Date of Release: July 7, 1929 
Studio: Universal 
Director: Nat Ross 
Screenplay: John B. Clymer, Pierre Couderc, Leonard Fields, Albert De Mond
Music: Dave Silverstein, Lee Zahler 
Leading Actors: George Lewis (Bob Wilson), Eddie Phillips (“Flash" Thomas), Dorothy Gulliver (Dorothy May), Churchill Ross (Jimmie Reed), Hayden Stevenson (Coach Jones), Sumner Getchell (Fat)

College Love was the first of three “college film musicals” released in 1929 (the other two were Paramount’s Sweetie, and MGM’s So This is College). The film was a feature length, all-talking version of a series of popular silent shorts released by Universal, The Collegians. The film sought to capitalize on the popularity of the series, talkie fever, and what film historian Edwin M. Bradley states was the national obsession with collegiate football in the 1920s.

It was difficult to decide whether or not to include this film in the list. None of the online databases (AFI, IMDb) list it as a musical, but it receives a line of mention in both Barrios’ A Song in the Dark and Bradley’s The First Hollywood Musicals. Unlike other films of the day, it was not heavily promoted in the trade magazines, however the ads that do exist make heavy use of images of music and dance, suggesting that, even if the movie was low on song and dance, marketing it as "all singing and all dancing" had perceived appeal. ​

Universal's focus in the summer of 1929 was on Show Boat, and as a result, College Life was not heavily promoted in print media. It is often only advertised as part of Universal’s catalogue, and very few pictorial adverts can be found in the trade magazines. 

The pictorial adverts that do exist heavily promote the musical aspects of the film, with cartoon images of musicians playing saxophones and drums, and people dancing. An ad in the Exhibitor’s Herald World (Aug 10, 1929), describes College Love as "the 100% singing and talking sensation!” In a herald from the Wellington Talkies (currently available on Ebay), the film is advertised with the words “Youth! Beauty! Jazz!” 

While print adverts were few in number, Universal did attempt some unusual forms of advertising. The Exhibitors Herald World (Aug 10, 1929) reported that Universal had bought several radio stations to broadcast music and dialogue from new films. The first was Station KRLD in Dallas, Texas, which was scheduled to broadcast the score and dialogue of College Love in its entirety. As College Love is a lost film, it would be interesting to see if any of the stations bought by Universal still hold archival copies of the sound discs. 

Another form of advertising were "ballyhoo stunts," events in towns and cities designed to attract attention and promote upcoming features. Exhibitors Herald World (Aug 10, 1929) reported that a car decked out with signage for College Love drove around Milwaukee for two days and "attracted a lot of attention." The stunt seems to have worked, as the Hollywood Filmograph reported that the film broke "house records in Milwaukee theaters." 

A second event occurred in Oregon, with Exhibitors Herald World (Sept 28, 1929) reporting that in Grants Pass the picture house had run a "flivver parade" (slang term for a small car, imagine what we call a "vintage car" today) sponsored by Ford Motors and other local businesses. The parade "was a wow, with resulting good business at the Rivoli." ​

The stunts were not quite enough however, and the film flopped at the box office, often closing within a week or two wherever it opened.

The overwhelming consensus among the reviewers was that College Love was utterly inane. The critics derided the acting as mediocre, the sound as lackluster, and the plot ridiculous. Despite all this, nearly every critic noted that College Love was good fun, and worth it for the football scenes alone (the use of real life footage from a college football game was highly praised, and used in the same way in So This Is College​). Film magazine The Education Screen (October 1929) had an amusing review system which rated College Love as "stupid" for "intelligent adults," and "harmless" for "youth (aged 15-20).”​

College Love appears to be an example of a silent film that couldn’t make the leap to talkies. Just about all of its creative team, with the exception of Leonard Fields (who went on to write, produce, and direct several films throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, including King Kelly of the U.S.A (1934), and Manhattan Love Song (1934)), were active in Hollywood only during the silent era. 

The music occasionally rated a positive review, but no hit songs were generated from the film. It was the first film marking a partnership with Shapiro Bernstein Inc. and Universal, where Shapiro Bernstein Inc. would write and publish music for all upcoming Universal films. Songs for College Love, written by Lee Zahler and Dave Silverstein, included "It's You," "Oh, How We Love Our College," and "Crazy Medley.” 

The music team had more enduring success than the other creatives on College Love. 
Lee Zahler was a tremendously prolific composer, and music director, whose career spanned over thirty years. He wrote the music for Columbia's Batman and Phantom serials in the 1940s, and was the director of music at Columbia for almost ten years. Composer and writer Dave Silverstein eventually became a staff writer for Fox.

College Love is considered a lost film. Based on the reviews, and lackluster creative team, it seems we are better off enjoying the other 1929 college football musicals, Sweetie or So This Is College instead!

A fascinating movie that is at once brilliant and banal, technically spectacular, and completely overdone. ​

Aside from the spectacular visuals, the strength of the film lies in a few stand-out performances. Evelyn Brent is brilliant as the put-out chorus girl, Pearl. Her character is driven by real needs and wants, and her scowl (for which she was famous) is utterly killer. George Davis, as the silent ever-suffering butler Joe, possesses excellent comic timing, and steals all the scenes he is in. 

One of my favorite elements of Broadway are the sassy chorus girls. They are rude, backstabbing and mean, and unafraid to say what they think. Women who drive the comedy and the plot are a refreshing break from the sappy women who need men to be happy. 

Director Fejos only spent a few years in Hollywood, leaving the United States, and eventually commercial film-making altogether, as he felt creatively constricted by the Hollywood system. His brilliant and innovative vision is strongly evident in Broadway, and we are lucky that Criterion has made the film available. ​

Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 is a lost film. According to Vitaphone Varieties, the only known surviving copy of the film was lost in a catastrophic fire in 1937. There is a listing for the film at the Library of Congress, however it is only for a record as listed in Jack Raymond’s Show Music on Record (a listing of recordings from American shows). After contacting the Library of Congress, I discovered that they do hold 35mm nitrate of censor cuts from the film, however nitrate elements are not available for viewing.

