A glorious revue preceded by a terrible movie. 

Date of Release: Dec 7, 1929
Studio: Paramount
Director: Millard Webb
Screenplay: J. P. McEvoy, Millard Webb
Composers: Irving Berlin, Walter Donaldson, Larry Spier, Dave Stampner
Musical Director: Frank Tours
Choreographer: Ted Shawn and John W. Harkrider, Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.,
Leading Actors: Mary Eaton (Gloria Hughes), Eddie Cantor, Helen Morgan, Rudy Vallee,
Dan Healy (Miller), Kaye Renard ('Mooney'), Edward Crandall (Buddy), Gloria Shea (Barbara) (as Olive Shea), Sarah Edwards (Mrs. Hughes), Singing and Dancing Chorus of Seventy-Five Glorified Beauties
 
Glorifying the American Girl opens with a montage of women parading over a map of America. This is replaced by women sadly doing domestic chores and working, who morph into women in gorgeous costumes parading on a stage. These images are overlaid crowds of people walking, and cars going by. The incongruous images set the tone for a film riddled with clichés, a terrible script, and lavish revue scenes.
 
At the company picnic, we meet Gloria (Mary Eaton), Buddy (Edward Crandall) and their third wheel Barbara (Gloria Shea). Buddy is madly in love with Gloria, but she has dreams of being on the stage. Barbara is in love with Buddy, but is always left behind. Gloria dances for the crowd, and Miller (Dan Healy) asks her to be his partner in his act, “Miller and Mooney”. Gloria agrees and jumps on the next train.
 
At the theatre, Gloria is miserable. She misses Buddy, she’s sick of life on the road, the greasy food, and Miller’s unwanted advances. With encouragement from her pushy mother (Sarah Edwards), Gloria signs a contract with Miller agreeing to split everything they earn fifty/fifty. Of course, Gloria is unaware that an agent for Ziegfeld himself has taken interest, and in agreeing to the contract, her chances of stardom are jeopardized. 
 
Miller and Mooney make their way to New York, where Gloria is happily reunited with Buddy. In the chaos at the train station, Barbara is left behind and hit by a truck. Realizing that Gloria is still focused on her stardom, Buddy returns miserably to his apartment. He learns of Barbara’s accident, and rushes to her side at the hospital where he promises to never leave her again.
 
Meanwhile, Gloria has finally landed the starring role in the Ziegfeld Follies. At her opening night, she is a triumph. The radiance of the night is dimmed when she receives a telegram from Buddy informing her that he and Barbara have married. Gloria realizes she has sacrificed love to be a star, and the curtain closes.

The critics found Glorifying the American Girl to be sloppy and tedious. They hated the quick transitions between color and black and white, dismissed the music as boring or old, and lampooned the cast as “amateurish”.
 
Watching the copy available on YouTube (presented without the color sequences), I generally tend to agree. The script is trite, with one cliché after another – complete with a love song in a row boat, a car accident that leaves the victim in hospital with her head wrapped in white gauze, and a talented store clerk who dreams of nothing but stardom.
 
A few performances stand out from the drudgery. Mary Eaton gives a solid performance as Gloria, and her dancing throughout the film is wonderful. A real-life Follies girl, Eaton was was one of seven siblings in show business.

The dancing was choreographed by Ted Shawn, a highly influential and respected dancer and choreographer who founded Jacob's Pillow. He appeared in a few early films including Dances of the Ages (1913) and Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916), though the vast majority of his work was on the stage. A wonderful biography can be found at Jacob’s Pillow. 
 
When we first meet Sarah Edwards, playing Gloria’s mother Mrs. Hughes, she has a great comedic moment playing with her faulty reading glasses. Even with the scandalous exclamation of “dammit!” the shtick grows old when it repeats itself several times throughout the film. Born in Wales, Edwards became known for playing motherly type roles.
 
Gloria Shea, who at this time was appearing under the name Olive Shea, is delightful as Barbara. We barely hear her speak until her delirious calls for Buddy from her hospital bed, but her facial expressions do much to convey the desire of the oft-ignored Barbara. Shea appeared in over forty films including The Night Mayor (1932), Women Won’t Tell (1932), Dance, Girl, Dance (1933), and The Last Days of Pompeii (1935). A car accident reportedly shortened her career, though she lived until she was 85.
 
Edward Crandall is forgettable as Buddy, but Dan Healy plays an excellent womanizing villain. His awful nature is furthered when he cheats two African American porters out of their tip by tossing a coin and claiming “Alright boys, double or nothing for your tip. Looks like it’s nothing.” Crandall and Healy both found more work on Broadway than in Hollywood.

The highlight of the film is the Ziegfeld Revue, “Glorifying the American Girl.” Outside the theatre, real-life radio host Norman Brokenshire announces the arriving celebrities, including cameo appearances from Flo Ziegfeld and his wife Billie Burke (famed Broadway actress who is perhaps best remembered as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz), and the President of Paramount Studios, Adolph Zukor.
 
