The Great Consoler
About The Great Consoler
Bill Porter, the writer O. Henry, is in prison and turns out stories with happy endings that the administration likes. A girl, Dulcie, dreams from those stories. His friend Jim Valentine is beaten for political reasons and offered his freedom if he will open a safe. Porter writes a story in which the friend gets away. The administration breaks the promise. Valentine dies, and the prisoners revolt. Dulcie's dream breaks. She kills her roommate. Porter decides he cannot stand against the order, and that someone else will.
Cast & crew
More about The Great Consoler
Lev Kuleshov directed the 1933 film from O. Henry's life and from two of his stories. Konstantin Kuznetsov photographed it. It runs 95 minutes. Konstantin Khokhlov plays Bill Porter. Aleksandra Khokhlova plays Dulcie. Ivan Novoseltsev plays Jim Valentine, also called Ralph D. Spencer. The Russian title is Великий утешитель.
Themes
Background
O. Henry served a prison term in Ohio for embezzlement and wrote many of the stories there. Kuleshov's film uses that term as the frame for a question about what a writer is allowed to say.
Making
Kuleshov put O. Henry's prison years and the invented happy endings in one picture, and cast Khokhlova as the reader who believes them.
Look
Konstantin Kuznetsov photographed the prison, the stories Porter tells, and Dulcie's rooms.
Notes
- Porter writes the stories the prison office wants, the ones that end well.
- Valentine's other name in the film is Ralph D. Spencer.
- Dulcie kills her roommate after the dream of Porter's stories fails.
- Aleksandra Khokhlova, Kuleshov's wife, plays Dulcie.
- The film uses two O. Henry stories inside the prison plot rather than filming one story straight through.
Scenes
- Porter writes a departure for Valentine that the prison will not allow.
- Valentine dies, and the prisoners rise.
- Dulcie kills her roommate when the story no longer holds.
Influenced by
- The life and stories of O. Henry
