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City Limits (1934 film)

1934 film by William Nigh

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 8, 2026
Entity authorityQ3678623 ↗
Source-derived summary

City Limits is a 1934 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by William Nigh and starring Frank Craven, Sally Blane, Ray Walker and Claude Gillingwater. It was remade in 1941 as Father Steps Out.

Plot

J.B. Matthews is president of a railroad and is getting sick of doctors, when he falls off his train, and meets up with a pair of hoboes, King and Napoleon, who show him how to enjoy life, and real cooking. It's up to intrepid reporter Jimmy Dugan and Helen to find him, and bring him in. The hope is that they do it before a rival ruins him. However, time is running out.

Cast

Frank Craven as J.B. Matthews

Sally Blane as Helen Matthews

Ray Walker as Jimmy Dugan

Claude Gillingwater as Oliver

James Burke as King

Jimmy Conlin as Nap

Jane Keckley as Aunt Martha

Henry Roquemore as Macy

Harry C. Bradley as Dr. Stafford

George "Gabby" Hayes as Carter

George Cleveland as Graflex

George Nash as Jones

Fern Emmett as Mrs.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “City Limits (1934 film)” as 1934 film by William Nigh. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around City, Limits and film.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1934, 1941—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1934-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with City, Limits and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “City Limits (1934 film)”, the useful work is to connect “1934 film by William Nigh” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3678623. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1934 and 1941.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “City Limits (1934 film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow City Limits (1934 film) primary sources, City Limits (1934 film) archive and City research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “City Limits (1934 film)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “City Limits (1934 film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.