Part 93: 1930
MOVIES:
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
In Old Arizona
The Broadway Melody (winner)
Alibi (hidden gem)
The Patriot
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Director: Charles Reisner
Starring: Conrad Nagel, Jack Benny, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, John Gilbert, Norma Shearer, Charles King, Bessie Love, Cliff Edwards, Anita Page, Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, William Haines, Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, George K. Arthur, Karl Dane, Gwen Lee, Lionel Barrymore, Gus Edwards, Patricia Brox, Bobbe Brox, Lorayne Brox
Oscar Wins: No wins.
Other Nominations: Best Picture
The transition from silent films to sound was…complicated. There was panic at the studios from both behind and in front of the camera. Would silent stars survive the move to talking pictures? How would the public react to hearing their voices for the first time?
Into that maelstrom came The Hollywood Revue of 1929, a movie that’s not so much a movie as it is, well, a revue. There’s no plot or story development – it’s basically a filmed talent show featuring MGM’s galaxy of stars, including: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Anita Page, Marion Davies, Buster Keaton, and many more.
For audiences of the day, you can imagine how exciting it must have been to see all their favorite stars in one picture. The all-star cast genre is usually a crowd-pleaser, drawing in tons at the box office – and The Hollywood Revue was no exception. Shot in 25 days with a budget of $426,000, The Hollywood Revue would make $2,421,000 worldwide – an insane amount of money at about 25 cents a ticket.
The performances in The Hollywood Revue are not all that great by today’s standards. Laurel and Hardy do a cute magician skit that offers a few chuckles. Marion Davies (the mother on “Happy Days”) also does a fun little dance number dressed as a military soldier. But all in all, the performances are either too cringy or too boring to keep modern audiences entertained.
Perhaps the thing The Hollywood Revue is most remembered for nowadays was its influence on the creation of Singin’ in the Rain, starring Gene Kelly. This film gave birth to both “Singin’ in the Rain” (the song) and “You Were Meant for Me”, another popular song in the Gene Kelly musical. “Singin’ in the Rain” was performed twice in The Hollywood Revue, once as a ukulele solo performed in the pouring rain, then again as the film’s finale, in 2-strip Technicolor (also pretty cool for the day), with most of the stars singing the song along the backdrop of Noah’s Ark (what?!).
For classic cinephiles and those who love film history, The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is a time capsule of sorts, perfectly capturing an era filled with change, uncertainty, and the trials and tribulations that come with adapting to new technologies. It’s certainly a product of its time, but it's also a reminder of how far we’ve come…and quite the dedication to those who helped us get here.
In Old Arizona
Director: Irving Cummings, Raoul Walsh
Starring: Warner Baxter, Edmund Lowe, Dorothy Burgess
Oscar Wins: Best Actor (Warner Baxter)
Other Nominations: Best Cinematography, Best Writing, Best Director, Best Picture
The Cisco Kid (Warner Baxter) is wanted for robbery with a $5,000 reward on his head. Though he’s a rascal, he’s also a man of principles and refuses to steal from individuals. Instead, this twisted Robin Hood of the West robs stagecoaches, leaving the occupants untouched. He is a gentleman, after all.
It’s really no wonder that he hasn’t been caught yet because all the local law officers seem to spend their time gambling, singing songs, and flirting with the ladyfolk. And even though Army Sergeant Mickey Dunn (Edmund Lowe) has been given the green light to bring in The Cisco Kid in dead or alive, he just can’t seem to squeeze in the time between dice throws.
On the page, O. Henry’s bandit is a ruthless murderer. “He killed for the love of it – because he was quick-tempered – to avoid arrest – for his own amusement – any reason that came to his mind would suffice.” In the film version, The Cisco Kid is a more of a tease to his pursuers, a guy’s guy, a romantic who can’t help but fall for spicy Mexican women.
But not all the single ladies return his charms and devotion. His current lover, Tonia Maria (Dorothy Burgess) is nothing more than a heartless double-crosser. Regardless of all the expensive gifts the Kid brings her, this little vixen’s wandering eye just can’t resist a man in uniform…
The problem is that the man she’s chasing is none other than Mickey Dunn, the very officer tasked with taking down the Kid.
Tonia Maria is in for whatever she can get from Dunn and agrees to help him catch the Kid after Dunn promises her the reward money in return. Unfortunately for both of them, the Kid catches wind of their plot and is ready with a few tricks of his own.
I wish there was more to say about In Old Arizona, but there really isn’t. The film is unbearably slow, despite running just 99 minutes. The brand new sound technology renders a lot of the dialogue almost inaudible, and the acting is about as bad as you might expect from a really early talkie.
