Pathé Exchange's first musical.

​Date of Release: Nov 23, 1929
Studio: Pathé Exchange
Director: Leo McCarey
Screenplay: Earl Baldwin, Walter De Leon, William Conselman
Composers: Robert Emmett Dolan, Walter O’Keefe
Leading Actors: Alan Hale (Walter), Kathryn Crawford (Mary), Walter O’Keefe (Sam), Josephine Dunn (Claire), Anita Garvin (Mable), Ilka Chase (Mrs. Floretta), Ernest Hillard (Eddie Graham), Harry Bowen (Whiffle), James Clemmons (Singe) 

Red Hot Rhythm was Pathé's first film to be made on the west coast, and their first musical. The film was a backstage comedy that followed the trials and tribulations of songwriter Walter (Alan Hale) and his muse and girlfriend, nightclub singer Mary (Kathryn Crawford). 

Pathé Exchange started out as the American distributor for the French company Pathé Frères. The AFI Catalog lists 70 films made by Pathé Exchange between 1915 and 1931, while IMDB lists over 500. IMDb lists Red Hot Rhythm as having being been distributed by Pathé, not produced by them, so it may be other entries on the IMDb list are also incorrect.

According to historian Richard Lewis Ward, despite being an important studio player during the silent era Pathé has mostly been omitted from the historical record on this period. Ward’s new book, When the Cock Crows: A History of the Pathé Exchange is due out in June 2016 and may do something to address this gap.

Director Leo McCarey was a prominent writer, producer and director. With over 100 credits to his name McCarey is famous for directing screwball comedies of the 1930s, including Duck Soup starring the Marx Brothers. He won three Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Writing (Original Story) for Going My Way (1944), and Best Director for The Awful Truth (1937). 

Red Hot Rhythm opened to solid reviews. Motion Picture (March 1930) described it as “the best of the season,” and claimed “A hundred to one you leave the theatre whistling.” Motion Picture News (Oct 19, 1929) stated “Although it has plenty of laughs and clever wise-cracks, there is a humanness in story development that makes the picture most enjoyable.” Photoplay (Jan 1930) was less complimentary, calling the story “uneven,” however the reviewer enjoyed the dance numbers and Technicolor sequences.
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Red Hot Rhythm was not actually filmed in Technicolor, but Multicolor. Both technologies created a two-tone red and green colored effect, though Multicolor only required one lens where Technicolor required two. Multicolor was bought out by Cinecolor in 1933. 
 
The cast received positive notices for their performances, particularly Katheryn Crawford. After starting out on the stage, Crawford became a film actress. Despite a short career that really only last a few years, Crawford appeared in 18 films including Red Hot Rhythm (1929), Safety in Numbers (1930), and Emma (1932).
 
Alan Hale also received good notices. He was a dancer and classically trained singer who performed on stage and screen. Hale appeared in over 200 films, often playing character roles. He is best remembered for playing Little John in several Robin Hood movies. Hale was married to Gretchen Hartman. Their son, Alan Hale Jr, is best remembered as the Skipper from Gilligan’s Island.   

A silent version of Red Hot Rhythm was also released. Apart from a few surviving fragments, the film is now considered lost. ​

​“An Irish romance” 

​Date of Release: Aug 17, 1929
Studio: Pathé
Director: Kenneth Webb
Screenplay: Gene Markey
Music: Sammy Stept, Bud Green
Leading Actors: Morton Downey (Michael O'More), Betty Lawford (Lady Mary Cardigan), Colin Keith-Johnston (Capt. Brian Fitzroy), Halliwell Hobbes (Earl of Balkerry), J. M. Kerrigan (Connors), Edward McNamara (Tim O'More), Richard Taber (Paddy), Edward O'Connor (Rafferty), Mary Murray (Kate), Mackenzie Ward (Cyril), Louis Sorin (Abe Feinberg), Sonia Karlov (Lulu Bellew), Tyrrell Davis (Potts), Elizabeth Murray (Landlady)
 
Advertised as “All-singing, all-talking sensation. New, original, and fascinating,” Lucky in Love was another Irish-themed musical featuring Morton “Irish Nightingale” Downey. Having also appeared in Syncopation and Mother’s Boy, the film marked Downey’s third screen appearance. Often referred to as the tenor with the “golden voice,” Downey was listed as “a face to watch” in the November 1929 edition of Photoplay. Later in his career he hosted radio programs, and television shows. He was married to fellow actor Barbara Bennett, and was the father of television personality Morton Downey Jr.

The other leads were for the most part English-born stage and screen actors who went on to varying degrees of success following the introduction of talkies. Leading lady Betty Lawford was a stage and screen actress for over twenty years. Her Broadway credits included King Henry IV, Part I (1926), and The Women (1936).   ​

Pathe used a multi-prong attack to advertise Lucky in Love around the country. Various businesses displayed posters, ads were placed in newspapers, the theme song “Love is a Dreamer” was played on high rotation on the radio, and the sheet music and Victor records were made available for purchase. In the trade magazines, the film was rarely advertised alone and was part of Pathe’s campaign to bolster the name of the studio using the tag line, “While others make pictures, PATHE makes RECORDS.”
 
Lucky in Love told the story of an Irish farm boy, Michael (Morton Downey) who falls in love with the Earl’s daughter, Lady Mary (Betty Lawford). After punching his rival, Michael flees to America where he eventually makes his fortune. He returns to Ireland, and marries Lady Mary.  
 
Most critics agreed the story was awful, but were divided in their opinions of the film. The Film Daily (Dec 15, 1929) thought Downey wasn’t a great actor, but that his charm and singing helped “to overcome many of the film’s shortcomings.” Exhibitors Herald World and Motion Picture News both praised Downey’s singing, stating he had one of the finest voices heard on screen, while The New York Times called his performance “deplorable.”
 
When it came to the quality of the sound, the New York Times felt it was “badly recorded,” while Harrison’s Reports claimed it to be some of the best they had ever heard. Motion Picture News agreed that the sound was well done, but suggested that sound engineers “test the pulse of the public” before using “foreign” sound effects – such as an Irish locomotive horn – which were not recognizable to American audiences.

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. 
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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.