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The Hollywood Revue of 1929

 

 
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The Hollywood Revue of 1929
 
 
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The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 musical film
Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the fictional character are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters....
/comedy
Comedy

Comedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western culture origins are found in Ancient Greece....
 motion picture released in 1929
1929 in film

EventsThe days of the silent film were numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound film was on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona was released....
. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of the earliest ventures into the talkie format. Produced by Harry Rapf and directed by Chuck Riesner for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film brought together some of MGM's most popular performers in a lavish two-hour revue. The two masters of ceremonies are Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel

Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well known television actor and radio performer....
 and Jack Benny
Jack Benny

Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
.

ke M-G-M's imposing feature films, which always boasted strong story values, The Hollywood Revue of 1929 was a plotless parade of variety acts.






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The Hollywood Revue of 1929 is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 musical film
Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the fictional character are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters....
/comedy
Comedy

Comedy as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western culture origins are found in Ancient Greece....
 motion picture released in 1929
1929 in film

EventsThe days of the silent film were numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound film was on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona was released....
. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of the earliest ventures into the talkie format. Produced by Harry Rapf and directed by Chuck Riesner for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film brought together some of MGM's most popular performers in a lavish two-hour revue. The two masters of ceremonies are Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel

Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well known television actor and radio performer....
 and Jack Benny
Jack Benny

Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
.

Production

Unlike M-G-M's imposing feature films, which always boasted strong story values, The Hollywood Revue of 1929 was a plotless parade of variety acts. Conrad Nagel, interviewed for the book "The Real Tinsel," recalled, "Everybody thought Harry Rapf was crazy for making it." Billed as an “All-Star Musical Extravaganza,” the film includes performances by once and future stars, including Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce , for which she won the Academy Award for Academy Award for Best Actress....
 singing and dancing on stage (she later remarked, "Revue was one of those let's-throw-everyone-on-the-lot-into-a musical things, but I did a good song-and-dance number."). Other segments feature Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore

Lionel Barrymore was an United States Academy Award-winning actor of stage, radio and film....
, Marion Davies
Marion Davies

Marion Davies was an United States film actress.Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst....
, John Gilbert
John Gilbert (actor)

John Gilbert was an American actor and a major star of the silent film era.Known as "the great lover", he rivaled even the great Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw....
, Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an Academy Award-winning United States comic actor and filmmaker. Best known for his silent films, his trademark was physical comedy with a stoicism, deadpan expression on his face, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face" ....
, Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler

Marie Dressler was an Academy Awards-winning Canada actress....
, Anita Page
Anita Page

Anita Pomares, better known as Anita Page , was an American film actor who reached stardom in the last years of the silent film era, 1928....
, Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer

Edith Norma Shearer was an Academy Awards Canadian-American actor....
, and the comedy team of Karl Dane
Karl Dane

Karl Dane was a comedian and actor mainly of the silent film era. At the peak of his career he was working alongside stars such as Rudolph Valentino, John Gilbert , and King Vidor....
 and George K. Arthur
George K. Arthur

George K. Arthur , was an English actor and film producer. He appeared in 59 films between 1919 in film and 1935 in film. He won an Academy Award for Academy Award for Best Short Film - Live Action - 2 Reels in 1956 in film for the film The Bespoke Overcoat....
. Highlights of the film are musical performances (including the debut of "Singin' in the Rain") performed initially by Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards

Cliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and musician who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes....
 ("Ukelele Ike'") and later performed at the end of the film by the entire cast) and a comedy routine starring Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel

Stan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer and director, famous as the first half of the comedy double-act Laurel and Hardy, whose career stretched from the silent films of the early 20th century until post-World War II....
 and Oliver Hardy
Oliver Hardy

Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted 31 years, 1926-1957 ....
 as inept magicians. The only major M-G-M stars missing from the revue are Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo was a Swedish-American actor during Hollywood's silent film period and part of its Golden Age of Hollywood.Regarded as one of the greatest and most inscrutable movie stars ever produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the Hollywood studio system, Garbo received a 1954 Academy Honorary Award "for her unforgettable screen performances...
, Ramon Novarro
Ramón Novarro

Ram?n Novarro was a Mexico actor who achieved fame as a "Latin lover" in silent films....
, and Lon Chaney, Sr.
Lon Chaney, Sr.

Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an United States actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema....
 (although Chaney is referred to by name in one of the songs performed).

The film is sometimes cited (as on the DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
 release of the 1952 Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain (film)

Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 in film comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography....
) as the movie that led to the downfall of Gilbert's career. Gilbert, a popular silent film
Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system....
 actor (best known for his work opposite Garbo), possessed a pleasant tenor speaking voice, but it didn't always match his heroic, dashing screen image. In Hollywood Revue he plays the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "Star-crossed" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families....
 with Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer

Edith Norma Shearer was an Academy Awards Canadian-American actor....
, first straight, then for laughs with contemporary slang.

Only one number was cut from the film, a parody of the Albertina Rasch ballet's "pearl dance" by Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler

Marie Dressler was an Academy Awards-winning Canada actress....
. Considered "too long," the number was replaced by one featuring Buster Keaton. Production stills show Dressler in a Lady Godiva
Lady Godiva

Godiva , c. 997 ? 10 September 1067, was an Anglo-Saxons noblewoman who, according to legend, rode nudity through the streets of Coventry, in England, in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants....
 wig and tutu.

The film was popular with audiences and received an Academy Award
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
 nomination for Best Picture. Producer Rapf tried to follow it up with another revue, The Hollywood Revue of 1930, which was changed during production toThe March of Time, and finally abandoned. Musical numbers already shot for the film were edited into M-G-M short subjects of the early 1930s.

The circulating print of The Hollywood Revue of 1929 runs as follows:

ACT I:

  • The Palace of Minstrel sung and danced by a minstrel chorus
  • Masters of Ceremonies Jack Benny
    Jack Benny

    Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville, and actor for radio programming, television, and film.Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated "...
     introduces Conrad Nagel
    Conrad Nagel

    Conrad Nagel was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well known television actor and radio performer....
    . Cliff Edwards
    Cliff Edwards

    Cliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and musician who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes....
     interferes
  • Got a Feeling for You sung by Joan Crawford
    Joan Crawford

    Joan Crawford After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce , for which she won the Academy Award for Academy Award for Best Actress....
  • "Old Folks at Home
    Old Folks at Home

    "Old Folks at Home", also known by the words of its first line, " Swanee River", is a song written in 1851 by composer Stephen Foster, to be performed by the New York performing troupe Christy's Minstrels....
    "     sung by chorus
  • Old Black Joe sung by chorus
  • Low-Down Rhythm sung and danced by June Purcell
  • Your Mother and Mine sung by Charles King
    Charles King

    Charles King may refer to:* Charles King , English composer and musician of the 17th and 18th century.* Charles Bird King , United States portrait painter...
  • You Were Meant for Me
    You Were Meant for Me (1929 song)

    "You Were Meant for Me" is a popular music song with music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Arthur Freed, published in 1929 in music.It was first introduced in the 1929 in film musical film The Broadway Melody. It was later sung by Charles King for the feature film The Hollywood Revue of 1929....
     "sung" by Conrad Nagel (whose voice was dubbed by Charles King) to Anita Page
    Anita Page

    Anita Pomares, better known as Anita Page , was an American film actor who reached stardom in the last years of the silent film era, 1928....
  • Nobody but You sung by Cliff Edwards
  • Your Mother and Mine played by Jack Benny on his violin
  • Cut Up comedy skit featuring William Haines
    William Haines

    Charles William "Billy" Haines was an American film actor and interior designer. A star of the silent movies, Haines' career was cut short in the Thirties as a result of his refusal to deny his homosexuality....
     ripping up Jack Benny's suit
  • I Never Knew I Could Do a Thing Like That sung by Bessie Love
    Bessie Love

