in More Ways than One, to make Sure the Child is Cared for.

Overall, this is a Classic Tale Told with Class. The Costuming is Excellent, the Acting Acceptable, the Camera Work Outstanding. The Earthquake Scenes are Exceptional. It is Not Edgy like a Lot of Pre-Coders but it Makes Up for it with Style and Story.

frisco jenny

[mossgrymk · 6/10 · 2 July 2022]

Best things about this early William Wellman film (one of EIGHT he made in 1932-33!) are its pre code sexual frankness (it's eminently clear that the title character runs a bordello and not, say, a "saloon") and Ruth Chatterton's performance. This skilled, somewhat under rated actress manages to get inside the personality of an unhappy woman exploited by men (although definitely not controlled by them) without resorting to undue displays of melodrama or gush a la Rainer or Shearer, to take just two of her over hyped contemporaries.

The screenplay, however, lurches between ludicrous and silly with story holes as big as those caused by the SF quake (which is given one of its better cinematic renditions in this film). The last time I checked murderesses do not follow their victims to a courthouse and shoot them so that they collapse into the arms of the DA when they just as easily could have despatched them at their home, in private. And the victim's dying just before he can utter the word "mother" is about as risible a moment as you're going to get in a film that asks to be taken seriously. Also hurting the movie is a terrible acting job from the guy who plays the illegitimate son slash prosecutor. Guy's stiff, crappy, acting pretty much sinks the trial scene, to mention nothing of the death row mother/son meeting scene.

Bottom line: Some great imagery (like the last scene with the servant burning all evidence of Jenny's kid) and worth a look for Chatterton lovers or for those like me who have only seen her in "Dodsworth" and a couple others and now want to see more. C plus.

Barbary Coast Melodrama

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 18 December 2007]

San Francisco madam Ruth Chatterton (as "Frisco" Jenny) suffers paternal abuse, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. After becoming a mother, Ms. Chatterton tries to go straight; but, she is unable to support a child. Chatterton partners up with Louis Calhern (as Steve Dutton); and, they prosper in prostitution and bootlegging. Mr. Calhern also provides a legitimate home for Chatterton's son, who grows into a football star and, later, a successful district attorney. Grown-up son Donald Cook (as Dan Reynolds) doesn't know about his mother's life of crime. Will their paths cross?

A "star vehicle" for Chatterton; "Frisco Jenny" is, otherwise, unsatisfying. Chatterton and the cast are entertaining, though; and, she performs especially well during the film's final scenes. During the trial, William A. Wellman's direction is somewhat dizzying. And, why does Chatterton save money, for years, to pay back Calhern - after all, she went to jail to cover for him!

***** Frisco Jenny (12/30/32) William A. Wellman ~ Ruth Chatterton, Donald Cook, Louis Calhern

Entertaining Pre-Code

[fsilva · 21 July 2004]

Not as 'notorious' a Pre-Code, as Chatterton's 'Female', released the following year, but anyway a highly entertaining film, that tells the story of 'fast-talking' 'Jenny Sandoval', who after the big San Francisco 1906 earthquake (great special effects in these sequence), 'rises' from the slums to the 'heights' of being the most powerful Brothel Madam of the whole city, with all kinds of 'useful' connections.

Nice to watch a 'young' Louis Calhern as a politician who is Chatterton's pal (23 years before his highly amusing role as Grace Kelly's bon-vivant uncle in MGM's 'High Society'). Also good performances by Helen Jerome Eddy as Chatterton's Chinese maid and Donald Cook as Chatterton's grown-up illegitimate son.

Somewhat reminiscent of Chatterton's 1929 MGM flick 'Madame X' aka as Absinthe, but better, and much swifter.

Watchable and enjoyable, but talk about your recycled plots!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 30 March 2009]

FRISCO JENNY begins in San Francisco just before the earthquake. Jenny (Ruth Chatterton) is in love with a young piano player and plans on marrying him, but he is killed during the quake. In a twist that could have only happened "Pre-Code" (i.e., before the Hollywood production code of standards was strengthened), you find out that she is pregnant and she has a cute baby boy. However, being poor and with few resources, she makes money "the old fashioned way"--by becoming a madame and having her own stable of "working girls". While they never say exactly that she makes her living this way, it's pretty obvious.