Clever edits between shots of the program, the audience, and the stage help to create the illusion of being at the theatre.
 
The footage of the revue numbers is so different to the rest of the film, I wonder if it wasn’t filmed at the theatre itself, though film historian Edwin M. Bradley states the revue was filmed “on a massive replica of the New Amsterdam Theatre”. The numbers without Mary Eaton are filmed in long shorts, giving us a view of the whole stage and proscenium arch. When the camera zooms in for tighter shots, it pans awkwardly along the stage. The first scene, a Garden of Eden tableau, does read better in color (also available on YouTube), with the pre-Code near-nudity and beautiful bodies clearly on display, though this doesn't account for the unimaginative shots. 
 
In contrast, the numbers featuring Mary Eaton, an art-nouveau “Swan Lake” ballet, and “There Must Be Somebody Waiting for Me in Loveland,” are beautifully filmed, and it’s a pity the Technicolor footage is not publicly available. There are a variety of camera angles, including a great shot from the top of the proscenium looking down on the stage, and snappy edits that show off Eaton’s wonderful dancing, and the stunning Follies revue costumes.
 
Three extra scenes featuring Eddie Cantor, Rudy Valley (still no more likeable than his appearance in his film of the same name), and Helen Morgan, are also filmed differently from the rest of the film.  Eddie Cantor’s tailor shop sketch, also featuring Louis Sorin (Mother's Boy and Lucky in Love) was hailed by several critics claimed as the saving grace of the film, and still holds up today. According to Bradley, these literal inserts were taken from shorts filmed by Robert Florey to try and boost publicity for the film.  

Big names and publicity, which included tie-ins with local jewelry stores and beauty parlors, could not save the film. Glorifying the American Girl opened to scathing reviews, and played to mediocre houses. Mary Eaton did not find any more roles available to her, and she eventually became an alcoholic. She died from severe cirrhosis in her mid-forties.
 
Glorifying the American Girl is available to watch on YouTube. Skip to the last thirty minutes for the glorious revue.

​A genuine and terrific comedy starring the Duncan Sisters. 

​Date of Release: Dec 6, 1929
Studio: MGM
Director: Sam Wood
Screenplay: Byron Morgan, Alfred Block, Al Boasborg, Willard Mack
Composers: Dave Dreyer, Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal, Ballard MacDonald, Manuel M. Ponce, Francis Wheeler
Choreographer: Sammy Lee
Leading Actors: Rosetta Duncan (Casey Hogan), Vivian Duncan (Babe Hogan), Lawrence Gray (Jimmy Dean), Benny Rubin (Benny Friedman), Jed Prouty (Mr. Parker), Clarence Burton (Cop), George Davis  (Store show stage hand), Oscar Apfel (Mr. Mandelbaum), George Periolat (Mr. Weill), Rolfe Sedan (Vaudeville violinist), Ann Dvorak (Dancer in "Hoosier Hop" number)
 
The Duncan Sisters were real-life sisters Rosetta and Vivian Duncan. The pair started performing in vaudeville as children, and became a highly popular act. By the mid-1920s they were starring in their own Broadway show, Topsy and Eva.
 
Topsy and Eva was based on the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and featured Vivian as the sweet-natured Eva, and Rosetta as Topsy in blackface. The show was written by Catherine Chisolm Cushing, and featured music written by the Duncan Sisters. The show was an immense hit, with Rosetta and Vivian performing all over the United States, Europe, and South America. It was adapted into a silent film in 1927.

It’s a Great Life was the Duncan Sisters’ first talkie feature. Initially titled Imperfect Ladies and Cottons and Silks, the film was aimed as a follow up to The Broadway Melody. Surprisingly, and thankfully, the Topsy character is completely absent from It’s a Great Life, and the sisters play heightened versions of themselves.  
 
Film historian Edwin Bradley describes the film as “a charming, high-spirited show case for the duo,” and he is spot on. The film is an absolute delight, featuring fun songs, three Technicolor revue scenes, and some hilarious comedy. The story follows the trials and tribulations of the Hogan sisters, the sweet and silly Babe (Vivian Duncan) and the brash and comical Casey (Rosetta), who are store clerks with dreams of making it big in vaudeville.
 
The film opens with a policeman chasing two women who he suspects to be pickpockets. A huge crowd is soon following and causing mayhem along the street. The group laughs heartily at the policeman when it is discovered the women were only rushing to get to work at the department store.
 
The Hogan sisters rush into the morning staff meeting where it is announced that the annual show will be directed by the store’s pianist Jimmy Dean (Lawrence Gray) - who is sitting behind a collection of MGM sheet music, "The Wedding of the Painted Doll," from The Broadway Melody, also on display, and The Hollywood Revue of 1929. 

