You Can't Buy Everything

1934
Passed
1h 22min

NOTE IMDb

MA NOTE

William Bakewell and Jean Parker in You Can't Buy Everything (1934)

Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueHannah is so tight with her money that she takes her son, Donnie, to the charity ward a week after he hurts his leg. But she has always hoarded her money since her late husband wasted most o... Tout lireHannah is so tight with her money that she takes her son, Donnie, to the charity ward a week after he hurts his leg. But she has always hoarded her money since her late husband wasted most of it and now she plans to save it for Donnie. But when Donnie graduates from Princeton, he... Tout lireHannah is so tight with her money that she takes her son, Donnie, to the charity ward a week after he hurts his leg. But she has always hoarded her money since her late husband wasted most of it and now she plans to save it for Donnie. But when Donnie graduates from Princeton, he does not want to go into banking at Hannah's bank, he wants to be a writer, which upsets ... Tout lire

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6,6/10

231

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Photos5

Rôles principaux37

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May Robson

Hannah

Jean Parker

Elizabeth

Lewis Stone

Burton

Mary Forbes

Kate

Reginald Mason

Dr. Lorimer

William Bakewell

Donny (As a Man)

Tad Alexander

Donny (As a Boy)

Walter Walker

Flagg

Reginald Barlow

Sparks

Claude Gillingwater

Banker

Bruce Bennett

Bank Clerk
(non crédité)

Margaret Bert

Miss Austin - Burton's Secretary
(non crédité)

Eddie Borden

Train Conductor
(non crédité)

Walter Brennan

Train Vendor
(non crédité)

Kate Campbell

Betsy - Kate's Maid
(non crédité)

Nick Copeland

Thomas - Bank Messenger
(non crédité)

Charles Crockett

Committee Man
(non crédité)

Eva Dennison

Woman at Graduation
(non crédité)

Avis des utilisateurs14

6,6231

Avis à la une

7cornvan

A charming little movie...

The story opens in the late 1800's with May Robson taking her son to the hospital, where she portrays herself as poor and unable to pay. It soon becomes evident that she is actually a very rich woman, albeit a penny-pincher. As her son grows up she continues her tightfisted ways but learns a painful lesson in the process. A sweet story with a good moralistic message.

7planktonrules

Based, somewhat, on a real lady!

May Robson plays Hannah Bell--the cheapest and nastiest woman in Manhattan. The film begins with her taking her son to a charity ward--and you soon learn she is one of the richest women in Manhattan and is just too cheap to get the boy better treatment! You also see that she's not just cheap but amazingly bitter and just plain nasty. Much of the film consists of watching this horrible lady treat those around her with contempt. Why she is so bitter and how her ex-fiancé relates to this is an interesting thing you learn late in the film. You also see how tough it is to be the son of this wretched woman, as her son (now grown) is miserable because of her nasty ways. All in all, a fascinating portrait--especially because it's based on a real woman--the infamous Hetty Green. Green did several of the things you see Robson do in the film (such as seeking her boy treatment at a clinic for indigent patients) and was, by all accounts, a horrible old miser. But, being a Hollywood film, the film also tacks on a redemption and happy ending--something that did NOT happen to Green. All in all, a fascinating film and a dandy acting job for Robson who is in top form playing a cranky old prune. Worth seeing.

7AlsExGal

A sweet little film with an unlikely heroine...

...that being 19th century financial wizardess Hetty Green, so called "The Witch of Wall Street". That nickname of the actual subject of the film, however diluted her story is here, seems a bit unkind to Ms. Green. She was legendarily tight where her male counterparts were given to ostentatious displays, but she did show selective charity and even loaned the city of New York 1.1 million dollars during the panic of 1907. If she never failed to collect a debt and showed unusual agency for a woman of her time, I think if she had been a man that, aside from her extraordinary thrift, she would not have a bad name. But I digress.

Mae Robson played this same basic role of Hetty Green twice - in this film as Hannah Bell, and in "She Wolf" in 1931 as Harriet Breen. I think the actual Hetty would have been mortified to have been portrayed as she was here - a figure treated badly by romance in her youth so that she holds fast to the only thing she can be sure of - her money.

If you don't know anything about the actual Hetty, you can take this film for what it is - a sweet little morality piece on the lifetime damage harboring a grudge can do, particularly when you don't know the whole truth concerning what you are harboring a grudge about.

