Depression Era story set in London about a wealthy shop owner who goes bankrupt and is forced to fire his faithful staff.
Acting
Barrymore's trembling dignity as a man losing everything but grace.
Production
Authentic bakery sets built with obsessive 1933 detail.
Writing
Pre-Code dialogue that actually admits poverty exists.
Director
Clarence Brown
Lionel Barrymore
Tim Benton
Lewis Stone
Gabriel Service Sr.
Benita Hume
Mrs. Isobel Service
Elizabeth Allan
Caroline Service
Phillips Holmes
Michael Service
Colin Clive
Geoffrey Fielding
Alec B. Francis
Mr. Birkenshaw
Doris Lloyd
Lil Benton
Halliwell Hobbes
Mr. James Felton
Douglas Walton
Willie Benton
Viva Tattersall
Elsie Benton
Lawrence Grant
Philip Bendicott
George K. Arthur
Mr. Tressitt
Billy Bevan
Mr. Barker
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released March 1933—same month FDR took office and the US banking crisis peaked. Audiences didn't need fiction to feel seen.
Brown directed this between Garbo pictures, using his MGM privilege to smuggle working-class sorrow into prestige cinema.
US
