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100% Critic Match
The Past of Mary Holmes
“A DRAMA OF YOUNG LOVE...SMOTHERED BY A MOTHER'S LOVE!”
10.0 / 10• 1933• 1h 10m•NR• English
Drama
Storyline
Mary Holmes (MacKellar), once a famous opera star known as Maria di Nardi, now lives in a run-down shanty and suffers from alcoholism. Known for her eccentric behavior, Mary breeds geese, and is thus known in her neighborhood as 'The Goose Woman'. She blames her grown son Geoffrey (Linden) for the deterioration of her voice, and does everything to destroy his life. When Geoffrey, who works as a commercial artist, announces to her that he will marry Joan Hoyt (Arthur), an actress, she becomes torn with jealousy and threatens to reveal to Joan that he is an illegitimate birth.
Cast & Crew
Helen MacKellar
Mary Holmes
Lead
Eric Linden
Geoffrey Holmes
Jean Arthur
Joan Hoyt
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher
Ben Pratt
Ivan F. Simpson
Jacob Riggs
Clay Clement
G.K. Ethridge
J. Carrol Naish
Gary Kent
Roscoe Ates
Bill-poster Klondike
What People Are Saying
5.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Slavko Vorkapich's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
5.0
“Every frame feels alive. The Past of Mary Holmes is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