I'd recommend it. The only thing really bad I can say about it is that in the beginning, when Robson is playing a 30 something version of her character when she is actually 76, a dark wig is just not going to make me believe she is young.

7boblipton

Roman A Clef

This is a biography of Hetty Green, the Witch of Wall Street, a woman who went head to head with the other robber barons of the Gilded Age and who usually came out ahead. They had to change the name for fear of lawsuit by her heirs. It was the common, if apocryphal story of how she made her son go to a free clinic, rather than pay a doctor that sent the lawyers at the studio screaming for a cover name for the character.

In truth, Mrs. Green was a monstrously greedy character who, if she did not sell tainted pork to the Union Army, as did her fellow Robber Baron, Armour, did go to free clinics herself, rather than pay for medical treatment. She also forged her aunt's will and tried to bribe the judge in the case, but those are mere trifles in her story.

Almost inevitably, the writers soften her character, making her more sinned against than sinner in love, and the anonymous benefactress of scrubwomen and so forth. Doubtless people would have refused to see the real story, because there was no real story beyond a woman living a tough life, going head-to-head in the man's world of Wall Street and doing it well. Enough of a story for me, perhaps, but not enough to sell the studios.

The performances are sterling, and May Robson is having a lot of fun playing an out-and-out villainess, much as Edward Arnold would the next year, playing Jim Fisk, the man who precipitated the Panic of 1869. That's softened too. Still, actors love playing villain. They have fun, and the audience does, too. So have some fun and see this one.

7ksf-2

pinching every penny

May robson, lewis stone, mary forbes. Period piece... 1890s. This is supposed to be based on the life of the thrify investor hetty green, from a new bedford whaling family, who had saved and pinched every penny. In this story, mrs. Bell even makes up a false name so she can bring her son to the free clinic. Of course, some of the stories were probably greatly exaggerated at the time. The film hints that the ornery mrs. Bell probably may have had serious trust issues, perhaps even paranoia. We see the control that mrs. Bell has over her son, his occupation, and even his marriage plans. According to wikipedia dot com, there was also a daughter, but we don't see her mentioned in the film. It's interesting, especially for those of us born and raised in massachusetts, who had learned about hetty green in school. Directed by charles reisner. The run time on imdb and turner classics shows one hour, twenty two minutes. The run time had originally showed ninety minutes. Apparently, about eight minutes were edited out at some point. It's an interesting story. Kind of a lesson in how far should one go in watching everyday expenses.

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Anecdotes
According to a contemporary article in the Motion Picture Herald, May Robson's character is based on Hetty Green (1834-1916), known as "The Witch of Wall Street," because of her financial acuity and frugality. During her career she was the richest woman in the United States, and was also known as "The Queen of Wall Street." She also had a daughter, but just her son was portrayed in this film.

Hetty Green was born in 1834 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to the richest whaling family in the city with a Quaker upbringing. She learned business basics at the knee of her father and grandfather. At 13, she became the family's bookkeeper and later helped manage her family's business. She was "the richest woman in America" during the Gilded Age."

She was an early proponent of empowered women, believing "It is the duty of every woman to learn to take care of her own business affairs," and "A girl should be brought up as to be able to make her own living..." "Whether rich or poor, a young woman should know how a bank account works, understand the composition of mortgages and bonds, and know the value of interest and how it accumulates." She predicted the Panic of 1907, was a well-established financier and "was the only woman invited to the critical meeting with J.P. Morgan and the leading banking executives at the height of the crisis."

Despite Hetty Green's exceptional investment instincts, discreet generosity, and admirable character, most media reports from the era (and soon thereafter) characterized her thrift as evidence of miserliness. The Guinness Book of World Records named her the "greatest miser." Stories that were often cited include her refusal to buy expensive clothes, pay for hot water, instructing her laundress to wash only the dirtiest parts of her dresses (the hems) to save money on soap, and her habit of wearing a single dress that was only replaced when it was worn out. Yet many of these habits were considered abnormal mainly because the Gilded Age was a time of celebrating excess rather than hiding it. When Hetty Green's life is evaluated in its entirety and in the context of the time period, it is clear that media criticism grossly misrepresented her true character.