The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

4/4/19391h 38m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Darryl F. Zanuck's Entertainment gem will take its place in the Hall of Fame ! ~

Overview:

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.

Director:

Irving Cummings

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

inventor
telephone
biography
historical figure

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

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
6
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.
t
tmcd77
Written 8 month(s) ago
4
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.