Eventually, her earthy roots nearly result in her going to jail and her son is sent to be raised by a rich and respectable family. The plan is for Jenny to save up the money to take him to live somewhere where her reputation won't follow. However, when she returns for the boy, he doesn't know her and he is traumatized with the notion of losing the only parents he can remember--these foster parents. Realizing it's best for him to just leave and let him believe these are his real parents, she departs from his life for good. As he grows into very respectable manhood, she follows his life the entire way and she's proud when she helps him to become district attorney--even if that means an end to her rackets.

There is one man who knows the truth and he threatens to tell the new D.A. that his mom is a criminal. In a scene that is just too ridiculously perfect to be true, Jenny chases him to the D.A.'s office and shoots him just as he's about to tell. Then, after she is caught, she is brought back to the office and the dying man is confessing what he knows about Jenny...but dies just as he's revealing the truth to the D.A.. Talk about convenient!!! The final weepy segment of the film shows Jenny both being prosecuted by her own son AND then awaiting execution. While she'd love to tell the young man the truth, her own devotion prevents this and she goes to her death with the secret on her lips.

When I watched this movie, I couldn't help but think that I'd seen it many times before. That's because many variations on this plot were made during the classic days of Hollywood, with films such as SO BIG!, IMITATION OF LIFE, STELLA DALLAS and in particular, MADAME X--the last two of which have been remade several times (probably too many times, if you ask me). This sort of weepy soap opera film was made again and again--all to illustrate that the greatest thing in this world is a self-sacrificing mother! Now this isn't a bad theme at all--but to appear again and again?! After all, self-sacrifice is one thing, but to be a human doormat seems a bit too noble and the films don't age particularly well because the mothers are just too perfect.

The bottom line is that the film is very entertaining and Chatterton does a fine job BUT the script is also completely ridiculous. Plus, I don't recommend you watch many films like this, as your blood sugar level may increase to the danger zone! Overall, it's watchable and enjoyable but you can't help but think you've seen this a dozen times before if you are a long-time fan of classic Hollywood films.

On The Barbary Coast

[boblipton · 7/10 · 4 September 2023]

Ruth Chatterton is in the family way. She tries to tell her father, who runs a notorious Barbary Coast dive, but he slaps her, which causes the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Afterwards she gives birth and runs a string of call girls in cooperation with lawyer Louis Calhern, but has to give up her baby, who is adopted by Berton Churchill. Nonetheless, Miss Chatterton keeps an album of her boy, known only to her loyal Chinese companion, Helen Jerome Eddy.

William Wellman directs expertly frm a script by Wilson Mizner, with a fast start and a nice representation of the 1906 Quake, and for much of the movie, it wobbles engagingly between murder and mirth. But this is a Ruth Chatterton vehicle, so the final quarter is devoted to melodrama. While it clearly pleased the audiences at the time, the change of tone was far too much for me.

Greek tragedy

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 6 June 2022]

It's 1906 San Francisco. Jenny Sandoval (Ruth Chatterton) wants to marry piano player Dan McAllister but her father, the saloon keeper, refuses to allow it. An earthquake kills both men leaving Jenny with her unborn son. After a deadly incident, she is forced to give up her son Dan for adoption who would grow up to become the district attorney. On the other hand, she becomes a successful madam of crimes and supporting Dan all his life. An ironic twist of fate leads to a tragic reunion of mother and son.

This pre-Code drama is a real Greek tragedy. It's a compelling story if somewhat classical. The earthquake has some fun action but it could use some bigger stunts. I would like for something more intimate in the story. It's a bit melodramatic. It's a soap opera in its way. I'm still a sucker for a poetic tragedy.

Essential viewing for Ruth Chatterton fans (all three of you)

[Matt-293 · 8/10 · 12 July 2000]

Ruth Chatterton was a fascinating early '30s leading lady - she was quite average looking and somewhat chubby, with a brittle, theatrical acting style that hasn't dated very well. And yet, there's something in every one of her performances that's worth watching. She specialized in hard-edged, independent women of the type that Bette Davis would later do with much more depth and sympathy. "Frisco Jenny" was typical of Chatterton's Warner Brothers vehicles, with a shopworn "women's picture" storyline that gave her plenty of opportunities to grit her teeth and snap off at characters who got in her way. Nice direction by William Wellman, with a well-placed earthquake to add

A very dramatic look at life.

[captainron49 · 10/10 · 14 September 2014]

This is a tale of poverty born of disaster and the will to overcome that poverty by very questionable means resulting in extremely dire consequences, protecting the innocent, then facing the justice system for misguided and illicit criminal actions all in the name of "trying to do the right thing." Because of her will to survive to feed her baby, Jenny's life takes an ill fated turn that results in society becoming her judge, jury and executioner for her seemingly heroic actions. In the end, she takes her secret to the gallows, but only for the love for her beloved son. All traces of that love and devotion are lost forever, yet her undying love still remains a shining tribute to her extreme devotion to motherhood.