Babe has a fever dream, a beautiful Technicolor extravaganza at the Palace Theatre where the Hogan Sisters and Jimmy Dean have finally made it big. With dances by Broadway choreographer Sammy Lee, The “Hoosier Hop” and “Sailing on a Sunbeam” are terrific production numbers.

​According to a report on Hollywood work schedules in Screenland, the scene was filmed under trying conditions after a long day of rehearsals and a shoot beset with technical issues. Vivian Duncan was deeply unhappy with the result and reportedly stated “It broke my heart to have the thing go out that way when I know how much better I can sing.”  
 
The film ends with Babe, Casey, and Jimmy all happily reunited.  ​

Rosetta Duncan as Casey is a real highlight. Her strong belt coupled with fantastic comedic timing make her a wonderful performer to watch. Tragically, behind the smile, Rosetta was an alcoholic as a result of having to hide the fact she was a lesbian. She was killed in a car crash in 1959. 

Vivian Duncan is no less brilliant, and is charming as the straight-laced though ditzy sister. 
 
Film historian Edwin M. Bradley claims It’s a Great Life “faltered at the box office and helped to cut short the Duncans’ movie career,” however it played to strong houses around the country, and topped the box office takings in Los Angeles. As reported by Screenland, the film did well enough for MGM to sign the sisters to long-term contracts though they did not make any more feature films.
 
The Duncan Sisters continued to perform on stage into the 1950s, often reprising the Topsy and Eva characters. Vaudeville Old & New states that even though the use of blackface had gone out of style, “their material was still fresh.”

It's a Great Life  may have been their only feature talkie, but the film serves as a wonderful reminder of Rosetta and Vivan's skills and talent. Their genuine affection for each other radiates from the screen, and the film is a real highlight of 1929. It is currently available to watch on YouTube, and on DVD through the Warner Archive Collection.  ​

Silent film star Billie Dove's first talkie. 

The film received mixed reviews. The Educational Screen claimed Billie Dove was “not up to the requirements” of her role, and Variety stated “Miss Dove has no singing voice, choosing to articulate and pout her way through.”

​Variety praised the camera work, stating that a “High perched camera, as well as under leg” angles helped to “relieve the monotony of revue grind element.”

Despite having nothing to do with the plot, the production numbers were well-received. Screenland described the numbers as, “lavish," and perhaps even more Ziegfeld than Ziegfeld himself. 

Star vehicle for the crooning heart throb Rudy Vallée. 

Date of Release: Dec 1, 1929
Studio: RKO
Director: Marshall Neilan 
Screenplay: James Ashmore Creelman 
Music: Nat D. Ayer, Philip Bartholomae, Phil Boutelje, Ruby Cowan, Ernie Erdman, Clifford Grey, Louis Herscher, Edward Heyman, Gus Kahn, Billy Meyers, Harold Raymond, Elmer Schoebel, Nat Simon, Ken Smith, Rudy Vallée , Harry M. Woods,  Leon Zimmerman
Leading Actors: Rudy Vallée  (Rudy Bronson), Sally Blane (Jean), Marie Dressler (Mrs. Whitehall), Charles Sellon (Officer Tuttle), Nella Walker (Mrs. Tod Hunter), Eddie Nugent (Sport), Danny O'Shea (Sam), Alan Roscoe (Manager), The Connecticut Yankees         

Described by Exhibitors Herald World (Sept 21, 1929) as “a showman of a high order,” Rudy Vallée was a talented and immensely popular musician who was one of the first heart throb crooners. In addition to leading his own band, the Connecticut Yankees — who were prominent fixtures on the New York circuit — Vallée worked on radio hosting a widely successful variety and music hour. 

The hit song “I’m Just a Vagabond Lover” was one of Rudy Vallée ’s signature tunes, and he frequently performed it by request. Such was the popularity of the song, it was also featured in Glorifying the American Girl.

Throughout 1929, Rudy Vallée  had appeared in several short films. The Vagabond Lover was his first feature length film. RKO announced in August 1929 that ground had been broken on a new studio in Hollywood, one of the largest in the world, and that The Vagabond Lover would be one of the first films made there. 

Exhibitors Herald World reported that RKO were investing a million dollars in the Spoor Stereoscopic Process. The new process “would permit shooting big stage shows in natural perspective, showing complete choruses, the full width of a 52 foot screen or even larger, and fully 30 feet high, with all the action of a stage production as naturally as it is seen in three dimensions behind the footlights.” 

Production commenced in September and the film premiered just two months later on November 26, 1929, at the Globe Theatre in New York.

The premier was highly anticipated, and enjoyed a short but successful record-breaking run run at the Globe Theatre in New York. It then transferred to the Criterion Theatre.

