The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1940) : Brief Review -

Ahoy, this is Alexander Graham Bell Speaking (to the audience to ring the bell in their hearts, instead of the Telephone!). Firstly, I'd like to pinch myself to believe that Alexander Graham Bell was this handsome. How!?? Even Marx Bros. Couldn't resist making a spoof of him as "Don Ameche". Dear Ameche, you just made me believe that those great scientists and investors didn't just have good brains but good looks too. It doesn't matter what their usual pictures on Google show; the cinema is always the best medium to showcase their images. Watching a biopic of Alexander Graham Bell in the 2023, 5G era, on my mobile by downloading, with Bluetooth earphones on.. Guess how fascinating and amusing this experience is. Here I am using all these electronic devices that make my life easy and accessible, and there he was, the great Bell, who had to have sleepless nights with an empty stomach in a cheap attic. What good have we done to have been born on the same planet, using the helpful devices created by the legendary scientist? We all know Graham Bell's name now, but how many of us are aware of his struggle? Behind every successful man, there is a woman, they say. Well, Alec had Mable. If there had been no Mable, he would have given up his invention of Telephone. So, let's thank Mable Bell too. A handsome man like Bell had to choose a deaf woman as his life partner. That also tells you a great deal about humanity and how God has made perfect pairs for us. The Story of Alexander Graham Bell is a little bit overdramatic and less intelligent, but it's inspiring, encouraging, emotional, and enthusiastic. Writing a review of the inventor of Telephone on my mobile has to be one of the most metaphorical things that have ever happened in my life. Irving Cummings and the solid cast made sure that the tale of tele-phone (and somewhat of aeronautics) reached me with a clear voice. Thank you, Mr. Bell, and thank you to the team for making this film.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Story of Alexander Graham Bell, The (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Delightful tale of Alexander Graham Bell (Don Ameche) who while attempting to create the telephone falls in love with a mute girl (Loretta Young). The film really doesn't go into much detail about how the phone was created but instead it focuses on the pain that Bell went through while trying to break through. Ameche is downright brilliant in every shape of the word and his strong performance makes you forget several of the flaws throughout the film. Loretta Young is also very good as his wife and Henry Fonda adds nice support as the assistant. The film has some nice humor to go along with the drama and while I'm sure there are some facts made up, the film is still worth watching if you're a fan of the cast.

Just how factual all the events are in Fox's biographical account of THE STORY OF Alexander GRAHAM BELL, I don't know, but it seems safe to say they have taken the basic outline of his life and embellished it with a series of vignettes that serve to show us how and why he became the inventor of the telephone.

Although this is DON AMECHE's signature role (indeed the invention is often referred to as "The Ameche"), he clearly had better roles in his future. Here he overacts to a tiresome degree under Irving Cummings' direction. On the other hand, there's a considerable amount of underplaying by LORETTA YOUNG and HENRY FONDA in subordinate roles. Young is Ameche's deaf wife and Fonda is his laboratory assistant.

Factual or not, it moves at a slow pace and may not be the kind of biography for everyone, lacking the vigorous style of a story about Jesse James, for example. There's a little too much talk before we get to the crucial scene in the film where Ameche spills acid and calls for help over the wire to Fonda in the next room.

Supporting cast includes GENE LOCKHART, SPRING BYINGTON and CHARLES COBURN (who must have been one of Hollywood's busiest character actors in the '30s and '40s).

This film has a unique place in movie history. The Story of Alexander Graham Bell not only gave Don Ameche his signature role, but Ameche's very name entered the English slang. Still today, a telephone is sometimes referred to as an "ameche."

Bell was a Scottish immigrant who came by way of Canada to the Boston area. At the time the film opens, Don Ameche is a teacher of deaf children. He's also employed as a private tutor to one particular child, Bobs Watson who is Gene Lockhart's son. There scenes have a particular poignancy.

Ameche also woos and wins Loretta Young, a deaf woman who is the son of prominent businessman, Charles Coburn, who later backs him in his scientific work and business ventures.

As you can imagine living in a world with a whole lot of silent people and a natural scientific bent made him curious about sound. In inventing the telephone, Bell sought to break the sound barrier which was then limited by how loud the loudest person could shout.

The famous scene with assistant Henry Fonda when Bell's own voice goes over a wire for the first time is there. And his later patent struggles are also well documented.

But it is Don Ameche's sincere and straightforward interpretation of Alexander Graham Bell that makes this film memorable. And he's matched every step of the way by Loretta Young as his wife. Ms. Young by the way got to be in this film with all three of her sisters, playing her sisters, a rare treat.

Given Bell's lifelong interest in the deaf, I'm sure that today with the invention of TTY lines to help deaf people communicate by phone, he'd be doubly proud of what he had accomplished.

A good film and a great tribute to a great scientific and humanitarian individual.

If are looking for an accurate and detailed lesson about either the life of Alexander Graham Bell or the invention of the telephone, this film is far from perfect. Often it takes liberties and omissions--all in the aim of producing an entertaining film first and foremost. However, if you understand that it is NOT great history but purely there to entertain, it's pretty good. I would not put in on par with the Edison films at MGM or the wonderful Warner Brothers films on Pasteur and Erlich, but it is quite good.

The movie only concerns the period just before the telephone was invented as well as the process of inventing and marketing the device. So, if you want information about his work as a deaf educator or about his interesting family background, this film is maddeningly silent. I would LOVE to see a film talk particularly talking about his hatred of sign language (as he felt the deaf MUST be forced to learn to talk and function like the hearing) or the disdain many deaf today have for him. Perhaps this sort of discussion would be best dealt with in a documentary, but it IS fascinating stuff.

As far as this film goes, Ameche, Fonda and Young are all very good here, the direction very nice and the entire production is polished and pleasant from start to finish.