Song of the West is a
1930-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front - Universal Studios*Best Actress: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee*Best Actor: George Arliss - Disraeli...
musical operetta film photographed entirely in
TechnicolorTechnicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood...
. It was based on the 1928 musical play
Rainbow by
Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American writer, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song", and much of his work is part of the unofficial Great...
and
Laurence StallingsLaurence Stallings was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer. The World War I veteran was noted for his anti-war book The First World War: A Photographic History.Stallings was born Laurence Tucker Stallings in Macon, Georgia...
and was the first all-color all-talking feature to be filmed entirely outdoors. The film starred
John Boles-Early life:Boles was born in Greenville, Texas, into a middle-class family. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 1917 and married Marielite Dobbs in that same year. Although his parents wanted him to be a doctor, John Boles preferred acting and singing, and he demonstrated...
,
Joe E. BrownJoseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian. In 1902 at the age of 10, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvellous Astons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits. He gradually added comedy into his act and transformed himself into a...
and
Vivienne SegalVivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.Segal was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Beverly Hills, California. She is best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Pal Joey and introducing the song "Bewitched, Bothered and...
.
The story takes place in 1849. John Boles plays Captain Stanton, a young Army scout who kills an officer in self-defense and escapes.
Song of the West is a
1930-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front - Universal Studios*Best Actress: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee*Best Actor: George Arliss - Disraeli...
musical operetta film photographed entirely in
TechnicolorTechnicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood...
. It was based on the 1928 musical play
Rainbow by
Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American writer, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song", and much of his work is part of the unofficial Great...
and
Laurence StallingsLaurence Stallings was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer. The World War I veteran was noted for his anti-war book The First World War: A Photographic History.Stallings was born Laurence Tucker Stallings in Macon, Georgia...
and was the first all-color all-talking feature to be filmed entirely outdoors. The film starred
John Boles-Early life:Boles was born in Greenville, Texas, into a middle-class family. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 1917 and married Marielite Dobbs in that same year. Although his parents wanted him to be a doctor, John Boles preferred acting and singing, and he demonstrated...
,
Joe E. BrownJoseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian. In 1902 at the age of 10, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvellous Astons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits. He gradually added comedy into his act and transformed himself into a...
and
Vivienne SegalVivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.Segal was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Beverly Hills, California. She is best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Pal Joey and introducing the song "Bewitched, Bothered and...
.
Plot
The story takes place in 1849. John Boles plays Captain Stanton, a young Army scout who kills an officer in self-defense and escapes. He heads out West to California as part of the Gold Rush, opens a gambling hall in San Francisco, and falls in love with Virginia, the daughter of his former commander, played by Vivienne Segal. Some members of the military eventually find him, leading John Boles to make a hard decision. Joe E. Brown, in the part of Hasty, Boles' doomed sidekick, provided the comedy for the film.
Production
This was
John BolesJohn Boles may refer to:*John Boles, Jr., American baseball executive*John Boles , American actor*John Boles *John P. Boles, auxiliary bishop of Boston in the 1990s...
's follow-up to his successful role in
The Desert SongThe Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of Arabia aiding native...
(1929). The film was finished in June 1929. Following a number of dismal previews, however, Warner Bros. shortened the film by two reels, removing some of the musical content in the process. In spite of being delayed for almost a year before release, the film had a worldwide gross of $920,000 and the featured songs were quite popular, leading RCA Victor to hire
John BolesJohn Boles may refer to:*John Boles, Jr., American baseball executive*John Boles , American actor*John Boles *John P. Boles, auxiliary bishop of Boston in the 1990s...
, who was then at the height of his popularity, to record two songs from the movie.
Songs
- "West Wind" (Sung by John Boles)
- "The One Girl" (Sung by John Boles)
- "I Like You As You Are" (Sung by John Boles)
- "Come Back to Me" (Sung by John Boles and Vivienne Segal)
- "The Bride Was Dressed in White" (Sung by Joe E. Brown)
- "Kingdom Coming" (Sung by Chorus)
Preservation
No copies of the film are known to exist. The complete soundtrack survives on
VitaphoneVitaphone was a sound film process used on features and nearly 2,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. This was not the original process. The first process was called Fuchessound. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the...
disks.
Cast (in credits order)
- John Boles
-Early life:Boles was born in Greenville, Texas, into a middle-class family. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 1917 and married Marielite Dobbs in that same year. Although his parents wanted him to be a doctor, John Boles preferred acting and singing, and he demonstrated...
as Captain Stanton
- Vivienne Segal
Vivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.Segal was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Beverly Hills, California. She is best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s Pal Joey and introducing the song "Bewitched, Bothered and...
as Virginia
- Joe E. Brown
Joseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian. In 1902 at the age of 10, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvellous Astons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville circuits. He gradually added comedy into his act and transformed himself into a...
as Hasty
- Marie Wells as Lotta
- Sam Hardy
Samuel Hardy was a former England-international goalkeeper.In 1902, Chesterfield manager Jack Hoskin beat Derby County to sign Hardy, doing so under a lamp post in Newbold. Hardy, something of a shrewd character, wouldn't sign the forms until Hoskin promised to pay him 18 shillings when the...
as Davolo
- Marion Byron
Marion "Peanuts" Byron was a petite, plucky American movie comedienne....
as Penny
- Eddie Gribbon
Eddie Gribbon was an American film actor. He appeared in 184 films between 1916 and 1951.He was born in New York, New York and died in Hollywood, California from cancer. He was the brother of actor Harry Gribbon....
as Sergeant Major
- Edward Martindel
Edward Martindel , was an American film actor. He appeared in 89 films between 1915 and 1946.He was born in Hamilton, Ohio and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack...
as Colonel
- Rudolph Cameron as Lt. Singleton
External links