The Portland, Maine opening was also a grand affair. Vallée had grown up in five miles away in Westbrook, and as reported by Variety (Dec 5, 1929) half the city, including elected officials and prominent local business people, turned out to support their homegrown talent.

The Vagabond Lover received mixed reviews. The Film Daily described the film as “a splendid first effort for Mr. Vallée and a winning addition to the RKO stable for the coming season,” but in the same edition also stated that Vallée and his supporting cast couldn’t act. Most critics panned the ridiculous story, and, while praising Vallée for his singing, repeatedly stated that his acting was not up to scratch. 

The Vagabond Lover is available online, and as the Variety critic noted: “One thing in the film’s favor is that it runs only 65 minutes.” I couldn’t agree more.

​Vallée is just awful as the romantic lead. He lacks any of the talent that the trade magazines repeatedly insisted he had, and any one of the Connecticut Yankees would have been more believable in his role. 

​The story is trite and unbelievable, full of ridiculous set-ups that make way for Vallée and the Connecticut Yankees to perform their signature tunes.

Sally Blane is boring as the ingenue who falls in love with Vallée. She stares adoringly at Vallée when he sings, and functions only to serve as his love interest. Blane was a child movie actor who went on to appear in nearly 100 films. ​

The stand-out of The Vagabond Lover is Marie Dressler, who is hilarious as the wealthy aunt and patron Mrs. Whitehall. The critics praised her comedic skills and performance, and named her as the highlight and saving grace of the film. Almost verging on melodramatic, her determination to out-do Mrs. Tod Hunter, and her reaction to discovering Rudy Bronson is not all he seems, are excellent. Her characterization is spot on, and provides a perfect foil for her boringly sweet niece. We genuinely feel for Mrs. Whitehall, and celebrate in her triumphs. 
​
After starting out in vaudeville, Dressler went on to become a well-regarded silent film actress. After a brief hiatus she successfully transitioned to talkies and became a rare commodity, a female Hollywood star over the age of 30.

Despite the critics’ complains, and thanks to Vallée’s immense popularity, The Vagabond Lover did well at the box office. The film usually played to sold out houses around the country, and in several cities broke box office records.

Vallée was signed to a contract with RKO, and went on to a successful film, television, and radio career, appearing in nearly sixty films and television shows. His roles shifted to that of the comedic sidekick, and he also often played himself. Vallée appeared in the original Broadway production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961), as well as the subsequent film version in 1967.

Date of Release: Nov 30, 1929
Studio: Paramount Famous Lasky Corp
Director: Robert Florey
Screenplay: Gene Markey
Music: Jay Gorney, Dick Howard, Cole Porter
Leading Actors: Gertrude Lawrence (Georgie), Charles Ruggles (Zizi), Walter Petrie (Tony), Gladys DuBois (Suzanne), Arthur Treacher (Harry), Joe King (Jack)    
 
Initially titled The Gay Lady, The Battle of Paris was filmed in New York at Paramount’s studio in Astoria. Given the wealth of talent involved, it is surprising that the film was poorly received by the critics, and ignored by audiences.
 
The much derided screenplay, described in the various trade magazines as “hokum” and “tripe,” was written by Gene Markey. Markey was a prolific writer, and wrote popular novels about the jazz age. He was well-liked in Hollywood, and later worked as a producer. He also wrote several other musicals in 1929 including Syncopation, Mother’s Boy, Close Harmony. and Lucky in Love.
 
The film was edited by Emma Hill, who was one of many female editors working in Hollywood during early talkie era. An excellent history of female editors can be found here. Hill edited at least eight films in a career that spanned silent and talkie films.
 
The story followed Georgie (Gertrude Lawrence), an English street singer who falls in love with Tony (Walter Petrie), an American artist. Tony is sent away to war, and whilst on leave is seduced by Suzanne (Gladys DuBois). Meanwhile, Georgie becomes a nurse, and looks after three men, her “three musketeers,” Zizi (Charles Ruggles), Harry (Arthur Treacher), and Jack (Joe King). She enlists the men to help her win back Tony, but is kidnapped and led through the underground of Paris. On the last day of the war, Georgie is rescued by the three musketeers, and happily reunited with Tony.

Date of Release: Nov 13, 1929
Studio: Edward Small Productions (released by Columbia)
Director: Erle C. Kenton
Screenplay: Howard Green, Henry McCarthy, Dorothy Howell, Norman Houston
Music: Maurice Abrahams, Mack Gordon, Bernie Grossman, Mickey Kippel, Max Rich,
Arthur Sizemore, George Weist
Leading Actors: Belle Baker (Anna Gibson), Ralph Graves (Tom Gibson), David Durand (Buddy Gibson), Eunice Quedens (Mazie), Arthur Housman (Acrobat), Charles Wilson (Traveling salesman)
 
Released by Columbia, The Song of Love was produced by Edward Small Productions. Edward Small was a prolific producer who over the course of his forty years in Hollywood helmed a variety of independent production companies that worked closely with larger studios such as Columbia, RKO, and United Artists. Small produced nearly 80 films and television movies, including The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) and The Man in the Iron Mask (1939).
 