FRISCO JENNY explores how Rich People . . .

[oscaralbert · 10/10 · 30 June 2015]

. . . use Religion to persuade Poor People to remain docile, accept wide income disparity, and string up their own mothers. That's right. When Dan is born (seven months after San Francisco's Great Earthquake kills his dad), Jenny is dirt poor, barely able to survive on the few dimes in her Salvation Army tambourine. A stereotypically barren Fat Cat couple agrees to temporarily house young Danny until Jenny gets back on her feet. Instead of keeping their promise, they cram Danny's head full of racial bigotry and animosity toward the Poor, poisoning any chance of Danny being able to live happily with his birth mother, Jenny. So Mom follows Danny's meteoric rise from afar, working her own way up to become a king-maker in city politics. She swings an election in Danny's favor to make him 'Frisco's D.A., and one of his first actions is to thrust Jenny's loving brow into a hangman's noose, watching her swing at San Quentin. Some may find all this too melodramatic, but they're missing director William A. Wellman's larger allegorical message: Wealth corrupts, and Absolute Wealth corrupts absolutely. As much as some Americans might enjoy the shenanigans of the Kardashian-type Rich, they're a luxury we can no longer afford. Just as Jenny's friend Amah closes FRISCO by burning Mommy's tribute to her Rich son, Wellman is suggesting that America must burn its bridges with the self-righteous Rich.

It's all for you, Son.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 23 March 2009]

A familiar story of a woman's sacrifice for the son who was taken from her as a child. Lord knows how many times the plot's been recycled. In 1933, before television, it was presumed that audiences forgot most movies within a year or two so -- change a few names, shift a few relationships, different actors, different titles, and -- voila! A refurbished model! The same concept is continually reborn. It's like Hinduism.

In this avatar, Ruth Chatterton is Jenny Sandoval, a girl from the San Francisco slums in 1906. Her old man runs a notorious "saloon" on the Barbary Coast. Jenny herself, a fundamentally decent girl, is pregnant by her boyfriend who want to make an honorable woman of her, but her Dad objects because the b/f lacks prospects. Before the conflict can be resolved, KaBoom, the earthquake -- and nicely done on a small scale, too, for its budget.

Well, to make a long story short, both boyfriend and father are done in by the quake, Jenny gives birth to a boy who is taken from her by a prosperous family. Jenny never sees him and he, in turn, believes his adoptive family to be his birth family. He grows up to be a tough, crime-fighting District Attorney.

Jenny grows older and become instrumental to a bootlegging organization led by Louis Calhern. Calhern threatens to expose her real identity to the up-and-coming District Attorney and Jenny shoots him as he's about to enter the DA's office and spill the beans. She is prosecuted and convicted of murder by her own son. Before she is hanged, she makes her loyal Chinese Amah, Helen Jerome Eddy, promise to burn the scrapbook and all other evidence that she, Jenny, is the true mother of the District Attorney. End of story.

I found it barely interesting enough to follow. I'd hoped for a happy ending of some kind, some small reward for having sat through this, but it wasn't forthcoming. The climactic scene in which the unwitting DA visits his own mother on death row just before the hanging, asks her to help him save her life, and she refuses to tell him her secret, reminded me of the days I was an usher in the Yiddish theater in Newark. The final scene had the mother rushing in and sobbing on her son's knee -- while he was already strapped into the electric chair.

But I can see why this formula might be a success. There is action and crime and gun play for the men, punctuating a story that is otherwise the kind of weeper that is likely to appeal to the women in the audience.

There are some likable character actors in the cast. Ruth Chatterton and Louis Calhern and the rest turn in performances of professional character, not more than that.

You can't find the Barbary Coast today, worse luck. Beer, dancing ladies, and cathouses. It was located around Pacific and Balboa Streets in an area adjacent to downtown and today consists largely of uninteresting brick buildings with shops and professional offices, the kind of city neighborhood that is always deserted on weekends.

You might enjoy this film for the same reasons that the original audiences did. There's a little something for everyone. And it helps also if you view it as a kind of moment in time captured on film. There we have the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. It seems astronomically remote to us. Yet it was only 26 years later that this movie was released and the earthquake was still relatively fresh in the memory of contemporary audiences. Vietnam is farther from us than the earthquake was from them.

