The Man Who Came Back. 1931. Directed by Raoul Walsh

Film

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The Man Who Came Back. 1931. USA. Directed by Raoul Walsh. Courtesy The Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive

The Man Who Came Back. 1931. USA. Directed by Raoul Walsh. With Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell. 74 min.

Originally announced as a Frank Borzage project, this most unusual entry in the Janet Gaynor/Charles Farrell cycle was in the event directed by Raoul Walsh, whose down-to-earth sensibility is a shade too strong for the material. Charlie is a Park Avenue wastrel whose industrialist father prevents his marriage to Janet, a humble cabaret singer. Flash forward to a drunken Charlie stumbling through Shanghai, where he meets Janet, now a woman of dubious virtue working a kimono in an opium den. What might have been a metaphor for Borazage is, for Walsh, a bordello. The last act moves to Hawaii for spiritual redemption on a hilltop, neatly rendered in-studio by ace designer Joseph Urban. 35mm restoration funded by The Mayer Foundation

This film accompanies William Fox Presents: More Restorations and Rediscoveries from the Fox Film Corporation.

Past events

Sat, Mar 23, 2019, 2:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
Wed, Mar 20, 2019, 7:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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