American Madness

Vintage, rarely-seen Frank Capra Depression-set drama starring Walter Huston as Thomas Dickson, a bank manager whose trust in and consideration for his fellow men results in his bank being saved after a run on the bank. The near-disaster is caused by vice-president Cyril Cluett who sets up a robbery to pay off his gambling debts and only the honesty of chief teller Matt Brown sees him arrested and the bank saved., A decent, charitably minded banker who’s loaned money to businesses all over town is put through the ringer by his stern board of directors in the midst of personal problems, a robbery and a run on the bank. This swiftly paced, well-written little drama possesses seeds of later Frank Capra themes., Frank Capra directed this melodrama about a bank failure. Dickson: Walter Huston. Matt: Pat O’Brien. Mrs. Dickson: Kay Johnson. Helen: Constance Cummings. Cluett: Gavin Gordon. Finlay: Robert Ellis. O’Brien: Berton Churchill. Ives: Arthur Hoyt.