# Merely Mary Ann > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merely_Mary_Ann > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merely_Mary_Ann.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merely_Mary_Ann > Source revision: 1354932388 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American 1931 film This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article does not cite any sources containing significant coverage. Please help improve this article by adding citations to sources containing significant coverage. Find sources: "Merely Mary Ann" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Please help improve this article by citing more sources. Find sources: "Merely Mary Ann" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) For the 1916 silent film, see [Merely Mary Ann (1916 film)](/source/Merely_Mary_Ann_(1916_film)). For the 1920 silent film, see [Merely Mary Ann (1920 film)](/source/Merely_Mary_Ann_(1920_film)). Merely Mary Ann Lobby card Directed by Henry King Written by Jules Furthman Based on Merely Mary Ann (1903) by Israel Zangwill Starring Janet Gaynor Charles Farrell Beryl Mercer Cinematography Arthur E. Arling John F. Seitz Edited by Frank E. Hull Music by Richard Fall Distributed by Fox Film Corporation Release date September 6, 1931 (1931-09-06) Running time 74 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $1.3 million[1] ***Merely Mary Ann*** a 1931 American [pre-Code](/source/Pre-Code_Hollywood) romantic comedy drama film starring [Janet Gaynor](/source/Janet_Gaynor) and [Charles Farrell](/source/Charles_Farrell). Gaynor and Farrell made almost a dozen films together, including [Frank Borzage](/source/Frank_Borzage)'s classics *[7th Heaven](/source/7th_Heaven_(1927_film))* (1927), *[Street Angel](/source/Street_Angel_(1928_film))* (1928), and *[Lucky Star](/source/Lucky_Star_(1929_film))* (1929); Gaynor won the first [Academy Award for Best Actress](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Actress) for the first two and [F. W. Murnau](/source/F._W._Murnau)'s *[Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans](/source/Sunrise%3A_A_Song_of_Two_Humans)*. The film, involving an orphan (Gaynor) and a flat-broke composer (Farrell), was written by [Jules Furthman](/source/Jules_Furthman) based upon [Israel Zangwill](/source/Israel_Zangwill)'s [play of the same name](/source/Merely_Mary_Ann_(play)) and directed by [Henry King](/source/Henry_King_(director)). ## Plot [Janet Gaynor](/source/Janet_Gaynor) Orphan drudge Mary Ann finds love and hope in the arms of a promising but poor composer, John Lonsdale. ## Cast - [Janet Gaynor](/source/Janet_Gaynor) as Mary Ann - [Charles Farrell](/source/Charles_Farrell) as John Lonsdale - [Beryl Mercer](/source/Beryl_Mercer) as Mrs. Leadbatter - [J. M. Kerrigan](/source/J._M._Kerrigan) as First Drayman - Tom Whiteley as Second Drayman - Lorna Balfour as Lorna Leadbatter - [Arnold Lucy](/source/Arnold_Lucy) as Vicar Smedge - [G. P. Huntley](/source/G._P._Huntley_Jr.) as Peter Brooke - [Harry Rosenthal](/source/Harry_Rosenthal) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-quig_1-0)** [Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", *International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938)* p 942](https://archive.org/stream/international193738quig#page/942/mode/2up/search/%22box+office%22) accessed April 19, 2014 ## External links Media related to [Merely Mary Ann (1931 film)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Merely_Mary_Ann_(1931_film)) at Wikimedia Commons - [*Merely Mary Ann*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022142/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - *[Merely Mary Ann](https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/20078)* at [Project Gutenberg](/source/Project_Gutenberg) (Original novel) v t e Films directed by Henry King Should a Wife Forgive? (1915) Joy and the Dragon (1916) Little Mary Sunshine (1916) Pay Dirt (1916) Shadows and Sunshine (1916) The Climber (1917) The Mate of the Sally Ann (1917) Twin Kiddies (1917) Told at Twilight (1917) Vengeance of the Dead (1917) Souls in Pawn (1917) Sunshine and Gold (1917) The Bride's Silence (1917) A Game of Wits (1917) Southern Pride (1917) All the World to Nothing (1918) Beauty and the Rogue (1918) Powers That Prey (1918) Hearts or Diamonds? (1918) Up Romance Road (1918) The Locked Heart (1918) Hobbs in a Hurry (1918) Social Briars (1918) Where the West Begins (1919) Brass Buttons (1919) Some Liar (1919) Six Feet Four (1919) A Sporting Chance (1919) This Hero Stuff (1919) 23 1/2 Hours' Leave (1919) A Fugitive from Matrimony (1919) Haunting Shadows (1919) When a Man Rides Alone (1919) The White Dove (1920) Uncharted Channels (1920) One Hour Before Dawn (1920) Help Wanted – Male (1920) Dice of Destiny (1920) The Mistress of Shenstone (1921) When We Were 21 (1921) The Sting of the Lash (1921) Salvage (1921) Tol'able David (1921) The Bond Boy (1922) The Seventh Day (1922) Sonny (1922) Fury (1923) The White Sister (1923) Romola (1924) Sackcloth and Scarlet (1925) Any Woman (1925) Stella Dallas (1925) The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) Partners Again (1926) The Magic Flame (1927) The Woman Disputed (1928) She Goes to War (1929) Hell Harbor (1930) The Eyes of the World (1930) Lightnin' (1930) Merely Mary Ann (1931) Over the Hill (1931) The Woman in Room 13 (1932) State Fair (1933) I Loved You Wednesday (1933) Carolina (1934) Marie Galante (1934) One More Spring (1935) Way Down East (1935) The Country Doctor (1936) Ramona (1936) Lloyd's of London (1936) Seventh Heaven (1937) In Old Chicago (1938) Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938) Jesse James (1939) Stanley and Livingstone (1939) Little Old New York (1940) Maryland (1940) Chad Hanna (1940) A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941) Remember the Day (1941) The Black Swan (1942) The Song of Bernadette (1943) Wilson (1944) A Bell for Adano (1945) Margie (1946) Captain from Castile (1947) Deep Waters (1948) Prince of Foxes (1948) Twelve O'Clock High (1949) The Gunfighter (1950) I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951) David and Bathsheba (1951) Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie (1952) O. Henry's Full House (1952) The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) King of the Khyber Rifles (1953) Untamed (1955) Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) Carousel (1956) The Sun Also Rises (1957) The Bravados (1958) This Earth Is Mine (1959) Beloved Infidel (1959) Tender Is the Night (1962) This article about a 1930s romantic comedy-drama film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1930s-romantic-comedy-drama-film-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3A1930s-romantic-comedy-drama-film-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:1930s-romantic-comedy-drama-film-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Merely Mary Ann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merely_Mary_Ann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merely_Mary_Ann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.