The pleasures of the film are few and far between. The best parts are when its pre-code vibes take center stage. In one humorous exchange, for example, the Cisco Kid and Mickey Dunn caress each other’s guns while discussing their remarkable size and firepower. It’s this type of stuff that makes these pre-code movies so great.
But the majority of In Old Arizona is a slog fest. Today it exists more as an artifact rather than a piece of entertainment. Besides being the first major Western to use the technology of sound, it was also the first talkie to be filmed outdoors. It made extensive use of authentic locations, such as Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the Mojave Desert (weirdly none of this film was shot in Arizona). Yet, production studios didn’t quite know how to use sound outdoors…so a lot of these scenes, while beautiful, are garbled in sound quality. The microphones hidden in bushes and on the ground picked up more of the horses clomping than anything else…and there were times when characters moved too far away from the hidden microphones so it was impossible to hear what they were saying. There’s also a lot of awkward dead space, as well as a 90-second overture that plays over a black screen.
Oftentimes it’s easy to forgive these kinks and flaws in older films, especially at a time like this when Hollywood was on the cusp of changing forever; however, In Old Arizona doesn’t offer anything else to make up for it. It’s slow, it’s boring, and is rightfully stuck in the era from where it came. There are so many movies that have done this better, so maybe it’s best let this one rest in peace.
The Broadway Melody
Director: Harry Beaumont
Starring: Anita Page, Bessie Love, Charles King, Jed Prouty, Kenneth Thomson, Edward Dillon, Mary Doran, Eddie Kane, J. Emmett Beck, Marshall Ruth, Drew Demarest
Oscar Wins: Best Picture
Other Nominations: Best Actress (Bessie Love), Best Director
The Broadway Melody is a simple, half-baked story about chasing your dreams, following your heart, and doing all it takes to make it on the Big White Way. There’s love, sadness, an assortment of musical numbers – all the things we’ve come to expect from a Broadway musical film.
Today, movies like this are old hat, to say the least. But back in the 1920s, The Broadway Melody was the first of its kind. There’s talking. There’s singing. And audiences could hear it! Unlike previous musicals of the day, this movie was all-talkie, without silent moments stuffed in between. Not only that, but it was also the first mainstream film to include a Technicolor sequence (though that scene is deemed lost today). This was the 1929 Avatar, an aesthetic cinematic spectacle that shocked audiences of the day, but may not hold up as well 20, 50, or 90 years later.
At the center of The Broadway Melody is a gritty romance triangle. It begins with song-and-dance sisters Harriet “Hank” (Bessie Love) and Queenie (Anita Page) Mahoney, who both arrive in New York and struggle to get their big break.
They’ve made the trek to The Big Apple at the invitation of Eddie Kearns (Charles King), an up-and-coming songwriter and Hank’s fiancé. He’s wrangled them a spot in the newest revue being staged by the impresario Francis Zanfield (Eddie Kane), no doubt a stand-in for Ziegfeld and his follies. Eddie promises to get their sister act in the show.
But, right on queue, a jealous showgirl (Mary Doran) sabotages their audition by dropping something in the piano. Still, Zanfield is entranced by Queenie’s beauty (and her legs)…so she gets the job of standing and being pretty while some dweeb sings a ballad to her. This, of course, makes her a major superstar and sparks the attention of playboy Jacques Warriner (Kenneth Thomson).
The problem is that all of Queenie’s sexuality also attracts the attention of Eddie, her future brother-in-law. She returns his affections, but neither of them wants to betray Hank. To distract herself, she allows Jacques to woo her, an act that disappoints Hank, who is worried that Queenie is using her sex appeal to make her career rather than her talent.
Whatever will these sisters do? Who will ultimately win the affections of Eddie? And what will happen to the act if and when one of them makes it bigger than the other?
Like many backstage musicals, The Broadway Melody offers an interesting snapshot of what goes into making a theatrical production. We get a little of the pragmatic decision-making that goes on behind the scenes. When one of the showgirls falls and injures herself, one crowd forms to gawk at her, another forms just as quickly to immediately replace her. It’s a backstage film that focuses on the business end of show business rather than the showy stuff.
Upon its release, The Broadway Melody was a huge hit and spawned a number of films that weren’t so much sequels as they were extensions of the franchise. The Broadway Melody of 1936…1938…and 1940 would follow, each following a similar format to the first (The Broadway Melody of 1936 was also nominated for Best Picture, though it did not win).
