The Brat

The Brat is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film directed by John Ford, starring Sally O'Neil, and featuring Virginia Cherrill. The film is based on the 1917 play by Maude Fulton. A previous silent film had been made in 1919 with Alla Nazimova. This 1931 screen version has been updated to then contemporary standards i.e. clothing, speech, topics in the news.

Plot

A novelist brings a wild chorus girl home, hoping to study her for inspiration for his new novel. His snobby upper-class family is upset by her presence, but soon she has changed their lives forever.

Cast

Sally O'Neil as the Brat
Alan Dinehart as Macmillan Forester
Frank Albertson as Stephen Forester
William Collier, Sr. as Judge O"Flaherty
Virginia Cherrill as Angela
June Collyer as Jane
J. Farrell MacDonald as Timson, the butler
Mary Forbes as Mrs. Forester
Albert Gran as Bishop
Louise Mackintosh as Lena
Margaret Mann as Housekeeper
Ward Bond as Court Policeman
Mary Gordon as Angry Wife in Night Court
George Humbert as Italian Restaurant Owner
Cyril McLaglen as Cyril
Philip Sleeman as Masher in Night Court

Background

Writer Maude Fulton was an actress as well and starred in the 1917 Broadway premiere of her own play. Two of her co-stars in the play went on to have major film careers, Lewis Stone and Edmund Lowe. The film was restored in DCP form and exhibited at New York City's Museum of Modern Art in November 2016.