Posts

#017: Call of the Flesh

  CALL OF THE FLESH Release Date August 16, 1930 History After two successful musicals with MGM, Devil-May-Care  and In Gay Madrid , Ramon Novarro took on a much more ambitious project-- a musical that would not only be shot in three different languages, but also feature him singing opera. The result was Call of the Flesh , a musical directed by Charles Brabin. Brabin had directed one full length sound film prior to this as well as a part-talkie, but this would be his first musical as well as his third project for MGM. He was fortunate enough to be paired with cinematographer Merritt B. Gerstad who had worked with him a year earlier on one of these projects, The Bridge of San Luis Ray. Brabin would only direct the English language version of the film, however. Novarro would direct the French and Spanish language versions, filmed simultaneously with a different cast and crew minus him appearing as protagonist Juan de Dios in all three versions. This film was not only an ambitio...
Post a Comment
Read more

#016: The Florodora Girl

  THE FLORODORA GIRL Release Date May 31, 1930 History Florodora  opened on the stage in London in 1899 and moved to New York in 1900, becoming one of the first successful musical comedies of the 20th Century, having a run of 552 performances. Its popularity spawned three Broadway revivals and a West End revival before 1920, but no film adaptations. This isn't surprising as many musicals from this time would not get film adaptations and when they did were heavily revised to a plot and score unrecognizable from the original. The closest that Florodora ever came to a film version was the 1930 film Florodora Girl . Directed by Harry Beaument and starring Marion Davies and Lawrence Gray, the film is about a chorus girl in the Broadway production of Florodora  during its original run, and the adventures she ensues. Davies also produced the film without credit, as she had with seven films prior (including the sound version of Marianne, previously reviewed on this blog). To crea...
Post a Comment
Read more

#015: In Gay Madrid

  IN GAY MADRID Release Date May 17, 1930 History Ramon Novarro previously starred in the musical  Devil-May-Care, which was filmed in September and released in December of 1929; as discussed in that post, it was a challenge to see if audiences would be convinced he could carry the weight of doing his first comedy, musical, and talking picture. Before he was given a chance to see if the film would be a success, he was thrown into filming  In Gay Madrid , which began production in November 1929, a month before Devil-May-Care  would even be released!  In Gay Madrid  wouldn't released for another five months after filming had wrapped. While Devil-May-Care was a box office success, In Gay Madrid  was not. It received a lukewarm review from the New York Times, which complimented its characters, but criticized the sound technology and the way that characters were shouting their lines-- this would have been more forgiven had the film been released a little ea...
Post a Comment
Read more

#014: Children of Pleasure

  CHILDREN OF PLEASURE Release Date April 26, 1930 History Penned by Richard Schrayer, who also wrote MGM musicals Hallelujah  and Devil-May-Care,  and directed by Harry Beaumont, director of  Broadway Melody , this week's film was Children of Pleasure, a 1930 film loosely based on Irving Berlin's courting of his wife, New York heiress Ellin McKay. The film runs only 70 minutes in length but features six numbers, several elaborately staged and filmed in Technicolor. Unfortunately, when the film was put into general release months after its premiere, the numbers were reprinted in black and white. I can't say if these elements are lost or simply weren't restored for the Turner Classic Movies print, but the print used on TCM has the numbers in black and white, although one of the numbers, "Dust" did reappear in Technicolor in the short film  Roast-Beef and Movies  four years later. Lawrence Gray, who previously appeared in  Marianne  and It's a Great...
Post a Comment
Read more

#013: Free and Easy

  FREE AND EASY Release Date March 22, 1930 History Known for being the studio that had "more stars than there are in Heaven", MGM was not only always looking for new talent, but also established talent that it could acquire. Some of these new contracts pushed an established star further in an amicable relationship between them and the studio, and sometimes it was a decision both would later regret. The latter was the case between MGM and Buster Keaton. While Keaton had worked for other production companies and directors early in his career, the 1920s had been spent producing, co-writing, and co-directing his films. Being a part of the creative process was part of his craft as a performer. Now, under contract for MGM, Keaton was forced to kowtow to a larger machine, and perform on command. Input would be discouraged and he'd be forced to star in films he didn't want to. On top of this, the studio would make him recreate his routines for other actors as they were mimic...
Post a Comment
Read more

#012: Montana Moon

MONTANA MOON Release Date March 20, 1930 History Known as the first cowboy musical, Montana Moon  was also the first musical for actress Joan Crawford, minus a cameo where she played herself in Hollywood Revue. She would star in a handful of other musicals in her career including Dancing Lady , Ice Follies of 1939, and Torch Song.  The film reunited Crawford with star John Mack Brown, who co-starred with her two years earlier in the synchronized sound film Our Dancing Daughters, giving audiences a treat to see the two now paired up in a film with dialogue.  Established with a repertoire of silent films, Malcom St. Clair directed Montana Moon , starting a new phase in his career directing sound films. But he'd also be facing a new obstacle in directing the picture-- the newly formed Production Code, which was enforced in 1930. While not as strict as the 1934 Hayes Code and these films still contained suggestive 'Pre-Code Cinema' moments, suddenly studios were faced with ch...
Post a Comment
Read more

#011: Lord Byron of Broadway

LORD BYRON OF BROADWAY Release Date February 28, 1930 History Lord Byron of Broadway  is probably best known for two things-- Technicolor sequences by the Rasch ballet, and introducing two songs, "Should I?" and "A Bundle Full of Love Letters", both big hits in 1930. The Technicolor sequence Woman in the Shoe was well received enough where it was lifted and used in two other short films: a Three Stooges film,  Nertsery Rhymes,  and Roast Beef and Movies . Otherwise, this film came and went from the history books of the MGM Musical. It was directed by Harry Beaumont (who also directed Broadway Melody ) as well as William Nigh. When a film has two directors, it generally means that one replaced the other, but no indication is given by this in anything available online so it's hard to know if they worked together on this project or if one passed the baton to the other. Charles Kaley, Ethelind Terry, Marion Shilling, and Cliff Edwards, aka "Ukelele Ike", ...
Post a Comment
Read more