As bland as The Broadway Melody is, I can admit that it is honest and well-intentioned. It can’t be faulted for not standing up to the test of time, especially if it was relatively unique when it was initially released. Like other films released in the 30s and 40s, it would pave the way for all of the other musicals that would follow…acting as the guinea pig that let the other films know that the coast is clear, and the world is ready for more singin’ and dancin’. Even one of the most beloved of them all, Singin’ in the Rain, paid homage to this humble little film. Like the other movies this year, it's dated, it’s bland, but it’s also a time capsule of an era when Hollywood was changing…when technology was changing…when the cinematic experience was changing. Not a bad legacy to leave.
Alibi
Director: Roland West
Starring: Chester Morris, Harry Stubbs, Mae Busch, Eleanor Griffith, Regis Toomey, Purnell Pratt, Irma Harrison
Oscar Wins: No wins.
Other Nominations: Best Actor (Chester Morris), Best Art Direction, Best Picture
I think Alibi is the very definition of a “hidden gem” movie. I could pretty much guarantee that not many people have heard about it, yet it offers a somewhat modern take on police brutality, the unfairness of the legal system, and echoes that lesson that’s taught to us time and time again on every true crime podcast: don’t talk to the cops. They’re not there to help you. And when it comes right down to it, just shut up and get a lawyer.
Similar to The Big House, which hit theaters a year later, Alibi begins with the robotic clomping of marching prisoners. We then cut to the warden’s office, where Chick Williams (Chester Morris) is about to be released from jail. When we next see him, he’s wearing a suit, rather than his prison grays, and shaking the guard’s hand on the way out. It sounds simple here, but this whole opening scene boasts some great artistic direction, including natural sunlight and clever camera cuts.
In fact, quite a bit of Alibi has some cool camera work and set designs – but one thing at a time!
Once Chick leaves prison, we’re transported to a nightclub where Chick meets up with Joan (Eleanor Griffith). They’re joined by the nightclub owner Buck (Harry Stubbs) and his lady, Daisy (Mae Busch) and they’re all talking about the bum rap Chick got. A drunk man stumbles over. It’s Billy Morgan (Regis Toomey) who looks like he probably should have stopped drinking about 10 drinks ago. He’s got an eye for Joan and tries to get her attention. Buck says he’s “harmless”…but something seems off about the guy…
Chick needs to be careful, though. His little lady friend Joan also happens to be the daughter of Sgt. Paul Manning (Purnell Pratt). The old man hates Chick, whom he calls a jailbird, and wants Joan to go steady with a fellow police officer. But Joan doesn’t want to marry a cop. Some of her thoughts on the matter feel surprisingly contemporary from today’s perspective: “They’re man hunters,” she says of cops. “They’re cruel and merciless – always hounding some poor devil and sending him to jail. They think themselves great heroes.” When the cop she’s talking to tells her they’re trying to uphold the law, she slams him down again: “Law! It’s third-degreeing – bull-dogging people into confessing crimes they didn’t commit – is that law?”
Joan further infuriates her father by marrying Chick, causing St. Manning to lock his daughter up like she’s some virgin princess. He then tries to get Chick back in jail by pinning a murder on him with literally ZERO evidence. When his own daughter provides an alibi for Chick, dear old dad begins sweating witnesses by THREATENING TO KILL THEM if they don’t agree that Chick was seen at the scene of the crime.
Alibi also boasts some great reveals that I will not spoil here. All I will say is not everyone is who they appear to be – and not everyone is as moral as they claim. The ending is also quite shocking. I actually laughed out loud because I didn’t know what else to do with myself!
I know I sound like a broken record by this point, but Alibi was yet another first of its kind – namely the first gangster film to feature talking. Most of the actors speak in that odd, slow, dreamy cadence of early talkies rather than the snappy tone of James Cagney, so it doesn’t quite feel like an old timey gangster movie…but I still had a great time watching it. There is some great cinematography here, and some awesome Art Deco-style décor that will have fans of that style drooling.
In the grand scheme of things, I think Alibi was my favorite film this year. The acting wasn’t that great, but that didn’t detract from a fun and engaging storyline. If you’re into gangster cinema or enjoy a movie with a few fun twists along the way, this is a great one to check out!
The Patriot
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Starring: Emil Jannings, Florence Vidor, Lewis Stone, Vera Voronina, Neil Hamilton, Harry Cording
Oscar Wins: Best Writing
Other Nominations: Best Actor (Lewis Stone), Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Picture
LOST TO THE AGES.
This is officially the only film lost to time. The only thing that exists is the trailer, which can be viewed on YouTube. Honestly, the trailer looks pretty baller for a movie made in 1929 and I’m bummed it’s this one that’s lost and not something like, oh, I don’t know…In Old Arizona, for example…
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