DIRECTOR TROUBLE 
Fox Movietone Follies was initially directed by Marcel Silver, who also directed Married in Hollywood, another lost film from 1929. In the late 1920s, he directed many of Fox’s “Varieties,” sound shorts featuring vaudeville acts filmed in Hollywood. ​

After Fox executives began to panic at the escalating production costs, lack of plot, and lengthy production period, director David Butler was bought in to finish the film. He did so in a matter of weeks. Raised in a show business family, Butler directed over eighty films and television shows in a career spanning over fifty years, including the delightful Sunny Side Up, (1929), The Little Colonel (1935), Calamity Jane (1953), and Leave it to Beaver (1957).

CATCHY MUSIC
The reviews unanimously declared that the music was catchy and fun, and bound to get the audience dancing. Several songs from the film including “That’s You, Baby,” “Breakaway,” “Walking with Susie,” “Big City Blues” became best-selling hits. Photoplay wrote, in its new record review section, “you can dance to this!”

The music team were all highly successful and prolific composers. Working primarily for Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Sidney Mitchell had a successful partnership with Lew Pollack. Mitchell wrote the lyrics for "At the Codfish Ball," "Sugar," and the Oscar nominated "A Melody from the Sky."

Starting out as a piano accompanist for silent film, Conrad went on to perform, write, and produce for the Broadway stage. His songs were recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Eddie Cantor, and Eubie Blake, and went on to become huge hits. Conrad eventually moved to Hollywood, and continued to write hit songs for the budding talkie industry. He won the first Oscar for Best Song for "The Continental," featured in The Gay Divorcee (1934), and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Conrad's music continues to be featured in film and television, including "Palesteena,” You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love)," and "Ma, She's Making Eyes at Me."​

Another silent film accompanist, Archie Gottler went on to write for the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Brevities in the 1920s. After composing innovative scores for silent films, he continued working in Hollywood as a successful composer and director. As a director. Gottler is best known for Woman Haters, the first of the Three Stooges comedies. His famous songs include “America, I Love You,” “Easter Sunday on Parade," and “Wine, Women and Song.”

MULTICOLOR DANCES! 
Despite the song and dance routines being filmed in groundbreaking multicolor, which according to historian Richard Barrios “was based on shades of red-orange and blue, which gave it a softer and cooler look than its rival,” the choreography did not receive much mention in any of the reviews. 

Unusually for this period, the choreographers are credited in Fox Movietone Follies. For this film, the musical numbers were staged by brother and sister team, Fanchon and Marco. Fanchon & Marco Inc, also known as F&M, was a highly successful family-run production company and talent school based in LA. The company created elaborate stage shows and film segments featuring large numbers of talented chorus girls. According to the Fanchon and Marco website, notable students who trained with Miss Fanchon and her brother, Marco Fanchon, include “Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Shirley Temple, Ginger Rogers, Dorothy Lamour, Cyd Charisse, Betty Grable, Joan Crawford, Will Rogers and May West.” The site is well worth checking out for production shots of F&M’s elaborate sets and staging. 

Even with the use of multicolor, the critics failed to be impressed by the elaborate numbers. Barrios states that “Trick photography was used on an energetic group of black singers/dancers performing “Walking with Susie”; and a faux undersea ballet, “Pearl of Old Japan”... yet neither was terribly dazzling.” 

LACK OF STARS
Variety lamented the lack of stars in the cast. With a few notable exceptions (listed below), very few of the credited cast members went on to any sort of performance career beyond a few film appearances.

Along with her sisters, Lola Lane was one of the leading ladies of the 1930s. Born Dorothy Mullican, Lane started out playing piano for silent films. After reportedly being discovered singing in a flower shop, Lane toured the vaudeville circuit and eventually moved to New York where she starred in revues alongside George Jessel. Lane was spotted by a talent scout and moved to Hollywood in 1929. She appeared in over forty films, usually playing tough women. Lane was the inspiration behind the Superman character, Lois Lane.

Stepin Fetchit, or Lincoln Perry, was a highly successful, and controversial, comedian and actor. He was the first African American actor to receive a featured screen credit, and the first to become a millionaire. Although widely criticized for his derogatory portrayals of "lazy" African American characters, Perry was later celebrated for opening the doors in Hollywood to African American actors. An excellent bio and breakdown of his career and legacy can be found here and here.

Sue Carol was a successful actress for over 10 years before starting her own talent agency, the Sue Carol Agency. The critics loved her in Fox Movietone Follies, and she received universally favorable reviews.

Dixie Lee is now known as Bing Crosby's wife, however she was very much a celebrated star in her own right, even if she was adored for her good looks rather than any remarkable acting abilities. Lee appeared on recordings "A Fine Romance" and "The Way You Look Tonight."
Paula Langlen was a stage actress who also went by the nickname of "Skipit," reportedly due to her flighty demeanor during her first Broadway audition. She appeared in Gilbert and Sullivan productions on Broadway, and in several films. One critic described her as "sprite-like" and "charming."

Carolynne Snowden was a highly acclaimed African American dancer who appeared in over twenty films, mostly during the silent era. She was a headliner at the Cotton Club in Harlem, and toured the US with her own troupe. At the height of her success in Hollywood, she had her own dressing room on the MGM lot, and a five-year contract. Snowden often appeared opposite Lincoln Perry, and appeared in The Jazz Singer as a maid. She is credited as being one of the first successful African American film actresses who paved the way for actresses of color on the big screen.

Frank Richardson was a child performer who was known as "The Wonder Boy Tenor". He had success as a black-face performer in vaudeville, and his act, "The Joy Boy of Song," was filmed as a short for Vitaphone. He appeared in Sunny Side Up and "Happy Days" (1929). A detailed biography can be found here.

