Stranded

Kay Francis and George Brent star in "Stranded" from 1935, which features Patricia Ellis, Donald Woods, and Barton MacLane.

Francis plays Lynn Palmer, who works for Travelers Aid. And that's where the title of the film comes from. Brent plays Mac Hale, a construction manager for the Golden Gate Bridge who comes to her office looking for one of his workers, whom he thinks might have gone to Salt Lake. He falls for Lynn and the two start dating.

Problems arise when Hale wants to get married, but he also wants Lynn to give up her job. He considers helping "losers" ridiculous and doesn't think they deserve what she does on their behalf. At the same time, a protection racket is trying to get $5000 a month from him, and when he won't agree, starts infiltrating his workers with troublemakers.

This film was an eye-opener for me about Travelers Aid - what a great organization. Francis plays a social worker there - I don't know what I thought Travelers Aid was, but it apparently helps people who are lost, victims of sex trafficking, people with no place to sleep, etc.

Francis is wonderful playing a woman who is warm, compassionate, and efficient. She and Brent have a wonderful scene where she has to take a pregnant mother to the hospital - that's the first stop - and the second is to get foreign brides to their grooms, and the brides spend the trip giggling at Brent.

Brent plays a tough guy, and he does a great job.

Great footage of the Golden Gate Bridge in progress.

Very enjoyable film.

This is a strong drama about two people of unswerving principles. George Brent plays Mack Hale, an engineer tasked with building the Golden Gate Bridge. Kay Francis plays Lynn Palmer, a woman sensitive to the emotional needs of others. When they meet, sparks fly, but they soon realize they cannot compromise their values for a relationship, and theygo their own ways. Besides, he really does not value her work.

Mack is faced with dire problems. There are those who would like him to fail, no matter the collateral damage. He has to fight crime while taking on the dangerous project.

The film has a clever theme and the writing is dynamic and thoughtful. I looked to see if Ayn Rand had a hand in the script (she didn't), because the story feels like something she might write, and its uses some themes common to her novels: the value of good workers, the value of doing good work, a principled approach to life, and the mob versus the individual.

Since the Golden Gate was built between 1933 and 1937, stock footage augments the narrative, providing authenticity. Safety really was an issue during construction, and the film uses that real concern to magnify the drama.

In San Francisco, attractive travelers' aid Kay Francis (as Lynn Palmer) meets superintendent George Brent (as Mack Hale), nine years after he gave her a "first kiss" (she claims she was 15 years old). The two are mutually attracted, although Ms. Frances is dating handsome Donald Woods (as John Wesley) and her new roommate Patricia Ellis (as Velma Tuthill) gives Mr. Brent those "come hither" looks. Brent is overseeing the city's new "Golden Gate Bridge" project, which is threatened by crooked Barton MacLane (as Sharkey) and his gang. The racketeers mean danger for Francis, her new relationship, and the Golden Gate Bridge...

Screenplay writer Delmer Daves' adaptation features a good setting, nicely unfolded by director Frank Borzage and the crew at Warner Bros. We begin with an innocent little girl traveling alone, who offers to share her Hershey's chocolate bar with a Black man and is kissed by another complete stranger. This falsely idealized and glamorized world prevails, but we see interesting contrasts develop and heavier themes explored, involving immigrants and alcohol. The usually glamorized gangsters take a back seat to the parallel concerns of industry and big business represented by Brent, coupled with charity and workers' rights represented by Francis...

The worlds are connected by unemployed young Frankie Darro (as James "Jimmy" Rivers), who probably should have been included in the opening pictorial credits, considering his role. Alas, the film wraps everything up too quickly.

****** Stranded (6/19/35) Frank Borzage ~ Kay Francis, George Brent, Patricia Ellis. Frankie Darro

Ever read George Brent's bio? He fled Ireland with a price on his head. It was reputed that he was a member of the IRA Active Service Unit, though he claimed he was simply a courier for Michael Collins. Dashing background, eh? More than his character here, the foreman of the team building the Golden Gate Bridge (more dashing glamor). But in this humble role, Brent positively shines as a comedic talent. Romancing Kay Francis, and fending off protection racketeers, he flies through the movie with apparent ease, making acting as they say "look easy." The scene when he takes Francis out for a date, and ends up chaperoning around four mail order brides and an unwed mother is hilarious -- his double takes are marvelous. One day, Warner will release this, and a new generation can appreciate George Brent.

Kay Francis works for Traveler's Aid in San Francisco, helping people get to where they are going to, whether they're mail-order brides from overseas, or girls who think they can't go home with the baby from the dead husband her family disapproved of. George Brent is in charge of building the Golden Gate Bridge. Naturally they fall in love, and he wants her to quit her silly job, which she won't, so bye! Meanwhile protection racketeer Barton MacLane wants $5,000 a month, which Brent says no to. So Maclane gets some of his workers drunk, falling off the construction site to become splatters far below, and blaming Brent.

It's got a provenance that includes Frank Wead. That explains the muscular side of things, with men riveting red-hot rivets, and using an oxy-acetylene torch to light their cigarettes. All very phallic. But most of the time it seems like a Public Service Announcement for Traveler's Aid, which is doing good work even as Brent scoffs, and is still doing good work as I do this. Most of the mysticism is missing from this Frank Borzage movie, but what remains is a well-paced movie, with funny and sad vignettes, and a lynching at the end. Too bad the prowl cars pull up as it begins.