- Published on
Forgotten star Sally O'Neill
Date of Release: Nov 10, 1929
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Director: George Archainbaud, James Seymour, Rufus Le Maire
Screenplay: Gladys Lehman
Music: James Hanley, Sidney Clare, Sam Coslow, Charles Daniels, Dave Dreyer, David Franklin, Jack Stern, Jack Stone, Fred Thompson, Joe Trent
Lead Actors: Sally O’Neil, Jack Egan, Carmel Myers, Tom O’Brien, J. Barney Sherry, John Hyams, Charles Wilson, Doris Dawson, Gordon Elliott
Broadway Scalndals is considered a lost film, though the 9th of 9 sound reels still exists somewhere in Australia. Critics of the day agreed the film was well made, but it was too similar to all the other singing and dancing backstage comedies from 1929 to stand out.
Columbia was not yet a major player in the film industry. Over the next few years it would establish itself through a succession of well received screwball comedies.
Although Broadway Scandals was not a hit, most of the creative team went on to successes within in the film industry. French-born George Archainbaud directed over 100 feature films over the course of his career. He was most well-known for westerns, particularly the Hopalong Cassidy series. Credited as a “stage director”, James Seymour went on to find success as a screenwriter with hits such as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933.
The music was composed by a group of writers who were part of the small army of artists who worked in vaudeville and Hollywood churning out great volumes of songs, many of which became well-known hits.
Although their names have largely been forgotten by the general public, we are still humming many of these songwriters' tunes. Composer James Hanley wrote mostly for the stage, and is most famously remembered for composing “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart”. Sidney Clare was a prolific movie musical songwriter. His hits include “Ma, He’s Making Eyes at Me,” “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain,” “Polly Wolly Doodle,” and “On the Good Ship Lollypop” (the last a collaboration with Sweetie’s composer Richard A. Whiting). Dave Franklin composed “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,” which later became famous as The Looney Tunes theme song. Fred Thompson was a British-American librettist who penned over fifty musical librettos, and found success in the both the West End and on Broadway. His hits include Rio Rita, Funny Face, and Follow the Girls. His later hit, Maygar Melody was the first musical to be broadcast live on television.
The actors of Broadway Scandals were not as fortunate as their creative counterparts. Even though they had been well-known silent film stars, most of the cast did not survive in Hollywood following the advent of talking pictures.
Charles Wilson continued to work prolifically, most notably appearing as a supporting character in several Frank Capra films. He was also a one time director with the earlier George Jessel movie musical, Lucky Boy. Gordon Elliott went on to become famous for westerns, and became known as “Wild Bill Elliott”
All three female leads, Sally O'Neill, Doris Dawson, and Carmel Meyers, had been picked as “WAMPAS Baby Stars”, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers campaign that selected up-and-coming Hollywood contract players. Dawson and Meyers continued to work in Hollywood after 1930, though mostly in small supporting, or uncredited, roles.
The New York screening of Broadway Scandals was preceded by three shorts, one of which was a Disney “silly symphony,” Springtime. NY Times film critic Morduant Hall described it as “humorously conceived”.
Given the lack of information about the film, and its cast and crew, it seems that Broadway Scandals was a largely forgettable movie. It may have had more impact with audiences had it been released earlier, but by the end of 1929, audiences had seen plenty of well executed backstage singing and dancing comedies. Not every lost film is treasure waiting to be unearthed.
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Director: George Archainbaud, James Seymour, Rufus Le Maire
Screenplay: Gladys Lehman
Music: James Hanley, Sidney Clare, Sam Coslow, Charles Daniels, Dave Dreyer, David Franklin, Jack Stern, Jack Stone, Fred Thompson, Joe Trent
Lead Actors: Sally O’Neil, Jack Egan, Carmel Myers, Tom O’Brien, J. Barney Sherry, John Hyams, Charles Wilson, Doris Dawson, Gordon Elliott
Broadway Scalndals is considered a lost film, though the 9th of 9 sound reels still exists somewhere in Australia. Critics of the day agreed the film was well made, but it was too similar to all the other singing and dancing backstage comedies from 1929 to stand out.
Columbia was not yet a major player in the film industry. Over the next few years it would establish itself through a succession of well received screwball comedies.
Although Broadway Scandals was not a hit, most of the creative team went on to successes within in the film industry. French-born George Archainbaud directed over 100 feature films over the course of his career. He was most well-known for westerns, particularly the Hopalong Cassidy series. Credited as a “stage director”, James Seymour went on to find success as a screenwriter with hits such as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers of 1933.
The music was composed by a group of writers who were part of the small army of artists who worked in vaudeville and Hollywood churning out great volumes of songs, many of which became well-known hits.
Although their names have largely been forgotten by the general public, we are still humming many of these songwriters' tunes. Composer James Hanley wrote mostly for the stage, and is most famously remembered for composing “Zing Went the Strings of My Heart”. Sidney Clare was a prolific movie musical songwriter. His hits include “Ma, He’s Making Eyes at Me,” “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain,” “Polly Wolly Doodle,” and “On the Good Ship Lollypop” (the last a collaboration with Sweetie’s composer Richard A. Whiting). Dave Franklin composed “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,” which later became famous as The Looney Tunes theme song. Fred Thompson was a British-American librettist who penned over fifty musical librettos, and found success in the both the West End and on Broadway. His hits include Rio Rita, Funny Face, and Follow the Girls. His later hit, Maygar Melody was the first musical to be broadcast live on television.
The actors of Broadway Scandals were not as fortunate as their creative counterparts. Even though they had been well-known silent film stars, most of the cast did not survive in Hollywood following the advent of talking pictures.
Charles Wilson continued to work prolifically, most notably appearing as a supporting character in several Frank Capra films. He was also a one time director with the earlier George Jessel movie musical, Lucky Boy. Gordon Elliott went on to become famous for westerns, and became known as “Wild Bill Elliott”
All three female leads, Sally O'Neill, Doris Dawson, and Carmel Meyers, had been picked as “WAMPAS Baby Stars”, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers campaign that selected up-and-coming Hollywood contract players. Dawson and Meyers continued to work in Hollywood after 1930, though mostly in small supporting, or uncredited, roles.
The New York screening of Broadway Scandals was preceded by three shorts, one of which was a Disney “silly symphony,” Springtime. NY Times film critic Morduant Hall described it as “humorously conceived”.
Given the lack of information about the film, and its cast and crew, it seems that Broadway Scandals was a largely forgettable movie. It may have had more impact with audiences had it been released earlier, but by the end of 1929, audiences had seen plenty of well executed backstage singing and dancing comedies. Not every lost film is treasure waiting to be unearthed.
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