The Shining Hour
Encyclopedia
The Shining Hour is a 1938
MGM film, based on a 1934 play by Keith Winter. The film starred Joan Crawford
, Margaret Sullavan
, Robert Young
, Melvyn Douglas
, and Fay Bainter
.
Hannah (Bainter) and his brother David, (Young), who do not approve of her. Olivia finds an ally in David's wife, Judy (Sullavan), who is in a loveless marriage. Olivia also comes to realize that she and Judy are in the same situation. Olivia's living situation is further complicated when David defends her from the unwanted advances of a farm hand and he begins to fall in love with her. Henry is unaware of this; but, when Hannah finds out what is going on, sets fire to the home in a drunken rage. Olivia saves a badly burned Judy, and David realizes he has loved Judy after all. Olivia then decides to leave the farm; and, as she drives away, Henry joins her and they leave together.
1938 in film
The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
MGM film, based on a 1934 play by Keith Winter. The film starred Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Sullavan
Margaret Brooke Sullavan was an American stage and film actress. Sullavan started her career on the stage in 1929. In 1933 she caught the attention of movie director John M. Stahl and had her debut on the screen that same year in Only Yesterday...
, Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
, Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...
, and Fay Bainter
Fay Bainter
Fay Okell Bainter was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Charles F. Bainter and Mary Okell. In 1910, she was a traveling stage actress...
.
Plot summary
Olivia (Crawford), a New York nightclub dancer, tires of the fast life and marries Henry Linden (Douglas), a farmer. When Olivia moves to her new husband's farm, in Wisconsin, she encounters trouble from his domineering sister-in-lawSister-in-law
A sister-in-law is the sister of one's spouse, the wife of one's sibling, or sometimes the wife of one's spouse's sibling...
Hannah (Bainter) and his brother David, (Young), who do not approve of her. Olivia finds an ally in David's wife, Judy (Sullavan), who is in a loveless marriage. Olivia also comes to realize that she and Judy are in the same situation. Olivia's living situation is further complicated when David defends her from the unwanted advances of a farm hand and he begins to fall in love with her. Henry is unaware of this; but, when Hannah finds out what is going on, sets fire to the home in a drunken rage. Olivia saves a badly burned Judy, and David realizes he has loved Judy after all. Olivia then decides to leave the farm; and, as she drives away, Henry joins her and they leave together.