{"id":39803,"date":"2017-12-16T14:59:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-16T21:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39803"},"modified":"2021-02-14T18:41:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T01:41:11","slug":"story-of-alexander-graham-bell-the-1939","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39803","title":{"rendered":"Story of Alexander Graham Bell, The (1939)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to address you this evening &#8212; though I am in Boston, and you are in Salem.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Poster-218x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"218\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-39804\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Poster-218x300.jpg 218w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Poster-93x128.jpg 93w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Poster-768x1057.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Poster-744x1024.jpg 744w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Poster.jpg 1010w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 218px) 100vw, 218px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alexander_Graham_Bell\">Alexander Graham Bell<\/a> (Don Ameche) falls in love with the deaf daughter (Loretta Young) of a wealthy investor (Charles Coburn) while collaborating with his colleague <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_A._Watson\">Thomas Watson<\/a> (Henry Ford) on numerous inventions &#8212; including a &#8220;telephone&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Biopics<\/li>\n<li>Charles Coburn Films<\/li>\n<li>Cross-Class Romance<\/li>\n<li>Deafness<\/li>\n<li>Don Ameche Films<\/li>\n<li>Henry Fonda Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Inventors<\/li>\n<li>Loretta Young Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n20th Century Fox&#8217;s biopic of Alexander Graham Bell&#8217;s life was clearly designed for audience appeal: it features a brilliant, intrepid, noble, unassuming hero:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1607\" height=\"1029\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55991\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche.png 1607w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche-300x192.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche-1024x656.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche-128x82.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche-768x492.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche-1536x984.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Ameche-422x270.png 422w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1607px) 100vw, 1607px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;  whose romance with a beautiful lass (Young):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1659\" height=\"1033\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55986\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young.png 1659w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young-300x187.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young-1024x638.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young-768x478.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young-1536x956.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young-434x270.png 434w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1659px) 100vw, 1659px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; is picture perfect (other than the pesky need for him to actually make some money in order to marry her); touching scenes of children and adults impacted by Bell&#8217;s work, including a cherub-cheeked deaf boy (Bobby Watson) who learns to communicate with his father (Gene Lockhart) for the first time, thanks to Bell&#8217;s pioneering work with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Visible_Speech\">Visible Speech<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1633\" height=\"1015\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55989\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll.png 1633w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll-1024x636.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll-768x477.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll-1536x955.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll-434x270.png 434w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1633px) 100vw, 1633px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; droll humor in the form of Bell&#8217;s sidekick (Fonda), who repeatedly points out the need to eat every once in a while:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1621\" height=\"1019\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55988\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda.png 1621w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda-1024x644.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda-768x483.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda-1536x966.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Fonda-430x270.png 430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1621px) 100vw, 1621px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and a final court case:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1633\" height=\"1017\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55987\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case.png 1633w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case-300x187.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case-1024x638.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case-768x478.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case-1536x957.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Court-Case-434x270.png 434w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1633px) 100vw, 1633px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; in which Bell successfully defends the veracity of his patent against a would-be usurper (Western Union) by agreeing to share a deeply personal letter written to his beloved. Unfortunately, the too-neat storyline fails to elicit as much interest in this astonishingly prolific scientist as the subject matter should warrant, and Young is simply sappy as his all-adoring partner. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1625\" height=\"1029\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55993\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2.png 1625w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2-300x190.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2-1024x648.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2-128x81.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2-768x486.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2-1536x973.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Young2-426x270.png 426w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1625px) 100vw, 1625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This flick will primarily be of interest to those who enjoy early Hollywood biopics.       <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Hardworking Bell was brilliant beyond what he&#8217;s best known for. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alexander_Graham_Bell\">According to Wikipedia: <\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The range of Bell&#8217;s inventive genius is represented only in part by the 18 patents granted in his name alone and the 12 he shared with his collaborators. These included 14 for the telephone and telegraph, four for the photophone, one for the phonograph, five for aerial vehicles, four for &#8220;hydroairplanes&#8221;, and two for selenium cells. Bell&#8217;s inventions spanned a wide range of interests and included a metal jacket to assist in breathing, the audiometer to detect minor hearing problems, a device to locate icebergs, investigations on how to separate salt from seawater, and work on finding alternative fuels.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Touching scenes between a father and his young deaf child who is learning to communicate<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1651\" height=\"1015\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-55995\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2.png 1651w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2-300x184.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2-1024x630.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2-768x472.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2-1536x944.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Story-of-Alexander-Graham-Bell-Driscoll2-439x270.png 439w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1651px) 100vw, 1651px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; feel free to skip this one. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031981\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1939\/04\/01\/archives\/the-screen-the-founding-of-the-wrongnumber-industry-welldramatized.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to address you this evening &#8212; though I am in Boston, and you are in Salem.&#8221; Synopsis: Alexander Graham Bell (Don Ameche) falls in love with the deaf daughter (Loretta Young) of a wealthy investor (Charles Coburn) while collaborating with his colleague Thomas Watson (Henry Ford) on numerous inventions &#8212; including a &#8220;telephone&#8221;. Genres: Biopics Charles Coburn Films Cross-Class Romance Deafness Don Ameche Films Henry Fonda Films Historical Drama Inventors Loretta Young&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=39803\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39803"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69477,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39803\/revisions\/69477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}