Date of Release: 12 May 1929
Studio: Pathé
Director: Bradley Barker
Screenplay: Gene Markey 
Music: Will Collins, Bud Green, James F. Hanley, Sam H. Stept     
Leading Actors: Morton Downey, Beryl Mercer, John T. Doyle, Brian Donlevy, Helen Chandler, Osgood Perkins, Lorin Raker, Barbara Bennett, Jennie Moskowitz, Jacob Frank, Louis Sorin, Robert Gleckler, Tyrell Davis, Allen Vincent, Leslie Stowe    

Mother’s Boy appears to be a lost film, as it is not held at the Library of Congress or the UCLA Film and TV Archive. 

If the reviews are anything to go by, Mother's Boy, described by Photoplay as “Just another Jolson plot, only this time the singer is an Irishman,” is not a film that history is sad to have lost.

Motion Picture News wrote, 

Mordaunt Hall, in his NY Times Review, found Mother’s Boy overly sentimental, “lachrymose,” with poor sound quality. He stated that “there are some good touches of comedy,” but that the dialogue was “really beneath consideration.”

The Post described the film as “a dull, uneventful and sentimental debauch,” and film historian Edwin M. Bradley called it “wretched.” 

Given the wealth of talent behind the scenes, and on screen, it is surprising that Mother's Boy was so universally panned. 
​
DIRECTOR
Perhaps the blame lies with director Bradley Barker, who was more well-known as a silent film actor, appearing in over 70 films over the course of his fifteen year career. He directed a total of seven films, most of which were silent.

WRITER
Writer Gene Markey also wrote Syncopation and Close Harmony. He was well-liked in Hollywood (and was considered quite a ladies’ man). Markey was a prolific and popular novelist who wrote about the jazz age. He later worked as a producer, and, after leaving Hollywood, was heavily involved in horse racing.​

MUSIC
Austrian born Bud Green was a prolific and immensely successful writer who started out in vaudeville, and made his way west in the 1920s to become a staff writer in Hollywood. He wrote hundreds of songs, including “Sentimental Journey,” Oh, Boy, What a Girl,” and “Alabamy Bound.” He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.
James F. Hanley was another prolific Broadway composer who wrote a string of hits including “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart” and “I’m a Lonesome Little Raindrop.” He contributed to dozens of films, including Glorifying the American Girl (1929), Me and My Gal (1932), and Rose of Washington Square (1939). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. 
Russian born Sammy Stept, later known as Sam Stept, was a highly prolific composer and jazz pianist. He wrote hundreds of songs, including “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me),” “Johnny Get Your Gun,” and “I’ll Always Be in Love With You”. His music appeared on stage and in film, and his songs have been covered by artists such as The Andrews Sisters, the Beatles, Eartha Kitt, Frank Sinatra, and many more. 

CAST
The cast featured a roll call of prominent (or soon-to-be-prominent) stage and screen stars, but it seems their talents were not enough to save the film. 

Nicknamed “The Irish Nightingale,” tenor Morton Downey was a popular singer and actor. Listed as “a face to watch” in the November 1929 edition of Photoplay, Downey appeared in several films throughout his career. He went on to host radio programs, and later, television shows. He was married to fellow actor Barbara Bennett, and was the father of television personality Morton Downey Jr. 

At 4’11”, Beryl Mercer was often typecast in motherly roles. Born in Spain to English parents, Mercer worked as a child actor in London before eventually moving to New York. After performing on Broadway, Mercer moved to Hollywood and appeared in over fifty films including All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Jane Eyre (1934), and The Little Princess (1939). 

John T. Doyle appeared in three films, and died in 1935. 

Brian Donlevy appeared in over one hundred films over the course of his forty year career in Hollywood. He became famous for playing rough characters with a soft side, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste (1939). 

By her early twenties, Helen Chandler was already an established stage actress who had performed with stars such as John and Lionel Barrymore. She appeared in nearly thirty films, but was plagued by drug and alcohol addiction, and was not as successful on screen as she had been on the legitimate stage. 

Osgood Perkins was an established stage actor who appeared as a character actor in several films, and was the grandfather of actor and writer Oz Perkins.
Lorin Raker worked on Broadway for over fifteen years before transitioning to film. He worked in Hollywood in film and television until the 1950s, however most of his roles appear to be uncredited. 

Barbara Bennett was the middle child of a highly theatrical family, and despite early success as a dancer, she was not as successful or well-known as her two sisters, Constance and Joan Bennett. Barbara appeared in several Broadway shows, and a few unsuccessful Hollywood musicals including Mother’s Boy, and Love Among the Millionaires.

Mother’s Boy is one of just two screen appearances for Jennie Moskowitz, however she was a very well regarded and prominent stage actress. Romanian born, Moskowitz made her stage debut at age thirteen, and was taken under the wing of Sarah Bernhardt. After being bought to New York with a theatre troupe at just eighteen years old, Moskowitz became a well-known feature of the New York stage, appearing in Yiddish and English-speaking theaters. A review of Potash and Perlmutter in 1917 described Moskowitz’s performance as “lovable and most convincing.”  

There is scant information about Jacob Frank available online. He also appeared in two films, Mother’s Boy and Zein Weib's Lubovnick.

Louis Sorin was a prominent character actor on stage, screen, and radio, whose career spanned over forty years. He is best remembered for his role in both the stage and screen versions of The Marx Brothers classic, Animal Crackers. 
Robert Gleckler was a successful stage and screen actor who appeared in over fifty films including Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938) and Gangs of New York (1938). Just before his death, he began filming for the classic Gone With the Wind, playing the role of the Yankee overseer. 

Tyrell Davis was a British actor who appeared in over 30 films. 

Allen Vincent was an actor and writer. He was nominated for the Best Writing (Screenplay) Oscar in 1949, and he appeared in over twenty films. 

​Leslie Stowe was a stage actor who appeared in several silent films. He retired from Hollywood shortly after the advent of talking pictures. 