    Bessie Love was an United States motion picture actress who achieved fame largely in the silent and early talkie era. Petite and very pretty, she played innocent young girls, flappers, and wholesome leading ladies....
  • For I'm the Queen sung by Marie Dressler
    Marie Dressler

    Marie Dressler was an Academy Awards-winning Canada actress....
    , assisted by Polly Moran
    Polly Moran

    Pauline Theresa Moran was an United States actress and comedian.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Polly started out in vaudeville, and toured all over the world including Europe and South Africa....
  • Magic Act introduced by Jack Benny, featuring Laurel and Hardy
    Laurel and Hardy

    Laurel and Hardy were a popular comedy team of thin, British-born Stan Laurel and heavy, American-born Oliver Hardy . They became famous during the early half of the 20th century for their work in motion pictures and also appeared on stage throughout America and Europe....
     as magicians in a comedy skit
  • Military March with Marion Davies
    Marion Davies

    Marion Davies was an United States film actress.Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst....
     singing "Oh, What a Man" and "Tommy Atkins on Parade" followed by military drill and dancing. The Brox Sisters conclude this number singing "Strike Up the Band"


Intermission

Intermission -- During this five-minute break, the orchestra is seen playing to the tunes of "Nobody But You", "Your Mother and Mine" and "I've Got A Feeling for You" in front of the closed curtain.

ACT II:

  • The Pearl Ballet sung by James Burrows, danced by Beth Laemmle and the Albertina Rasch
    Albertina Rasch

    Albertina Rasch was a American_citizenship#Naturalization dancer and choreographer.Born in Vienna in 1891 to a family of Polish Jewish descent, Rasch studied at the Vienna State Opera Ballet school and became leading ballerina at the New York Hippodrome in 1911....
     ballet
  • The Dance of the Sea, an "underwater" dance performed by Buster Keaton
    Buster Keaton

    Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an Academy Award-winning United States comic actor and filmmaker. Best known for his silent films, his trademark was physical comedy with a stoicism, deadpan expression on his face, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face" ....
  • Lon Chaney
    Lon Chaney, Sr.

    Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an United States actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema....
    's Gonna Get You If You Don't Watch Out     sung by Gus Edwards
    Gus Edwards (songwriter)

    Gus Edwards was an American songwriter and vaudeville. He also organised his own theatre companies and was a music publisher....
  • The Adagio Dance with the Natova Company
  • Romeo and Juliet
    Romeo and Juliet

    Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "Star-crossed" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families....
     (in Technicolor
    Technicolor

    Technicolor is the trademark for a series of Color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA....
    ) with John Gilbert
    John Gilbert (actor)

    John Gilbert was an American actor and a major star of the silent film era.Known as "the great lover", he rivaled even the great Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw....
     and Norma Shearer, with Lionel Barrymore
    Lionel Barrymore

    Lionel Barrymore was an United States Academy Award-winning actor of stage, radio and film....
     as director
  • Singin' in the Rain
    Singin' in the Rain (song)

    "Singin' in the Rain" is a song with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown, published in 1929 in music. However, it is unclear exactly when the song was written with some claiming that the song was performed as early as 1927....
     introduced by Cliff Edwards
  • Charlie, Gus, and Ike with Charles King, Gus Edwards, and Cliff Edwards
  • Marie, Polly, and Bess with Marie Dressler, Polly Moran, and Bessie Love
  • Orange Blossom Time (in two-strip Technicolor
    Technicolor

    Technicolor is the trademark for a series of Color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA....
    ), sung by Charles King to Myrtle McLaughlin, danced by the Albertina Rasch Ballet
  • Singin' in the Rain (finale) (in two-strip Technicolor], sung by entire cast


Preservation

The film survives intact with its original Technicolor
Technicolor

Technicolor is the trademark for a series of Color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA....
 sequences. It was released on laserdisc
Laserdisc

The Laserdisc is an obsolete home video disc format, and was the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially marketed as Discovision in 1978, the technology was licensed and sold as Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Videodisc, 'Laservision, 'Disco-Vision, 'DiscoVision, and MCA DiscoVision...
 in the 1990s.

External links