Good

[Michael_Elliott · 28 February 2008]

Frisco Jenny (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Overblown drama from Warner has Ruth Chatterton playing 'Frisco' Jenny, a woman growing up in a brothel with her father. She's pregnant by a man but her father refuses to let her marry and just as he says no the 1906 San Francisco earthquake strikes, killing the father. Jenny is left poor so she gives her son to a rich family and she slowly starts to rebuild her life through illegal activities. Years later, Jenny commits a murder to prevent her now grown son (Donald Cook) from finding out that she's his real mother. Just to add more melodrama, the son is the D.A. who is going to prosecute her. Even with all that said, this film is just overbearing with all the drama and sadness it tries throwing at the viewer. Director WIlliam A. Wellman really doesn't bring too much to these emotional scenes even though he manages to get a good performance from Chatterton. The best moment in the film is the earthquake, which looks terrific. Some actual footage from the 1906 event is used but the special effects are just as impressive.

You will become a fan of Ruth Chatterton!! Trust me!

[ronrobinson3 · 10/10 · 1 January 2024]

I have been a big fan of Ruth Chatterton since being moved by her excellent performance in "Dodsworth". This is a film of hers I had not seen until now.

The movie is all about Ruth Chatterton's character. There are other players in the film, but the story is all about Chatterton's character of "Frisco Jenny". The plot moves quickly so that you are not really sure where it is going. Chatterton is a tough woman trying to make it in a man's world. She takes charge of her life and won't make any decisions based on what others tell her.

Chatterton gives a superb performance. Why she did not get a nomination for an Academy Award is beyond me.

Chatterton is beautiful in this film and yet she is NOT afraid to go without makeup when the scene calls for it. Most women of her day would never allow themselves to look less than glamorous, but Chatterton is clear that she is here to play the role as needed, even at the expense of "looking good".

I don't want to give away the plot, but by the time you reach the end, you will be, at least, misty-eyed and moved and a big Chatterton fan!

Finding a great film like this is why I do what I do. I had never heard of this film. I am so glad I have now. Take my research and recommendation and see this Classy Classic and you will become a fan of Ruth Chatterton too!! Trust me!

All this is missing is Jeanette MacDonald's singing...

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 26 July 2012]

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as someone shouts, "We'll build a new San Francisco!". Three years before Jeanette's high note set off the San Andreas fault, Ruth Chatterton suffered as an unwed mother who is a survivor of the 1906 earthquake that destroyed much of San Francisco. The special effects may not be as smashing as the more famous 1936 film but soap opera effects certainly outdo it. You see, Jenny Sandoval (Chatterton) isn't known for her decency but instead providing a certain kind of service to influential politicians. Clark Gable's Blackie Norton is nowhere to be found here, but Louis Calhern's Steve Dutton is, and he is even more ruthless.

This is a combination Madame X/Disaster film/Political Drama that goes all out to give drenching tears to the ladies who went to see it in 1933. Ms. Sandoval must give up her baby (she thinks) temporarily to prevent the legion of decency from taking it away from her after she is acquitted of various crimes. But the child refuses to be taken away from the only home he's ever known. Years go by, and the grownup child (Donald Cook) is now the D.A., prosecuting her for murdering the blackmailing Calhern. Sound familiar? What is interesting about this soapy is the fact it was directed by the rough and tough William Wellman ("Wings", "The High and the Mighty"), but it is definitely both a man's picture and a woman's picture. This is not only the obvious Madame X story but the saga of how a great American city was built. Because of all of these different plot lines, there is enough inside the movie to appeal to many different kinds of audiences. Chatterton, perhaps a bit too old to be believable in the earlier scenes, ages naturally in the film's 20+ year setting. Calhern isn't a typical hissable villain; He's got both good and bad points, the obvious later leading Chatterton to do him in. Helen Jerome Eddy is a strange presence as the almost Gale Sondergaard like Asian lady who looks over Chatterton for years and knows all her secrets.

Pre-Code Warner Brothers has always been one of my favorite genres to watch over and over, because the dialog is always a lot crisper and sardonic than what they were doing at the more lavish MGM and Paramount. Men may have ruled the gangs, but women ruled the fashions, and with actresses like Chatterton, Francis, Blondell, Stanwyck and Davis, Warners had a variety of stars that are more reachable than the Garbos, Shearers and Crawfords over at MGM. The film has enough glamor and class to make it rise above "B" status and it is short enough to watch without noticing the flaws.