Courage is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film, produced by Warner Bros. in 1929 and released early in 1930. The movie is based on a stage play of the same name by Tom Barry which was a hit on Broadway in 1928.[1][2]

Courage
Directed byArchie Mayo
Written byWalter Anthony
based on the play by Tom Barry
StarringBelle Bennett
Marian Nixon
Leon Janney
Richard Tucker
Rex Bell
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release date
  • May 22, 1930 (1930-05-22)
Running time
73 Minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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Bennett plays Mary Colbrook, the widowed mother of seven children living in Sioux City, Iowa. She moves with them to Cambridge, Massachusetts to educate her children with culture and give them every advantage.

Mary, who is unversed in financial matters, soon faces poverty for herself and her children. She takes out a loan from an unscrupulous lender, James Rudlin, who neglects to ask her for collateral. Mary is later only able to partially pay her creditors.

Muriel, Mary's eldest daughter, is shocked by her mother's actions and attempts to sacrifice herself to Rudlin to clear her mother's obligations, although she is engaged to marry a well-to-do Harvard undergraduate. A stern aunt appears and is hell bent on taking her brother's children away from their mother. The aunt manages to turn Bennett's children against their mother, with the exception of her son, Bill, who, fortuitously, inherits the fortune of a neighbouring spinster which allows Mary to be reunited with the rest of her children. Mary discovers noble qualities in Rudlin and agrees to become his future wife.

Cast

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A scene from the film with Belle Bennett and Richard Tucker.

Preservation

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The film is believed to be lost.[citation needed] No film elements [other than stills] are known to exist. The complete soundtrack, however, survives on Vitaphone disks.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30 published by The American Film Institute, c. 1971
  2. ^ Courage as produced on Broadway at the Ritz Theatre, October 8, 1928 to June 1929, ibdb.com; accessed August 11, 2015.
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