Little Man, What Now?

film by Borzage [1934]

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July 21, 2026

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The film Little Man, What Now? (1934), directed by Frank Borzage, is a sympathetic dramatization of the struggles of a young married couple in the Weimar Republic. It was one of the first Hollywood productions to depict the difficult conditions in Germany that contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party. The film stars Margaret Sullavan and Douglass Montgomery as the newlyweds navigating poverty.1

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Edgar G. Ulmer
Detour
…set designer for Frank Borzage’s Little Man, What Now? (1934), Ulmer initially directed a number of low-profile projects. Using the pseudonym John Warner, he made the western Thunder over Texas (1934). He later helmed several Yiddish-language dramas shot in and around New York City and a variety of public-health documentaries,…
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…set designer for Frank Borzage’s Little Man, What Now? (1934), Ulmer initially directed a number of low-profile projects. Using the pseudonym John Warner, he made the western Thunder over Texas (1934). He later helmed several Yiddish-language dramas shot in and around New York City and a variety of public-health documentaries,…
Read More

Frank Borzage
Freelancing after Fox
Of more import was Little Man, What Now? (1934), with Margaret Sullavan and Douglass Montgomery as newlyweds navigating the difficulties of being poor in the Weimar Republic. Its sympathetic dramatization of the terrible conditions in Germany that made the Nazi movement so appealing was a first for a Hollywood…
Read More
Of more import was Little Man, What Now? (1934), with Margaret Sullavan and Douglass Montgomery as newlyweds navigating the difficulties of being poor in the Weimar Republic. Its sympathetic dramatization of the terrible conditions in Germany that made the Nazi movement so appealing was a first for a Hollywood…
Read More