. . . use Religion to persuade Poor People to remain docile, accept wide income disparity, and string up their own mothers. That's right. When Dan is born (seven months after San Francisco's Great Earthquake kills his dad), Jenny is dirt poor, barely able to survive on the few dimes in her Salvation Army tambourine. A stereotypically barren Fat Cat couple agrees to temporarily house young Danny until Jenny gets back on her feet. Instead of keeping their promise, they cram Danny's head full of racial bigotry and animosity toward the Poor, poisoning any chance of Danny being able to live happily with his birth mother, Jenny. So Mom follows Danny's meteoric rise from afar, working her own way up to become a king-maker in city politics. She swings an election in Danny's favor to make him 'Frisco's D.A., and one of his first actions is to thrust Jenny's loving brow into a hangman's noose, watching her swing at San Quentin. Some may find all this too melodramatic, but they're missing director William A. Wellman's larger allegorical message: Wealth corrupts, and Absolute Wealth corrupts absolutely. As much as some Americans might enjoy the shenanigans of the Kardashian-type Rich, they're a luxury we can no longer afford. Just as Jenny's friend Amah closes FRISCO by burning Mommy's tribute to her Rich son, Wellman is suggesting that America must burn its bridges with the self-righteous Rich.
Review of Frisco Jenny