The 1929 film version of Show Boat is the first of three movie musicals based on Edna Ferber’s best-selling novel. It is the least popular of the film versions, and separate to the ground-breaking Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II musical.  

Date of Release: April 17, 1929 
Studio: Universal
Director: Harry Pollard 
Screenplay: Charles Kenyon, Edward J. Montagne, Harry Pollard, Tom Reed
Music: Gene Austin, Joseph Cherniavsky, Leo Friedman, Oscar Hammerstein II, Gene Jefferson, Jerome Kern, William H. Myddleton, Maceo Pinkard, Billy Rose, Nathaniel Shilkret, P. G. Wodehouse
Lead Players:
Prologue: Otis Harlan, Helen Morgan, Jules Bledsoe, Tess "Aunt Jemima" Gardella, The Jubilee Singers, Carl Laemmle, Florenz Ziegfeld
Main Feature: Laura La Plante, Joseph Schildkraut, Otis Harlan, Emily Fitzroy, Alma Rubens, Elsie Bartlett, Jack McDonald, Jane La Verne, Neely Edwards, Theodore Lorch, Stepin Fetchit, Gertrude Howard, Ralph Yearsley, George Chesebro, Harry Holden, Max Asher, Jim Coleman, Carl Herlinger, The Billbrew Chorus

The novel Show Boat, written by Edna Ferber, was published in 1926. Following on the heels of Ferber’s Pulitzer winner novel So Big, Show Boat became a best-seller, and held the number one spot on the Best Seller’s List for twelve weeks. 

Ferber was a highly prolific and influential writer who, in her lifetime, published twelve novels, twelve short story collections, nine plays, and two autobiographies. She was praised for her ability to capture the stories and lives of American people, and the American spirit. Ferber is a fascinating writer, and deserves far more space than I can give her here, (the Jewish Women’s Archive has an excellent account of her life and work). 

The novel tells the inter-generational story of life aboard a show boat on the Mississippi River between 1850 and 1920. In response to the novel, the New York Times described Ferber as “one of those who are reviving first-rate story-telling.” 

Within a year, the film rights had been granted to Universal, and the stage rights to Florenz Ziegfeld. Universal began production on the film as a silent picture. Whilst the movie was in production, Ziegfeld’s stage show opened on Broadway and became a smash hit. 

Ziegfeld’s Broadway musical, Show Boat, opened in 1927 and revolutionized Broadway. With book and music by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, Show Boat was the first “integrated musical” — whereby plot, character, song and dance were developments of each other and came together to tell a whole story. 

A break from the fluff and light humor of traditional Broadway shows, Show Boat was revolutionary for its heavy themes, realistically depicting the lives of everyday people, and for featuring actors of color in prominent roles. Show Boat is now considered the first American musical, where musical theater departs from operetta and vaudeville revues. Two movie versions of the Broadway show were made in 1936, and in 1951. 

Universal’s film had virtually nothing to do with Ziegfeld’s popular production, however Universal exploited Ziegfeld’s name to sell tickets, and reportedly paid $200,000 for the rights to use the popular score in their film. Variety claimed that “the publicity of the Ziegfeld name” in conjunction with the film was worth more than the film itself. Variety predicted several times that the film was “not expected to affect the pace [box office] of Zieggy’s (sic) production…” To further capitalize on the Broadway show's notoriety, Universal filmed a short sound prologue featuring stars from the original Broadway cast singing songs from the show. 

After a lengthy production period, much negotiation between Ziegfeld and Universal, and several re-shoots, the first movie version of Show Boat finally opened in April 1929. The staggered openings around the country were beset with problems. In Washington, Universal faced union troubles when a theatre refused to screen the film without Universal covering the cost of an orchestra in the pit. Union troubles also affected the signage outside the Globe Theater in New York when, just prior to opening, the sheet metal workers and sign painters held a strike over agreements for hanging electrical signs over Broadway theaters. 

According to Edwin M. Bradley, unlike the other movie studios, Universal did not have its own chain of theaters, and relied on independent theaters to screen its films. As a result, Universal did all it could to promote Show Boat. In the lead up to the New York opening, Variety reported the presence of a truck equipped with a large phonograph and horn creating a “ballyhoo” down Broadway and blaring the film’s score for all to hear.

Universal's Show Boat received mixed reviews.Variety (April 24, 1929) said the film “by itself is an excellent picture when 25 minutes shall have been cut” and lamented the “dragginess… through prolonged scenes.” Photoplay (June 1929) wrote that “The weakness…lies in the obvious direction of Harry Pollard,” and overall described the adaptation as lackluster compared to the book.

Mordaunt Hall in his review for the New York Times (April 21, 1929) stated that Show Boat “benefits particularly by the melodies from Florenz Ziegfeld’s stage production,” and that “Fortunately for the picture, it ends with a series of the captivating melodies, which result in one leaving the theatre pardoning some of the boring periods.” He was also critical of the film’s length, and described the story as “frequently maudlin”. 

Overall, the critics were unimpressed with the performances by the lead actors. Interestingly, lead actor Laura La Plante was dubbed by Eva Olivotti — who according to Photoplay “did it very well, indeed”. In 1929, Photoplay ran an article by Mark Larkin about Hollywood’s open secret of “voice doubling.” The article provided detailed information about which films had dubbed the singing (and instrument playing), and explained that although dubbing was a common practise, it was predicted that dubbing would soon be unnecessary as more film actors learnt to sing and play instruments.  

Some of the contemporary reviews are hard to read today, thanks to the racist overtones in the way critics described actors of color — “Bledsoe’s voice registers beautifully and has an appealing quality that is bound to get over with any type of audience.” This racism is also evident in the filmmakers’ decision to remove the presence of interracial marriage, prominent in the novel, from the movie plot.

