Abstract
The studio's in-house horror film maestro James Whale was originally slated for the project, but it soon landed in the lap of its natural wrangler, Frank Borzage, a sure hand at ethereal boy-girl romance blossoming in harsh environments. After a pricey eight-week production schedule, the somber non-fairy tale was launched into Great Depression America, where the terror of losing your job and being tossed on the streets would prove too close to home to be enjoyed as Hollywood fantasy. Veteran character actor Alan Hale plays stepmom's pimp-paramour, a good-natured con artist who brings a welcome jolt of outlaw fun to the dour proceedings. Given a prestigious A-Picture send-off on May 31, 1934, at Radio City Music Hall and a national release the next week, the film snuck in just under the wire of the newly formed Production Code Administration, which began vetting the moral content of Hollywood cinema in July 1934.