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Alice White’s forgotten third talkie.
Image from the Woolworths Museum
Date of Release: Oct 27, 1929
Studio: First National
Director: William Beaudine
Screenplay: Adele Comandini, Richard Weil, Edward Ludwig
Music: George W. Meyer, Al Bryan, M.K. Jerome
Leading Actors: Alice White (Pat King), Charles Delaney (Bill Harrigan), Wheeler Oakman (Lawrence Mayfield), Ben Hall (Jerry Donnelly), Rita Flynn (Tille Hart), Gladden James (Dowling), Bert Moorhouse (Dave), Patricia Caron (Cleo), William Orlamond (Pa Donnelly), Milla Davenport (Ma Donnelly)
Following on from Show Girl (1928) and Broadway Babies (1929), The Girl from Woolworth’s was Alice White’s third talkie.
This film is a strange anomaly in my research in that there is very little information available about it. It only receives a footnote mention in Richard Barrios’ in A Song in the Dark, which states that the film was re-shot with Mervyn LeRoy directing, as the “first version…turned out poorly.”
It is conceivable Mervyn LeRoy assisted in the direction of The Girl from Woolworth's. He had directed Alice White in the earlier 1929 film Broadway Babies, and worked with her again on the popular 1930 film Show Girl in Hollywood.
The credited director, William Beaudine, started out as a silent film actor and went on to become one of the most prolific directors of his time. He directed over 300 films and films and television shows, working in the UK and America, and for most of the major studios. Although he gained a reputation for low-budget films, he was highly respected within the industry for his efficiency, and economical style of directing. He was the father of production manager and producer William Beaudine Jr.
It seems The Girl from Woolworth’s received a limited release, and little publicity, though it enjoyed strong box office sales.
The Woolworths Museum has limited information and some media, and describes the film was “a smash at the box office” in the USA and UK.
The Girl from Woolworth’s opened at the Strand in New York on October 27, 1929. The critics were divided in their response. Motion Picture News described the film as White’s “best work of her career,” and Evening World stated she “puts over her stuff surprisingly well.”
The Graphic meanwhile described White as “a course, untalented young woman,” and Mordaunt Hall in his review for the New York Times stated she was “vapid, ingenuous and camera conscious.”
The Billings Gazette found the film be well directed, “Human and direct and simple.” While Mordaunt Hall found it to be “far short of being a satisfactory presentation.” Hall was also critical of the stylish and beautiful costumes, which were incongruous with the characters' meager incomes.
Cecilia Ager of the Variety Women’s Page described the costumes in detail:
Studio: First National
Director: William Beaudine
Screenplay: Adele Comandini, Richard Weil, Edward Ludwig
Music: George W. Meyer, Al Bryan, M.K. Jerome
Leading Actors: Alice White (Pat King), Charles Delaney (Bill Harrigan), Wheeler Oakman (Lawrence Mayfield), Ben Hall (Jerry Donnelly), Rita Flynn (Tille Hart), Gladden James (Dowling), Bert Moorhouse (Dave), Patricia Caron (Cleo), William Orlamond (Pa Donnelly), Milla Davenport (Ma Donnelly)
Following on from Show Girl (1928) and Broadway Babies (1929), The Girl from Woolworth’s was Alice White’s third talkie.
This film is a strange anomaly in my research in that there is very little information available about it. It only receives a footnote mention in Richard Barrios’ in A Song in the Dark, which states that the film was re-shot with Mervyn LeRoy directing, as the “first version…turned out poorly.”
It is conceivable Mervyn LeRoy assisted in the direction of The Girl from Woolworth's. He had directed Alice White in the earlier 1929 film Broadway Babies, and worked with her again on the popular 1930 film Show Girl in Hollywood.
The credited director, William Beaudine, started out as a silent film actor and went on to become one of the most prolific directors of his time. He directed over 300 films and films and television shows, working in the UK and America, and for most of the major studios. Although he gained a reputation for low-budget films, he was highly respected within the industry for his efficiency, and economical style of directing. He was the father of production manager and producer William Beaudine Jr.
