Together We Live

{{Short description|1935 film}}

{{Infobox film

| image = File:Together We Live.jpg

| director = Willard Mack

| writer = Willard Mack

| producer = Bryan Foy

| starring = Willard Mack
Ben Lyon
Sheila Bromley
William Bakewell

| cinematography = Roy Overbaugh

| editing = Arthur Hilton

| studio = Foy Productions

| distributor = Columbia Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1935|08|16}}

| runtime = 70 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

}}

Together We Live is a 1935 drama film distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film was directed by Willard Mack.{{cite web |title=Together We Live (1935) |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/93504/together-we-live#overview |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=9 August 2021}} The film's events are related to the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike. Two starring actors were dead at the time of release which led to them receiving lower billing, including Mack who directed the film.

Plot

Hank Kavanaugh is a civil war veteran with five children. His sons Max and George are often absent from family meetings held after dinner. When Kavanaugh reads about the San Francisco strike by communists, he voices his distaste for communism while Max and George state that communism has virtues. They then reveal that they were at communist meetings during the family meetings. Kavanaugh has to contend with changing the views of his sons while also dealing with the communist-led strike that Max is involved with.

Cast

From the American Film Institute.

Production and release

The film's working titles were Call to Arms and The Soldier Story. In December 1935, the film was banned from releasing in Great Britain although the reason is unknown. It was produced during the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike in San Francisco, California. Joseph Breen, the director of the Production Code Administration, certified the film once changes were made including "the removal of any direct attacks on organized labor, capitalism, or constituted forces of law and order".{{cite web |title=Together We Live (1935) |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/8554-TOGETHER-WE-LIVE?cxt=filmography |website=American Film Institute |access-date=9 August 2021}} The changes were meant "to specify that the strike was the work of outside agitators".

While the film was being produced at a Columbia Pictures studio, Wera Engels took a saw out of a package which caused the carpenters there to proclaim, "She can't do that to us – she's not in the union!" Actor Ben Lyon calmed the carpenters down by explaining that Engels "was an experienced musical saw operator", leading to the majority of the studio's carpenters trying to produce music using their saws.{{cite news |date=August 9, 1935 |title=At the National |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94992593/the-chico-enterprise/ |work=Chico Enterprise |via=Newspapers.com}}

Actors Willard Mack and Lou Tellegen were dead by the time of release which led to both actors not receiving top billing. Tellegen died by suicide. The film was held back from an earlier release due to trade reasons.{{cite magazine |date=October 23, 1925 |title=Inside Stuff – Pictures |url=https://archive.org/details/variety120-1935-10/page/n205/mode/2up?q=together+we+live |magazine=Variety |page=257 |via=Archive.org}}

Reception

The South Bend Tribune praised Willard Mack's role of Kavanaugh, saying that "Mack's characterization is a part of the story" and that his role was of "a lovable old man very convincing in his talk against his son's new ideas".{{cite news |date=August 23, 1935 |title='Mad Love' Real Horror Picture |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94991511/the-south-bend-tribune/ |work=South Bend Tribune |via=Newspapers.com}}

The Wisconsin State Journal wrote that films such as Red Salute and this film are propaganda and that "they may be exceedingly dangerous, for there is no counteracting propaganda". The article continued to say that the film is "nationalistic" and "fascist".{{cite news |date=December 31, 1935 |title=The Way or Profits |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94991803/wisconsin-state-journal/ |work=Wisconsin State Journal |via=Newspapers.com}}

References

{{Reflist}}