The prologue also received mixed reviews. Variety described the prologue as “not so nifty in sounding or photography.” Film Daily meanwhile praised the prologue, calling it “One of the best things in its class that has yet been presented in sound shorts.” Mordaunt Hall was similarly praiseworthy, stating that the prologue “starts things in an inspiring fashion.” Film historian Richard Barrios holds a less than favorable opinion of the prologue, stating that “What survives of the prologue is... problematic, historically significant but ultimately, inevitably, beside the point.”

With a drawcard title, Show Boat did relatively well at the box office, though not well enough to cover costs. 

According to Bradley, the first movie version of Show Boat was considered lost until Miles Kreuger, historian and musical theater aficionado, tracked down copies for a tribute at MoMA to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show's opening on Broadway. The restoration involved film reels found in the MGM Archive and, of all places, the Danish Film Archive. 

An incomplete VHS copy, transferred from deteriorating reels, is held at the Film and Television Archive at UCLA. The film was aired on Turner Classic Movies in 2009, and, to date, I have not been able to source a legal DVD copy available to purchase. 

The clip below contains footage reportedly from 1929. I think the footage is more likely to be from rehearsals in 1927, which according to the Film Study Center at MoMA, was filmed as part of an early sound on film experiment. 

I would love to see a copy of the 1929 film, especially the prologue, and compare the footage. It is a treat to have access to early Broadway in this way!

Syncopation was a hit at the box office, but the critics, and film historians, hated it. With this in mind, it was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch RKO’s first film. I was pleasantly surprised by how funny and watchable this film remains after 86 years.

Date of Release: 24 March 1929
Studio: RKO
Director: Bert Glennon
Screenplay: Frances Agnew, Gene Markey, Paul S. Haschke
Music: Sammy Stept, Bud Green, Clifford Grey, Richard Myers, Leo Robin, Herman Ruby
Leading Actors: Barbara Bennett, Bobby Watson, Ian Hunter, Morton Downey, Osgood Perkins, Mackenzie Ward, Vera Teasdale, Dorothy Lee, Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians

New Studio, New Sound 
The Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation, RKO, was formed in 1928 following a merger of three existing companies that specialized in radio, theatre and film. RKO’s head, David Sarnoff, saw the potential of radio and cinema working in tandem, and as a result Syncopation was heavily advertised on radio, along with the traditional print media blitz. 

RKO also developed an innovative “touring system,” where sound equipment was brought to previously unwired theaters. For many people outside of New York, Syncopation was the first film they had seen with sound. Film Daily (October 8, 1929) reported the film as the first talkie to be screened in South Africa. The massive publicity and “touring system” ensured Syncopation broke box office records.

Despite what the critics said, the sound in Syncopation is surprisingly good. This may be due to the fact that RKO used its own Photophone sound system, which recorded sound on film, making it a flexible means of recording. Vitaphone, which was used more widely, recorded sound on discs, and required movie houses to sync up the discs with the film. An excellent explanation of the history and differences between the various sound systems can be found at Film Sound. Professor Bethany Jacobson also provides a useful account here.

Unkind Opinions
Following a disastrous performance, a character in Syncopation laments, "Read tomorrow's papers, public opinion can be very unkind." Despite its commercial success, the critics were not kind to Syncopation. The NY Times Review was critical of the plot and sound, while Film Daily also lamented the story and poor acting. Film historian Richard Barrios described Syncopation as “dowdy,” with “undistinguished” songs and an “ordinary and derivative” plot, while Richard Koszarski lamented the film’s clunkiness. 

It’s hard to understand why the critics were so harsh. Syncopation is funny, well paced, and features a strong cast, and great music. Director Bert Glennon is better remembered as a cinematographer, and worked on over 100 films, primarily for 20th Century-Fox. His most well-known film, The House of Wax (1953), was the first major color 3D film. His skill for the visual is not lost in Syncopation, and the shots and frame compositions are clever and highly watchable. 

Stepping High
Based on Gene Markey’s novel Stepping High, the film centers around a married dancing duo, Benny and Flo. Flo desires more than their working class life, and leaves her devoted husband to find it. After being wooed by a wealthy patron, Flo realizes Benny is the best partner for her both on and off the stage, and returns. 

The screenplay written by Frances Agnew, is surprisingly tight and full of great comedy (though unfortunately, there are several homophobic references). There is often scant information about screenwriters, and this is even more true of screenwriters who happened to be women. As Kevin Brownlow writes in his introduction to Frederica Maas’ The Shocking Miss Pilgrim: A Writer in Early Hollywood, women working in Hollywood throughout the 1920s and 1930s were often treated “disgracefully” and not publicly recognized for their talents.

Frances Agnew was a screenwriter for at least 11 films in the 1920s and 1930s. Author and fellow screenwriter Frederica Maas met Agnew around this time, and described her a “a spinster nearing fifty” who “lived in a small hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.” According to Agnew’s own book published in 1913, she was an “author, actress, and photoplayer”. The book, written whilst working for famed Hollywood movie columnist Louella Parsons, entitled Motion Picture Acting: How to Prepare for Photoplaying, What Qualifications are Necessary, How to Secure an Engagement, Salaries Paid to Photoplayers, is a fascinating insight into early film acting. 

Leading Players
The entire cast is strong and well cast. Barbara Bennett puts in a solid performance as the social climbing Flo, and her character is an interesting one. The social conventions of the day suggest a woman leaving her husband to pursue her dreams is highly unacceptable, but we never truly dislike Flo. We see her frustrations in trying to achieve more than her social class allows, and how limited her options are without a partner. Despite the attention and lavish gifts presented by the wealthy Winston (played by Ian Hunter), Flo remains loyal to Benny. Perhaps this was all too modern for the critics of the day who dismissed the story as fluff. 

Barbara Bennett was the middle child of a highly theatrical family, and despite early success as a dancer, she was not as successful or well-known as her two sisters, Constance and Joan Bennett. Barbara appeared in several Broadway shows, and a few unsuccessful Hollywood musicals including Mother’s Boy, and Love Among the Millionaires. 