It seems The Girl from Woolworth’s received a limited release, and little publicity, though it enjoyed strong box office sales.
The Woolworths Museum has limited information and some media, and describes the film was “a smash at the box office” in the USA and UK.
The Girl from Woolworth’s opened at the Strand in New York on October 27, 1929. The critics were divided in their response. Motion Picture News described the film as White’s “best work of her career,” and Evening World stated she “puts over her stuff surprisingly well.”
The Graphic meanwhile described White as “a course, untalented young woman,” and Mordaunt Hall in his review for the New York Times stated she was “vapid, ingenuous and camera conscious.”
The Billings Gazette found the film be well directed, “Human and direct and simple.” While Mordaunt Hall found it to be “far short of being a satisfactory presentation.” Hall was also critical of the stylish and beautiful costumes, which were incongruous with the characters' meager incomes.
Cecilia Ager of the Variety Women’s Page described the costumes in detail:
…Alice White... is clothed in typical night-club costumes and very fetching, too. One-piece tights are appliqued with gold and sequins, with a high neck in front ending with an ostrich collar. Skirt in back is long ostrich plumes. Gold headdress embroidered with jewels. Standard, but worn better than standard. An evening dress doesn’t fare so well. So tight-fitting, it wrinkles a bit of tulle attached to the skirt merely looks skimp. There is a tulle flower on the shoulder.”
The Girl from Woolworth’s told the story of Pat King (Alice White), a singer at the Woolworth’s Demonstration Counter, who dreams of performing on Broadway. She meets and falls in love with Bill Harrigan (Charles Delaney). Harrigan works on the subway by day, and plays saxophone by night. Pat lands a chance to sing in a club, but the manager is only interested in one thing. After the manager makes his advances, Pat decides to quit being a career girl, and marries Harrigan.
The script was written by Adele Comandini, Richard Weil, and Edward Ludwig. There is little information about the three writers. Comandini wrote thirty screenplays and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing for Three Smart Girls in 1936. Her other credits include Jane Eyre (1934), and Christmas in Connecticut (1945).
Actor Charles Delaney appeared predominantly in action and Western films, and his career spanned over five decades. The supporting cast were predominantly silent film actors who found their roles became increasingly diminished in the years following the introduction of talkies.
The music by George B. Meyer and Al Bryan can be heard on the Woolworths Museum site. George W. Meyer was a composer and lyricist who worked in Tin Pan Alley. His songs include “For Me and My Gal,” “Dixie Dreams,” and “Beautiful Annabelle Lee.” Al Bryan was a composer for stage and screen. He frequently collaborated with Fred Fisher, and some of his well-known songs include “Come Josephine in my Flying Machine,” the popular antiwar song “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier,” and “Oui, Oui, Marie.” Both composers were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Except for the trailer, which was found by the Vitaphone Project in 1997, The Girl from Woolworth’s is considered a lost film.
The script was written by Adele Comandini, Richard Weil, and Edward Ludwig. There is little information about the three writers. Comandini wrote thirty screenplays and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing for Three Smart Girls in 1936. Her other credits include Jane Eyre (1934), and Christmas in Connecticut (1945).
Actor Charles Delaney appeared predominantly in action and Western films, and his career spanned over five decades. The supporting cast were predominantly silent film actors who found their roles became increasingly diminished in the years following the introduction of talkies.
The music by George B. Meyer and Al Bryan can be heard on the Woolworths Museum site. George W. Meyer was a composer and lyricist who worked in Tin Pan Alley. His songs include “For Me and My Gal,” “Dixie Dreams,” and “Beautiful Annabelle Lee.” Al Bryan was a composer for stage and screen. He frequently collaborated with Fred Fisher, and some of his well-known songs include “Come Josephine in my Flying Machine,” the popular antiwar song “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier,” and “Oui, Oui, Marie.” Both composers were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Except for the trailer, which was found by the Vitaphone Project in 1997, The Girl from Woolworth’s is considered a lost film.
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