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The Purchase Price

Name: The Purchase Price
Director: William A. Wellman
Released: 1932
Duration: 68 min

Representation Score

1.9/10

Minimal

1932

Director

William A. Wellman

Runtime

68 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The Purchase Price is a product of its era, using conventional character archetypes and standard romantic-drama trajectories. While the female protagonist exercises a degree of autonomy, the film remains firmly rooted in the social hierarchies of 1932. The narrative lacks diversity in terms of race and sexual orientation, focusing instead on a narrow, homogeneous view of American life. It prioritizes individual moral choices over any meaningful deconstruction of systemic or cultural institutions.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Purchase Price have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film follows traditional romantic structures from the 1930s, focusing on a woman's choice between two men without any LGBTQ+ narratives.

How does The Purchase Price portray gender?

Fair

Joan Gordon demonstrates a strong role in driving the story by fleeing a toxic relationship to start a new life. However, the plot relies on the mail-order bride archetype, which reinforces traditional domestic expectations.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Purchase Price?

Minimal

The story focuses on urban nightclub settings and North Dakota farming communities, reflecting the homogeneous social structures common in early 1930s American cinema.

How does The Purchase Price represent religion and culture?

Limited

The narrative explores the tension between urban gangster culture and rural agrarian life through personal drama, rather than critiquing systemic issues.

Does The Purchase Price include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no information regarding the inclusion of characters with visible or invisible disabilities in this production.

Present on Screen

Joan Gordon plays a significant role in driving the story by deciding to relocate and seek a new life.
The film explores the interesting friction between urban modernity and rural tradition.

Limited or Absent

The reliance on the mail-order bride archetype reinforces traditional gendered power imbalances.
The narrative lacks multi-ethnic representation or a subversion of Anglo-Saxon social norms.
The story follows standard romantic clichés without critiquing systemic socioeconomic structures.

Official Synopsis

Nightclub singer Joan Gordon runs away from her gangster boyfriend to become a mail-order bride to a struggling North Dakota farmer. Their relationship has a rocky start, but just as Joan realizes she's developing feelings for her husband, her old boyfriend arrives to win her back.

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