Bobby Watson is charming and funny as her doting husband, Benny. Bobby Watson was a vaudeville comedian famous for playing drag roles. He went on to much success in Hollywood, and became most well-known for playing Hitler after being cast as the dictator in 9 different films. He played the (uncredited) diction coach in the “Moses Supposes” number in Singin’ in the Rain!

Benny and Flo never sing, but their comedic sidekick friends, Lew and Peggy, fill the void. Played with great charisma by Morton Downey and Peggy Lee, Lew and Peggy appear at opportune moments to play and sing at Benny and Flo’s piano. Morton Downer was a well-regarded tenor, known as the “Irish Nightingale,” and was Barbara Bennet’s real life husband. Syncopation marked the film debut for actress Dorothy Lee who went on to appear in the highly enjoyable Rio Rita and several Wheeley & Woolsey comedies. 

The other supporting characters, wealthy New York socialites, are played with panache by Osgood Perkins, Mackenzie Ward, and Veree Teasdale. Syncopation is one of the few movie musicals film I’ve seen in 1929 to feature an African American actor, the role of Mammy — a help maid to Flo, is unfortunately uncredited. 

Song and Dance
With music by a group of highly prolific and successful writers, including Sam Stept who wrote hundreds of songs such as “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)," the score contains several contrasting numbers that make for a fun and very listenable soundtrack. Although some of the songs are contrived, particularly the scenes where Lew and Peggy miraculously appear to vocalize the emotions of the scene, the music has heart. 

As mentioned in previous posts, most music in films from this period is performed on camera by musicians in a performance setting. “I’ll Always Be in Love” is a rare example of music being used to underscore a character’s emotions — in this case, Benny’s pain when Flo announces she is leaving him. The touching final scene of the film is also underscored to great effect. 

“My Inspiration is You” and “Bell Song” are sweet romantic songs with voice and piano. They are contrasted by the big band jazz numbers performed by Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians. A real life jazz group, Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians performed widely, appearing on stage, radio, film and television. Throughout the 1920s, the Pennsylvanians’ records were top-sellers, and the group remained popular into the 1950s. Their popularity is easy to understand from the performances captured in Syncopation. “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life,” “Tin Pan Parade,” and “Jericho” are terrific jazz numbers, complete with entertaining choreography from the band.

Aside from the band choreography, the only dancing to appear in the film are two club scenes featuring Benny and Flo's routine. Although the dancing is not slick by modern standards, the duets are earnest and contain some impressive lifts. The dancing is filmed from a wide angle, with few close ups, allowing us to see the band and Flo and Benny’s bodies in full. 

Backstage Musical Comedies 
By June 1929, audiences on the coasts were growing tired of backstage musical comedies and profits started to dip. Variety reported that theater “Managers are considering a joint protest to the producers” as the “public had had so much similar film fare during recent months.” 

Despite the lack of critical enthusiasm, with its fun score, humorous screenplay, and strong performances, Syncopation is a solid contribution to the early movie musical.

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.  

Date of Release: Nov 8, 1929
Studio: MGM 
Director: Sam Wood
Screenplay: Al Boasberg, Delmer Daves 
Music: Al Boasberg, Martin Broones, Fred Fisher, Charlotte Greenwood, Jesse Greer, Raymond Klages
Leading Actors: Elliott Nugent, Robert Montgomery, Cliff Edwards, Sally Starr, Phyllis Crane, Dorothy Dehn, Max Davidson, Ann Brody, Oscar Rudolph, Gene Stone, Polly Moran, Lee Shumway

So This is College, along with Sweetie (Paramount’s contribution to the college movie musical genre), was one of the more profitable films of 1929. Although an MGM production, the film has been made available on DVD through the Warner Bros Archive. It is a fun comedy that, apart from pervasive sexism, holds up surprisingly well over time. 

The comedic skills of all involved are evident in So This is College. Boasberg and Daves’ witty script, and deft performances from the whole cast, save what is otherwise a formulaic and predictable plot. The film centers around two University of Southern California (USC) footballers, close friends Biff (Robert Montgomery) and Eddie (Elliot Nugent) who compete for the affections of the same girl, Babs (Sally Starr). Underscored by (an unseen) marching band fanfare, the opening scenes of college students returning to college after summer vacation are boisterous and fun. Particularly noteworthy is a sketch-like scene involving two desperate-to-please freshmen (including a young Oscar Rudolph who later made his name directing The Lone Ranger, Batman, The Donna Reed Show and The Brady Bunch) carrying a trunk up a flight of stairs.

The score is comprised almost entirely of upbeat and lively jazz, composed by a team of Tin Pan Alley writers, (you may recognize Charlotte Greenwood's name from So Long Letty, though So This is College appears to be her only songwriting credit). Although the style and flavor of the music is consistent, there is no through-voice pulling the songs together. As a result, the songs appear inserted into the film for the sake of including popular music, rather than for any story-telling devices. Early in the film, Eddie sings, “I don’t want your kisses, if I can’t have your love,” featuring some (rather unconvincing) scat singing. At the song’s conclusion Babs wittily retorts, “That’s a great song, I’d love to hear somebody sing it.” 

The only ballad occurs in the frat dining hall. The boys are gathered waiting for their evening meal, and sing their house song, “Friends Until the End.” The sobriety of the song is humorously undercut by the playful banter between Biff and Eddie. The song is later reprised to surprising dramatic effect when Biff and Eddie’s friendship is tested and they part ways. This kind of juxtaposition between song and action is used effectively at the school dance during the reprise of “I don’t want your kisses,” with a lovely tender moment between Babs and Eddie. 

