Directed by:
King VidorCinematography:
Harold RossonCast:
Brian Donlevy, Ann Richards, Walter Abel, John Qualen, Stephen McNally, Mary McLeod, Rudolf Myzet, Charles Irwin, Kay Medford, Paul Porcasi, Frank Faylen (more)Plots(1)
Director King Vidor intended An American Romance as the third entry in his "War, Wheat and Steel" trilogy (the War had been covered in The Big Parade, while Wheat was dispensed with in Our Daily Bread). Two years in production, the film cost nearly $3 million-little of which actually shows up on screen due to heavy post-production editing and rearranging of scenes. Brian Donlevy stars as immigrant laborer Steve Dangon, who becomes convinced early on that the only way he'll get anywhere in life is to accumulate huge sums of money. He takes a job in a midwestern steel mill, calculatedly working his way up the ladder from foreman to owner of an auto manufacturing firm. Though he regards himself as a "man of the people", Dangon resists the efforts of his workers to form a union.--even when his son Teddy (Horace McNally) is won over to the workers' point of view. A bitter three-month strike forces Dangon's board of directors to give in to the workers' wishes Disillusioned, Dangon retires from his business, but returns to work determined to switch over to the manufacture of airplanes when WW2 creates a demand for defense products. The "documentary" aspects of the story are far more compelling that the dramatic passages, with Donlevy's performance vacillating from strong to so-so. Minus any real star names (the leading lady is MGM contractee Ann Richards, a graduate of short subjects), An American Romance flopped at the box office, and Vidor in later years tended to dismiss the film as a misfire, severly damaged by studio tampering. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![Joseph Crehan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/000/159000321_652af3.jpg)
Joseph Crehan
USA
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Love Crazy (1941)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
![Howard Freeman](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/922/159922920_f8686b.jpg)
Howard Freeman
USA
Best movies:
Madame Curie (1943)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
The Killers (1946)
![Dell Henderson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/102/640/102640846_12e25d.jpg)
Dell Henderson
Canada
Best movies:
Laurel and Hardy's Laughing 20's (1965) - a.f.
The Crowd (1928)
Our Relations (1936)
![Jack Mulhall](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/126/158126072_d11d1a.jpg)
Jack Mulhall
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
It Started with Eve (1941)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
![Harry 'Snub' Pollard](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/157/886/157886409_13580a.jpg)
Harry 'Snub' Pollard
Australia
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Limelight (1952)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
![Ray Teal](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/948/159948615_91c282.jpg)
Ray Teal
USA
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
![Charles Wagenheim](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/298/159298355_6d74f2.jpg)
Charles Wagenheim
USA
Best movies:
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
![Dick Wessel](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/335/160335587_45e9f2.jpg)
Dick Wessel
USA
Best movies:
Fury (1936)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Scarlet Street (1945)
![Dick Elliott](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/470/159470718_fa6406.jpg)
Dick Elliott
USA
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
![Jack Chefe](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/482/159482546_09841b.jpg)
Jack Chefe
Russian Empire
Best movies:
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
It Started with Eve (1941)
All About Eve (1950)
Waclaw Rekwart
Poland
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
The Big Sleep (1946)
![Nolan Leary](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/888/159888876_e3ce6d.jpg)
Nolan Leary
Best movies:
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
White Heat (1949)
Easter Parade (1948)
![Ethan Laidlaw](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/310/161310716_1cb01f.jpg)
Ethan Laidlaw
USA
Best movies:
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Pressure Point (1962)
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
![Emmett Vogan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/932/159932788_480a5e.jpg)
Emmett Vogan
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Love Crazy (1941)
Scarlet Street (1945)
George Magrill
Best movies:
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Love Crazy (1941)
![Wilbur Mack](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/011/160011778_cc37d0.jpg)
Wilbur Mack
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
![William Haade](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/952/159952326_58cb3e.gif)
William Haade
USA
Best movies:
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
A Song Is Born (1948)
![Billy Engle](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/995/159995722_88400e.jpg)
Billy Engle
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
It Happened One Night (1934)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
![Robert Middlemass](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/018/160018297_d8d6c2.jpg)
Robert Middlemass
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
A Day at the Races (1937)
The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
![Harry Semels](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/093/160093444_4272a2.jpg)
Harry Semels
USA
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Sunrise (1927)
It Happened One Night (1934)