The film was designed as a star vehicle for Belle Barker, a prominent and highly popular vaudeville singer and actor who was described as the “female Al Jolson.” Starting out as a teenager, Baker became well-known for singing torch songs and performed on Broadway and on radio. She introduced many songs that went on to become well-known standards, including “Blue Skies, “All of Me, and “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.”
 
Belle Baker’s name was used heavily in promotions. Columbia’s nationally coordinated publicity included newspaper ads, window displays, tie-ups with clothing stores, and broadcasts of the music on radio and via loudspeakers at the theatre.
 
On July 12, and again on August 21, The Film Daily announced The Song of Love would be “Road-showed”. This meant the film would initially open only in large cities, and be screened with a short intermission, akin to seeing a play. Initially roadshows were used to test out films the studios weren’t sure about, or, conversely, to give a release a special status. Later on, roadshow films would be associated with musicals based on well-known stage plays such as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and West Side Story, and long films such as Gone with the Wind. The idea of a “roadshow” was to conjure a touring live stage show, and came complete with special promotional booklets and much fanfare.

Apart from Baker, the reviewers failed to mention the other cast members. Ralph Graves was a writer, actor, and occasional director who appeared in over ninety films in a career spanning four decades.
 
David Durand was an immensely popular child actor who had appeared in Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1926), and the popular shorts Glove Swingers, and East Side Kids shorts. He also appeared in Innocents of Paris. 
 
A Song of Love was the first screen role for Eunice Quedens, later better known as Eve Arden. Arden was an acclaimed stage and screen actor who had worked as a Follies girl. She appeared in nearly 100 films and television shows, including Grease and Grease 2 as Principal McGee (!).  

Arthur Housman appeared in over 300 films over three decades, appearing in his first film in 1912 and often playing comedic drunk characters. ​

​“O, ye amateurs of Hollywood, stop, look, and listen, to this professional!”

​Date of Release: Nov 24, 1929
Studio: Fox
Director: Donald Gallaher
Screenplay: Maude Fulton, Frank Gay
Music: Abel Baer, L. Wolfe Gilbert
Leading Actors: Mae Clarke (Jackie Lee), Robert Ames (Bert Wills), William Harrigan (Johnny Brown), Maude Fulton (Stella Foster), George MacFarlane (Ed Foster), Frederick Graham (Baring), Camille Rovelle (Miss Woods), Grace Wallace (Bonnie Tucker), Hugh McCormack (Jim Tucker), Ben Hall (Cliff), Marshall Ruth (Billy), Billy Colvin (Hoffman), Louise Beavers (Magnolia)  
 
Nix on Dames was yet another backstage musical comedy. The lead actors were not well-known stars, and several commentators noted that the film would have trouble bringing in audiences.

As such, Motion Picture News advised theatre managers to pair the film with “lively” acts to help generate word of mouth. The New York screening at the Roxy presented the film in conjunction with a well-received live show that featured Daniel Haynes, who had appeared in Hallelujah, and an elaborate number called “Pastelle.” Mordaunt Hall described the number as “a huge painting, with a palette and brushes of relative proportions.”
 
Nix on Dames told the story of two acrobats, Bert Wills (Robert Ames) and Johnny Brown (William Harrigan), who swear to never let a girl interfere with their friendship. Johnny is injured during a performance, and the pair head to a boarding house to recuperate. They come across a pretty female, Jackie Lee (Mae Clarke) who also happens to be an acrobat and, of course, the two men fall in love with her. Johnny recovers from his accident, and when they begin to perform again, the two men fight over a misunderstanding to put Jackie in the act. The quarrel is resolved, and all ends well.
 
While the plot sounds fairly run-of-the-mill, the critics agreed that the comedy, particularly the portrayal of life in the boarding house, was very well done. 

It was also agreed that under Donald Gallaher’s direction, Nix on Dames was a cut above the average backstage musical. Picture Play stated “…there is knowing and imaginative direction of a simple, human story rich in characterization and quite devoid of backstage hokum.” Gallaher was a prominent early Broadway actor who later worked in Hollywood as an actor, writer, and director. He appeared in over twenty films, including Married in Hollywood ​(1929). 
 
The three leads, Robert Ames, William Harrigran, and Mae Clarke were described by The Film Daily as “An unusually fine cast,” and received high praise for their performances from the vast majority of critics. Robert Ames was a successful stage and screen actor, whose career was tragically cut short when he died unexpectedly at the age of 42 in 1931. He had also appeared in The Trespasser (1929).
 
