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Niagara Falls is a 1941 American comedy of errors film directed by Gordon Douglas that was one of Hal Roach's Streamliners.
| Niagara Falls | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original British film poster | |
| Directed by | Gordon Douglas |
| Written by | Eugene Conrad (writer) Paul Gerard Smith (writer) Hal Yates (writer) |
| Produced by | Fred Guiol (producer) Hal Roach (executive producer) |
| Cinematography | Robert Pittack |
| Edited by | Bert Jordan |
Release date | 17 October 1941 |
Running time | 43 minutes (USA original version) 86 minutes (TCM print) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $105,770[1] |
| Box office | $218,965[1] |
Plot summary edit
A peanut vendor sights a man named Sam Sawyer attempting suicide by jumping off a cliff into the waters below. The vendor offers a free bag of peanuts to hear Sam's story of what brought him to make such a decision.
Through flashback Sam relates that he and his wife Emily made their way to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. On the way there Sam and Emily sight a bickering young couple named Tom and Margie who they later see at their hotel. Tom and Margie are two strangers who met through automobile accidents that have destroyed their cars, leaving them furious with each other. Unknown to each other, Tom and Margie hitch rides to the same hotel they both plan to stay at. Once at the hotel Sam sees Tom and Margie arguing and Sam wrongly assumes they are married but having a quarrel. He offers his and Emily's reserved bridal suite to the couple so they can be reconciled.
As the two are not keen on the idea, Sam marches them at gunpoint into the smaller room he and Emily had taken in exchange for the bridal suite, and locks them in. To the distress of Emily, Sam is so keen on bringing the couple together he stays up all night with his large revolver facing their room to prevent escape attempts.
During the night the young couple realise they are in love, and have a minister and a witness, who are hotel guests, marry them. In the morning Sam and the management of the hotel discover that the couple really were not married after all. The female guests of the hotel demand they all be evicted in shame.
The film cuts back to Sam, who concludes the story and says, "Nothing will ever cure me". The peanut vendor says, "I wouldn't say that", and pushes him off the cliff. Sam holds on to a branch stating, "I'm gonna start minding my own business before it's too late". The branch snaps, Sam says, "Too late!" and crashes into the water. It is assumed that he is ok as he treads water.
Cast edit
- Marjorie Woodworth as Margie Blake
- Tom Brown as Tom Wilson
- ZaSu Pitts as Emmy Sawyer
- Slim Summerville as Sam Sawyer
- Chester Clute as Hotel Manager Potter
- Edgar Dearing as Motorcycle Cop
- Edward Gargan as Chuck
- Gladys Blake as Trixie
- Leon Belasco as Head Waiter
- Charlie Hall as Bellhop
- Rand Brooks as Honeymooner
- Margaret Roach as Honeymooner
- Jack Rice as Hotel Desk Clerk
Notes edit
ZaSu Pitts and Slim Summerville had made a streamliner prequel Miss Polly playing the same characters. When some cinemas refused to accept double features, Hal Roach combined the two films into one standard length feature with the same title.[citation needed]
References edit
- ^ a b Ward, Richard Lewis (2005). A history of the Hal Roach Studios. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 213.
External links edit
- Niagara Falls at IMDb
- Niagara Falls is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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