A college musical wouldn’t be a college musical without a school dance. Unfortunately So This is College is not nearly as slick as Sweetie in the dance department, though it is certainly as enthusiastic. Exactly like Sweetie, the scene begins with the lead female, Babs, surrounded by boys, singing about the school dance, “Campus Capers." The song leads into a frenzied foxtrot, full of energetic, almost violent, bouncing and waving of arms. The result is amusing, though not particularly noteworthy for its choreography or camera work. The costume design in the dance does nothing to help. While the rest of the cast are in standard 1920s flapper dresses and suits, our eye is continually pulled from the dancing, and drawn to the sparkles of Babs’ uniquely spangly flapper dress.  

The pace drags in the second half, unassisted by several scenes featuring secondary characters. Ann Brody, Max Davidson, and Polly Moran were all well-known vaudeville and silent movie stars and their appearances, though funny, distract from the plot. Brody and Davidson are sweet as the Jewish laundry proprietors, but we have no reason to invest in their characters. Moran, playing the poorly treated house cook, Polly, is a genuinely funny comedic actress. She shines in a late scene listening to the big game on the wireless, tears streaming down her face as she laments for her boys, only to discover she is holding an onion to her cheek. Although the performances are fun to watch, these side characters could be cut from the film and nothing would be lost from the story. 

The same could be said of the final scenes at the big football game. Filmed at an enormous stadium complete with thousands of cheering spectators, the footage is from newsreel of a real football match between USC and Stanford in 1928. Although the editing is quite clever, the newsreel images are grainy, and the sheer scale is inconsistent with the rest of the film. 

What really drags So This is College down is the pervasive sexism. Polly appears in the dining room, and the boys prompt her to say, “Polly wants a…[cracker].” When she relents, the boys gleefully throw fistfuls at crackers at her until she retreats back into the kitchen. Babs is twice referred to as a “lovable little mutt”, and despite making her feelings for Biff clearly known, Eddie continues to make unwanted moves towards her. When Babs finally declares, “I don’t know why I’m letting you get away with this,” we wonder the same thing. 

Despite her sole purpose in the film as a love interest, Babs is not without agency. She gets her own back when we discover she has invited just about every boy on campus to pick her up at 8 o’clock, and that her flings with both Eddie and Biff are just part of a larger scheme. Through her snappy one-liners and knowing wink, we understand that boys and dating is all just a game to her. 

The AFI classifies So This is College as a “comedy with songs”, though it is no more or less a musical than the “musical” Sweetie. Despite this, So This is College is more memorable as a comedy than a musical. 

The film marked the beginning of several successful Hollywood careers, though not in movie musicals. Director Sam Wood became a prolific director, well known off-screen for his conservative politics. Scriptwriter Al Boasberg would go on to become a highly influential comedic writer, script doctor and director. Songwriter Fred Fisher penned many hit songs including “Chicago,” “Come Josephine in my Flying Machine,” “And the band played on,” and “I’m on my way to Mandalay”. Actor Robert Montgomery eventually became an award winning actor and director (and father of Elizabeth Montgomery - Samantha in Bewitched). Cliff Edwards, better known as Ukulele Ike, appeared in over 100 films, and is perhaps best remembered as the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. Phyllis Crane became famous for her appearances in the Three Stooges comedies. 

Date of Release: Nov 7, 1929 
Studio: First National Pictures 
Director: Clarence Badger 
Screenplay: Hope Loring
Music: Al Bryan, Edgar Leslie, Horatio Nicholls, Eddie Ward
Choreographer: Larry Ceballos (dance director) 
Leading Actors: Irene Bordini, Jack Buchanan, Louise Closser Hale, Jason Robards, ZaSu Pitts, Margaret Fielding

Based on the Martin Brown Broadway musical of the same name, Paris is the story of an American art student living in Paris who falls in love with a French actress. She agrees to marry him, but only with his mother’s blessing. 

The plot initially sounds like An American in Paris, and interestingly, the original Gershwin symphonic poem was composed in the same year as Brown’s play premiered on Broadway, 1928. It seems stories about American artists falling in love in Paris were very much in vogue in the late 1920s!  

Unfortunately, we cannot compare the two films as Paris only survives in fragmentary sound reels at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. 

Paris was produced by First National Pictures, an independent movie studio that merged with Warner Bros in 1928. The movie was filmed in black and white with two technicolor (and by most accounts, extravagant and unnecessary), revue scenes. Paris received mixed reviews and was considered a moderate success, playing better overseas where its leading lady, French actress Irene Bordini, was more well known.

Like many other stage to screen adaptations of the period, the Broadway score was largely replaced for the film version. A great shame, as the Broadway show featured songs by Cole Porter including “Let’s Fall in Love”.

The Vitaphone Varieties blog has a fascinating, and incredibly detailed, history of Paris. The post includes beautiful stills of the technicolor sequences, and transcripts of the remaining sound reels. 

What is fascinating to me about Paris is that it features something I have not yet come across in this project: a female screenwriter. Hope Loring was a prolific screenwriter in Hollywood, often working in partnership with her husband Louis "Buddy" Lighton. You can read more about her here.

Final tidbit, in researching this post I discovered that director Clarence Badger retired to Sydney, Australia (where I grew up), and Hope Loring retired to Mallorca, Spain (where some of my ancestors hail from)! Small world. 

Date of Release: Nov 2, 1929 
Studio: Paramount 
Director: Frank Tuttle
Music: Richard A. Whiting and George Marion Jr.
Choreographer: Earl Lindsay 
Screenplay: Lloyd Corrigan and George Marion Jr.
Leading Actors: Nancy Carroll , Helen Kane, Stanley Smith, Jack Oakie, William Austin, Stuart Erwin, Wallace MacDonald, Charles Sellon, Aileen Manning

Inspired by the Broadway college football musical smash Good News, Sweetie was one of three “college film musicals” released in 1929. Deftly directed by Frank Tuttle, Paramount’s second talkie offering is a fun film that, except for some dated racist references, holds up well over time.

