IMDb RATING
6.8/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
The San Francisco earthquake shakes up the life of Jenny, a madam who gives birth to an illegitimate son and gives him up to protect him.The San Francisco earthquake shakes up the life of Jenny, a madam who gives birth to an illegitimate son and gives him up to protect him.The San Francisco earthquake shakes up the life of Jenny, a madam who gives birth to an illegitimate son and gives him up to protect him.
Gertrude Astor
- Miss Beulah
- (uncredited)
Joe Bordeaux
- Drunken Sailor
- (uncredited)
Ed Brady
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Don Brodie
- Man in Meal Line
- (uncredited)
Morgan Brown
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler
- Man Posting Earthquake Deaths
- (uncredited)
Wong Chung
- Chinese Man
- (uncredited)
Berton Churchill
- Judge Thomas B. Reynolds
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWilliam A. Wellman: a newspaper reporter phoning in a scoop.
- GoofsAfter the coroner tells the photographer to take a picture of a recently murdered man who died with his eyes open, the actor playing the dead man visibly blinks twice.
- Quotes
Frisco Jenny Sandoval: Cellars of Chinatown. Yeah, I was there. So was he. It was there I gave him life. He gives me death.
- ConnectionsEdited from A Trip Down Market Street Before the Fire (1906)
- SoundtracksMy Gal Sal
(uncredited)
Written by Paul Dresser
Sung by a chorus during the opening credits and at the end
Played and sung often throughout the picture
Featured review
Ruth Chatterton is early pre-code film
"Frisco Jenny" released in 1932, stars Ruth Chatterton as a woman who has a child out of wedlock amidst the turmoil after the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. The disaster leaves her in poverty, so she has no choice but to give the baby boy to a loving and wealthy couple. "Jenny" then fights her way out of poverty through bootlegging, prostitution, and other unsavory deeds. This of course leads her to associate with some corrupt folks. It all gets quite complicated, but Jenny is tried for murder of one of these folks. Then lo and behold, the prosecutor who goes after her is -- you guessed it -- none other than her now grown and successful son (Donald Cook). Interestingly, Chatterton starred just three years earlier in a similar film, Madame X. This film is "pre-code" meaning before the motion picture code was enforced in 1934. These films were considered controversial for the time, as issues like sex, drugs, and other things were more honestly and openly displayed. Chatterton gives a good performance here, and the film is entertaining. What surprised me most is William Wellman directed it. Although most known for his macho films, Wellman showed he could also direct women's pictures and fine dramas like the original "A Star is Born."
helpful•63
- sdave7596
- Mar 28, 2009
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Common Ground
- Filming locations
- Market Street, San Francisco, California, USA(opening shot, archive footage)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $286,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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