William Harrigan was a stage and screen actor whose career spanned nearly six decades. Over the course of his career, Harrigan appeared in over forty films and television shows, and over thirty Broadway plays.
 
Despite the title nixing women, the clear stand out was Mae Clarke. Clarke had started out as a dancer, working in vaudeville before being scouted by Fox. Nix on Dames was one of her first screen appearances, and she went on to appear in over 120 films. Her best known credits are The Public Enemy (1931), in which James Cagney famously squished a grapefruit on her face, and Frankenstein (1931). Clarke continued to appear in film until the 1970, though her roles were usually small or uncredited. She made appearances in Royal Wedding (1951) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952). Her sister-in-law was Fannie Brice.
 
Motion Picture News stated that Clarke “gives a corking performance.” Picture Play gushed,

​The first musical revue style musical. 

Date of Release: June 20, 1929
Studio:  MGM
Director: Charles Reisner
Screenplay: Joe Farnham, Al Boasberg, Robert E. Hopkins
Composers: Louis Alter, Martin Broones, Nacio Herb Brown, Gus Edwards, Fred Fisher, Arthur Freed, Joe Goodwin, Jesse Greer,  Ed Haley, Robert A. Keiser, Raymond Klages, John T. Murray,  Andy Rice, Joe Trent
Musical Arrangements: Arthur Lange, Ernest Klapholtz, Ray Heindorf
Choreographer: Sammy Lee, George Cunningham
Leading Actors: Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, John Gilbert, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Bessie Love, Lionel Barrymore, Cliff Edwards, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Anita Page, Nils Asther, The Brox Sisters, Natacha Natova and Co., Marion Davies, William Haines, Buster Keaton, Marie Dressler, Charles King, Polly Moran, Gus Edwards, Karl Dane, George K. Arthur, Ann Dvorak, Gwen Lee, Albertina Rasch Ballet, The Rounders, The Biltmore Quartet

Both IMDb and AFI list the opening date for The Hollywood Revue of 1929 as November 23, 1929. However ads and articles in the various trade magazines show the film was actually released in June 1929 – making it the first revue style musical film.

Developed from an idea by producer Harry Rapf, the revue was set to feature some of MGM’s brightest stars. Addressing issues of dubbing, Motion Picture News ​reported that

Highly anticipated, the premier was reported by The Film Daily as “one of the most spectacular ever held on the Coast.” The opening featured a human billboard (pictured below) and was one of the first to announce celebrities as they walked down the aisles of theatre. Variety noted that throughout the screening, the audience sat frozen in their seats “because of the immediate thought on how is the stage going to compete with such effects…”

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 opened to rave reviews and played to sold-out houses, frequently topping the grosses list. The Film Daily called it "A smash and a wow.” Motion Picture News described it as “an excellent show,” and claimed the "Singing in the Rain" number was "by far the most effective number ever staged in either sound or silent films.” Variety stated, “it’s the top novelty film to be turned out to date.” 

​In the next scene, Natacha Natova and Co dance and perform increasingly riskier lifts and acrobatic feats, including spinning Natova by her leg. The number is truly thrilling, spoiled by frustrating occasional mid-shots which cut off the lower half of the performers bodies. ​

The penultimate number, “Orange Blossom Time” by Joe Goodwin and Gus Edwards is the second colorized sequence. The song sounds like an early Rogers and Hammerstein ballad, and the choreography is simply stunning. Featuring dancers from the Albertina Rasch ballet, the dancing is highly polished. With a range of camera angles, including wide shots of the whole stage, close-ups of the dancers’ feet, and clever use of a reflecting pool, the number is a real highlight of the film. ​

The colorized finale, a reprise of “Singin’ in the Rain,” features the entire cast singing and dancing beneath Noah’s ark, complete with a rainbow. 

Unusually for the period, the production credits are played at the film's conclusion. 

Overall, The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is highly entertaining. It is not without its flaws however. The sound quality on my Warner Bros DVD copy is not great, and the film itself has some choppy editing and poor choice of camera angles.

The dancing is surprisingly hit and miss, especially given the experience of choreographer Sammy Lee, who worked on Broadway choreographing for the Ziegfeld Follies and the original stage productions of No, No, Nanette (1925), The Cocoanuts (1925), Rio Rita (1927) and Show Boat (1927). He worked on over sixty films, and was later twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Dance Direction for King of Burlesque (1936) and Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937). 

My theory is that some of the numbers were actually choreographed by Albertina Rasch. Austrian-born Rasch was an influential prima ballerina and choreographer. After studying in Vienna, Rasch moved to New York. She worked on over thirty Broadway, over twenty Hollywood films, and ran her own troupe of classically trained and highly disciplines dancers. The group traveled extensively to Europe, and performed on Broadway and in film. 

The most difficult aspect of watching these early musicals is the blatant sexism and racism. Women are pretty objects to be looked at, people of color are absent, and racist stereotypes prevail. 

