Min and Bill, 1930 starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery

Min and Bill is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy-drama film, directed by George W. Hill and starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. Adapted by Frances Marion and Marion Jackson from Lorna Moon’s 1929 novel Dark Star, the film tells the story of dockside innkeeper Min’s tribulations as she tries to protect the innocence of her adopted daughter, Nancy, while loving and fighting with boozy fisherman Bill, who resides at the inn. The picture was a runaway hit. In 1931, the studio released a Spanish-language version of Min and Bill, La fruta amarga, directed by Arthur Gregor and starring Virginia Fábregas and Juan de Landa.

Min and Bill stars Dressler (Min), Beery (Bill), Dorothy Jordan (Nancy), and Marjorie Rambeau (Bella, Nancy’s disreputable mother). Dressler won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931 for her performance in this film. Beery received the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for playing the title role in The Champ, which “fully vaulted him from character player to genuine movie star.”