The Silver Cord (film)

The Silver Cord is a 1933 American pre-Code film produced and released by RKO Radio Pictures, and directed by John Cromwell. It was based on the 1926 Broadway play The Silver Cord by Sidney Howard that starred Laura Hope Crews as an overly possessive mother.

The Silver Cord
Directed by	John Cromwell
Screenplay by	Jane Murfin
Based on	The Silver Cord 1926 play by Sidney Howard
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman Merian C. Cooper
Starring	Irene Dunne Laura Hope Crews Joel McCrea
Cinematography	Charles Rosher
Edited by	George Nicholls, Jr.
Music by	Max Steiner
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	May 5, 1933 (1933-05-05)
Running time	74 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Crews reprises her domineering mother role in this film with Joel McCrea and Irene Dunne as her son and daughter-in-law. Another Hollywood film dealing with an overbearing mother figure was Broken Laws (1924), produced by and starring Dorothy Davenport.^[1][2]

Plot

Cast

• Irene Dunne as Christina Phelps
• Joel McCrea as David Phelps
• Laura Hope Crews as Mrs. Phelps
• Eric Linden as Robert Phelps
• Frances Dee as Hester

unbilled

• Helen Cromwell as Delia
• Paul Irving as Taxicab Driver
• Perry Ivins as Phelps Family Doctor
• Reinhold Pasch as Lab Technician
• Gustav von Seyffertitz as German Doctor

Production

Director John Cromwell welcomed the opportunity to adapt The Silver Cord to the screen as he had directed Sidney Howard's play in its 1926 Broadway production. Film historian Kingsley Canham reports that Cromwell “felt that he could pull it off better than any other [film] director.” ^[3]

Joel McCrea and Frances Dee first met during filming, and would be married soon after in October 1933. They remained married for 57 years, until McCrea's death.