Movie Cosmos - The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

Description:

Alexander Graham Bell falls in love with deaf girl Mabel Hubbard while teaching the deaf and trying to invent means for telegraphing the human voice. She urges him to put off thoughts of marriage until his experiments are complete. He invents the telephone, marries and becomes rich and famous, though his happiness is threatened when a rival company sets out to ruin him.

Top Cast >

Don Ameche

As Alexander Graham Bell

Loretta Young

As Mrs. Mabel Hubbard Bell

Henry Fonda

As Thomas Watson

Charles Coburn

As Gardner Hubbard

Gene Lockhart

As Thomas Sanders

Spring Byington

As Mrs. Hubbard

Sally Blane

As Gertrude Hubbard

Polly Ann Young

As Grace Hubbard

Georgiana Young

As Berta Hubbard

Bobs Watson

As George Sanders

Russell Hicks

As Mr. Barrows

Paul Stanton

As Chauncey Smith

Jonathan Hale

As President of Western Union

Harry Davenport

As Judge Rider

Beryl Mercer

As Queen Victoria

Elizabeth Patterson

As Mrs. MacGregor

Charles Trowbridge

As George Pollard

Jan Duggan

As Mrs. Winthrop

Claire Du Brey

As Landlady

Harry Tyler

As Joe Eliot

Ralph Remley

As D'Arcy - Singer

Zeffie Tilbury

As Mrs. Sanders

Jack Kelly

As Banker's Son (uncredited)

Esther Brodelet

As Telephone Operator

Tyler Brooke

As Mr. Calhoun

Nora Cecil

As Miss Jenkins

Davison Clark

As Court Attendant at Door

Dick Elliott

As Man Laughing at Demo

Edmund Elton

As Banker at Demo

Fern Emmett

As Mac Gregor's Maid

Mary Field

As Piano Player

George Guhl

As Mr. Winthrop

Otto Hoffman

As Pawnbroker

Warren Jackson

As Tom

Frank Jaquet

As Edward

Sheldon Jett

As New England Telephone Company Executive

Edward Keane

As Banker at Demo

Crauford Kent

As General

Edward LeSaint

As Banker at Demonstration

Jarold Clifford Lyons

As Infant

Dave Morris

As Telegrapher

Ottola Nesmith

As Nora

Ruth Robinson

As Nurse

John Graham Spacey

As Sir John Cowell

Landers Stevens

As Manager of New England Telephone Exchange

Charles Tannen

As Court Clerk

William Wagner

Eddy Waller

As Storekeeper

Jack Walsh

As James J. Starrow

Lillian West

As Sanders' Nurse

John Elliott

As Banker at Demo

Top Crew >

Irving Cummings

Director

Ray Harris

Story

Lamar Trotti

Screenplay

Walter Thompson

Editor

Thomas Little

Set Decoration

Mark-Lee Kirk

Art Direction

Richard Day

Art Direction

Darryl F. Zanuck

Producer

Royer

Costume Design

Leon Shamroy

Director of Photography

Ad Schaumer

Assistant Director

Louis Silvers

Music Director

Kenneth Macgowan

Associate Producer

Ernst Toch

Original Music Composer

Reviews:

CinemaSerf (6/10)

Don Ameche takes the title role in this biopic of the Boston-based Scotsman credited with the invention of the telephone, and he does bring a certain passion to an otherwise rather procedural drama. The story traces the development of his experiments with his friend Thomas Watson (Henry Fonda) and parallels with his budding romance with Mabel (Loretta Young) and for much of the time, it rather uncomfortably straddles the line between science and melodrama. The last twenty minutes - including a visit to Queen Victoria and a court case to establish the legitimacy of his patents, livens the thing up a bit and the supporting cast of Charles Coburn and Gene Lockhart add value, but it needed to focus more of the reason we know of the man, and of the huge significance of his technological advancement. Worth a watch for Ameche's performance, still, though.

2022-06-22

tmcd77 (4/10)

Worth a watch once, but that's it. The reason for watching, the invention of the Telephone, is largely glossed over and background noise. The main thrust of this story is a little too Mills & Boon, Bell falling in love with the deaf daughter of one of his backers. Very much an aged Romantic Drama of the early talkies era.

2024-11-03