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is a fascinating record of some incredible artists. With the film's box office success, it's easy to see why Warner Bros and Fox followed with their own revues shortly thereafter. 

Another musical featuring horse racing. 

The film is unusual for having two women in lead creative positions, Adelaide Heilbron and Gene Searle. Despite a thirty year career in Hollywood, there is very little information currently available about Heilbron. She worked predominantly during the silent era, and wrote the Broadway play Something Gay (1935).
 
Gene Searle is uncredited, however a feature article in Screenland (Feb 1930) mentions her work on the film. Born Genevieve Searle and known as Nagene Searle or Bobby Jackson, Searle worked as a script supervisor and script clerk throughout the 1930s. Searle reportedly wanted to be director and was working as an assistant to gain experience. Searle came from a wealthy family, and was known for traveling to the studio each day in chauffeured cars, or driving herself in a “powerful, expensive roadster.”
 
The film opened regionally in November 1929 before opening in New York at the Strand on January 31, 1930. Around the country, the box office numbers were hit and miss. While it bombed in Los Angeles, the film played better in various regional centers and in New York – possibly because Buzzell was better known on the east coast.
 
Although the critics found the script to be clichéd and not particularly memorable, they thought the film was entertaining overall. Motion Picture News described it as “A splendid piece of entertainment fodder for picture houses,” and particularly noted that “The horses were convincing and entertaining.” The Film Daily agreed that “The race track scenes [were] well done,” but felt the finale “could have been done better.” 

Motion Picture News gave praise to director Mervyn LeRoy, stating “His treatment carries a warmth and a naturalness that do much to make the picture the entertainment affair that it is.” LeRoy had started out in vaudeville before moving to film. He worked in a variety of departments, including as a writer and actor. Under the guidance of Cecile B. DeMille, LeRoy became a director and went on to direct a variety of well-received films including Show Girl in Hollywood (1930), Little Caeser (1931), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Madame Curie (1943), Rose Marie (1954) and Gypsy (1962). He also directed Broadway Babies (1929).
 
Eddie Buzzell received positive reviews for his performance. Screenland claimed “…just to have Eddie with us on the screen is something,” and Motion Picture News stated Buzzell “comes through with a couple of colors flying bravely in the breeze. He is a surprise—the pleasant kind.” Despite Variety’s prediction that Little Johnny Jones was just the start of Buzzell’s talkie career, the film turned out to be his only feature length talkie. From the early 1930s he worked as a director for Universal and MGM, directing musical comedies such as Honolulu (1939), Song of the Thin Man (1947), and Neptune’s Daughter (1949).  
 
Buzzell’s co-stars received mixed reviews. Edna Murphy was described by Motion Picture News as “pretty terrible,” however Variety thought her “vamp [was] well and interestingly done.” Edna Murphy and Mervyn LeRoy were a married couple. In the gossip column “A Little from “Lots”” in The Film Daily (Aug 28, 1929), Ralph Wilk wrote “Mervyn LeRoy…declared this is the only time on record where a man not only refrained from stopping his wife’s talking, but actually directed her to do so.” Oh, sexism. Murphy had been a popular silent film actress and model, but retired from the industry in 1933 when she re-married. She also appeared in The Show of Shows (1929).
 
Variety found Alice Day to be “charming, as usual,” and Motion Picture News stated that she did “nice work in a so-so part.” Day was a silent film star who retired shortly after the advent of talkies. Her film credits include Is Everybody Happy (1929), The Show of Shows (1929), Melody Man (1930), The Lady from Nowhere (1931), and Gold (1932).
 
The critics agreed that the George M. Cohan songs "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "Give My Regards to Broadway," were old-fashioned but carried sentimental appeal. Cohan was a multi-talented, versatile, and immensely influential performer and writer. Born into a show business family, Cohan started out as a child prodigy violinist. Little Johnny Jones, which he wrote and starred in, was his first Broadway hit. He went on to write over three hundred songs, as well as composing and performing in over fifty Broadway shows. 

Little Johnny Jones is now considered a lost film. The stage musical was revived on Broadway in 1982, starring Donny Osmond. The production was described by the New York Times as “listless,” and closed on opening night.

​Innovative use of music, and the longest close-up in motion picture history. 