Aspiring actress Barbara Pelham, (Nancy Carroll), inherits an entire all-boys college, Pelham. Her “sweeter than sweet”, Biff Bentley, (Stanley Smith), is Pelham’s football captain. Jilted by her sweetheart, Barbara arrives at the school seeking revenge, and hijinks ensue, complete with singing and dancing. The story also follows the trials and tribulations of the tomboyish Helen Fry, (Helen Kane) who attends the neighboring Miss Twill’s School for Girls, Barbara’s act partner Tap-Tap Thompson (Jack Oakie), and the unfortunate less-than-bright football jock Axel (Stuart Erwin). 

Nancy Carroll was already a highly popular stage and screen actress with several hits under her belt by the time she filmed Sweetie. I enjoyed Carroll’s earlier performance in Close Harmony, and her performance here is just as charming. The screen time, and most of the songs, however, go to co-star Helen Kane. Kane was the model for Betty Boop, (she was not compensated for the use of her image), and Sweetie was released at the height of her popularity. It’s easy to see why Kane was so adored. She’s mischievous and fun, and, despite her squeaky voice, her character makes from a welcome change from the swooning silly ladies of earlier films. 

Although going on to become well regarded and prolific actors, the lead men pale next to the exuberance of the women. Charles Sellon’s performance as the bumbling, well-meaning professor, Dr Oglethrope, is interesting, if bizarre. As evidenced in the first moments of the film, where he walks over and through a hedge, much of the comedy is overdone or overplayed. 

At times the plot is utterly ridiculous, but throughout the script are some moments of excellent comedy and visual story-telling. Particularly noteworthy is the tongue-in-cheek commentary about the roles of women. The film opens on a beautifully shot group of young ladies learning to pour tea. The composition of the scene, although set in a garden, is intensely theatrical and visually appealing. 

The world of the polite lady is shattered by the appearance of Helen Fry, a gun-popping, tree-climbing, boy-crazy lass who cannot maintain “good posture”, and has “no honor." Her wiles are amusingly showcased in the number “I Think You’ll Like It”, sung to Axel as she surreptitiously undresses him by pulling the thread on his shirt.  

Upon Barbara’s arrival at Pelham, Dr. Oglethrope introduces the boys to their new headmistress - “A woman’s place is in the home, therefore let’s make it feel like home and all shall be well.” Barbara, “who will and does speak for herself,” responds with a hilarious speech about how history is positively littered with examples of women thriving in environments where they surrounded by men, such as Joan of Arc, and for that lady, “everything was quite nice”. The audience knows full well that everything was not quite nice at all for Joan of Arc, and we at once understand that Barbara is doomed as headmistress of Pelham, and impressed that she there at all. 

The music, by George Marion Jr. and Richard A. Whiting, in Sweetie is terrific, and its frequent and cohesive use throughout the film make it stand out from the other films I have watched thus far. Richard A. Whiting is famous for songs such as “Hooray for Hollywood”  and “On the Good Ship Lollipop,” and 1929 was his first year in Hollywood.

The music has an overarching peppy and fun tone that matches the film’s content, and the arrangements are just wonderful. Early in the film we are treated to an a cappella performance of Pelham’s spirit song “Bear Down Pelham”, sung by the football team in the locker room. The song occurs mostly off-camera, providing accompaniment for Biff’s vision of his team’s triumph. A cappella does away with the painful convention during this period to explain the presence of musicians, and fits in with the playful nature of the film.

Unfortunately, a band must appear at some point, and we are forced to sit through an unnecessarily long set-up to learn we are outside the band's rehearsal hall. Barbara is excited to see her sweetheart Biff, and what-d’ya-know, the band starts playing “her song!”. She sings “My Sweeter Than Sweet,” a saccharine ballad, describing her love for the wonderful Biff. The song is repeated, by different characters, and with varying arrangements (including a babershop quartet), to surprisingly good effect several times throughout the film. 

“Alma Mammy” is an upbeat, problematic, song written to showcase the skills of Jack Oakie and parody the hugely famous Al Johnson. The first rendition is fine enough, complete with a throw-away “you ain’t heard nothin’ yet,” referencing Al Johnson's famous line from The Jazz Singer. When the song is reprised as a chorus number at the big game, all the men are wearing minstrel masks. I was confused and disturbed by the use of blackface when Al Johnson did it in The Jazz Singer, and it makes no more sense here. In the world of the film, African American people are completely absent, and there is no other reference to the minstrel tradition. 

Sweetie’s choreography is attributed to “dance director” Earl Lindsay. We get a glimpse of a lovely tap number during rehearsals for Barbara and Tap-Tap’s show, complete with gorgeously designed costumes and proscenium arch. But the dancing is really featured in the lead up to the school dance with “The Prep Step”. The camera cuts between wide shots of the whole room (awkwardly, and inexplicably, framed by two ladders and later two pot plants), mid-shots of the couples dancing, and close ups of the tapping feet. The number is enhanced by the simple yet highly effective costumes, pretty light-colored uniform dresses and suits with black tap shoes. The costumes not only look great in black and white, but draw our attention to the dancers’ feet. The gorgeous dresses at the school dance are equally effective, and it is a shame the costume designer is not credited.

Apart from the glaring racism in “Alma Mammy,” Sweetie is a genuine light-hearted comedy with great music and dance. Unfortunately the restoration to DVD is not great, and the sound quality is often muddied by the whir of the film reel. 

In researching this film, I was reminded that there is no such thing as a definitive movie musical list, or a clear definition of what actually constitutes a movie musical. Film historian Richard Barrios refers to three college musicals released in 1929 - Universal's College Love, MGM's So this is College, and Paramount's Sweetie. Depending on which source you look at, the first two films are often not classified as movie musicals. 

I wrote to the AFI and asked them how they define the categories in their catalogue. Editor of the AFI Catalogue, Bob Birchard, states that categories are based on contemporary trade magazine classifications, and the cataloguer’s discretion. 

So just what is a movie musical? I’ve been trying to answer this question for myself for a while, and it will have it’s own blog post very soon!