 Date of Release: Nov 10, 1929
Studio: Fox
Director: Lewis Seiler
Screenplay: Frederick Hazlitt Brennan
Music: Sidney Mitchell, Con Conrad, Archie Gottler
Leading Actors: Joseph Wagstaff (Jerry Reavis), Lois Moran (Lee Coleman), Dorothy Burgess (Nancy Morgan), Douglas Gilmore (Kane Pitcairn), Herman Bing (Jake Kleinschmidt), Hedda Hopper (Mrs. Coleman), Edwards Davis (Mr. Coleman), Bert Woodruff (Steve)     
 
A Song of Kentucky told the story of Lee Coleman (Lois Moran), a wealthy Southern girl. In New York, Lee falls in love with Jerry (Joseph Wagstaff), a composer. Lee’s Southern suitor, Kane Pitcairn (Douglas Gilmore) sabotages the budding romance by organizing for an old vaudeville friend, Nancy (Dorothy Burgess), to frame Jerry for a crime. Lee returns heartbroken to Kentucky, and makes a wager with Kane that if her horse doesn’t win the Kentucky Derby, she will marry him (Kane, not the horse). She loses the wager, and heads to a concert, where Jerry happens to be conducting his new symphony. At the end of the concert the truth about Jerry being framed is revealed, and Jerry and Lee are happily reunited.
 
According to Exhibitors Herald World, A Song of Kentucky was the first film to feature “a talking picture within a talking picture.” The film featured a Fox Movietone newsreel, which contained footage of the 1929 Kentucky Derby, was “shot as seen and heard by an audience which applauds at its conclusion.” 
 
The film was well received by critics. Motion Picture News claimed the film was “above average,” and The Film Daily stated it was ““Modest in plot, but built up with a musical background and skillful direction to the point of a soaking human interest wallop.” The Educational Screen described the film as an “Unpretentious, pleasant romantic drama.”
 
Unlike other musicals of this period, several reviewers praised the innovative use of music. While Variety found the score to be “anemic as to melody or appeal,” The Film Daily and Motion Picture News celebrated the “catchy” Mitchel/Conrad/Gottler tunes, particularly the film’s climatic original symphony. Motion Picture News described the symphony as “an artistic, but realistic touch, that demonstrates what might be done in the future with the addition of sound in pictures.”
 
The music was written by Sidney Mitchell, Con Conrad, and Archie Gottler. Sidney Mitchell was a prolific composer who wrote hundreds of songs. His songs include “Walking with Susie,” “Doing the Boom-Boom,” “Broadway,” and “Hittin’ the Ceiling.” His other film credits from 1929 include Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, Broadway, and The Cock-Eyed World.
 
Con Conrad started out in vaudeville, touring extensively in the United States and abroad. He wrote for several Broadway shows including The Greenwich Village Follies (1923), Americana (1926) and Keep Shufflin’ (1928). In Hollywood Conrad became a staff writer for Fox and his songs can be heard in over one hundred films including The Cock-Eyed World (1929), New Movietone Follies of 1930 (1930), Goodbye Love (1933), I Like it That Way (1934) and Margie (1946). He won the Best Music (Original Song) Oscar in 1935 for The Gay Divorcee (1934). Conrad was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
 
Archie Gottler was a staff writer for Fox who had started out as a pianist and moved onto writing for Broadway. His Broadway credits include Ziegfeld Follies of 1918 (1918), Broadway Breveties of 1920 (1920) and The Mimic World (1921). In Hollywood, Gottler joined the illustrious ranks of writers churning out song after song. His hits include “Walking with Susie,” “Broadway,” “Kiss Me Goodnight,” and “Easter Sunday on Parade.” In the mid-1930s, Gottler also directed and wrote a series of short films.
 
Actor Joseph Wagstaff received plenty of praise. The Film Daily described him as “a talented, likeable lad whom picture fans are sure to take to their hearts,” a sentiment echoed by Photoplay. Wagstaff was a well-liked Broadway performer who worked on stage for around ten years. Despite the critical approval for his performance in A Song of Kentucky, he appeared in just one more film, Let’s Go Places (1930).
 
Lois Moran was also praised by the critics, though usually for her good looks rather than her acting ability. American-born Lois Moran grew up in Paris, where, as a teenager, she worked with the Paris Opera Corps de Ballet. After appearing in a French movie, Moran returned to USA and became a celebrated silent film star. Whilst most actors’ careers went from stage to screen, Moran’s career did the opposite. Although brief, Moran had a successful stage career, appearing on Broadway in several celebrated productions such as Of Thee I Sing and Let Them Eat Cake. Moran was reportedly the inspiration for Rosemary Hoyt in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night. She retired from acting in 1935 when she married Clarence M. Young.
 
According to Bradley’s The First Hollywood Musicals, the symphony scene featured an eleven minute close-up on Moran that was “the longest closeup ever made in all-talking motion pictures.”
 
Variety ran an article on the outfits worn by Lois Moran and Hedda Hopper, with Hopper receiving particular praise for her “ability” to wear stunning dresses. Hopper was an average stage and screen actor who found fame as a gossip columnist. Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood was notorious for its salacious stories about Hollywood’s brightest stars.
 
A Song of Kentucky played to relatively good houses, but was not able to stand up to tough competition from The Trespasser, Gold Diggers of Broadway and Tanned Legs.
 
It is now considered a lost film.