Aloma of the South Seas | |
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![]() 1926 advertisement | |
Directed by | Maurice Tourneur |
Written by | James Ashmore Creelman |
Based on | Aloma of the South Seas by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemens |
Produced by | E. Lloyd Sheldon Maurice Tourneur Adolph Zukor Jesse L. Lasky |
Starring | Gilda Gray Percy Marmont Warner Baxter |
Cinematography | Harry Fischbeck |
Edited by | E. Lloyd Sheldon |
Music by | Robert Hood Bowers [1] |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Budget | $225,000 [2] |
Box office | US$ 3 million [3] |
Aloma of the South Seas is a lost 1926 American silent comedy drama film starring Gilda Gray as an erotic dancer, filmed in Puerto Rico and Bermuda, and based on a 1925 play of the same title by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemens. [4] [5]
The film was spoofed by a 1926 Mutt and Jeff animated cartoon, Aroma of the South Seas. [6]
Bob Holden (Percy Marmont), an embittered war veteran, has gone to the South Seas to drown in drink the memory of his old girlfriend, Sylvia (Julanne Johnston) who has married his best friend, Van Templeton (William Powell) in his absence. This happened only because Templeton withheld word from Sylvia that Holden had survived the war. In the South Seas, Holden becomes the object of Aloma’s (Gilda Gray) loving and ministering attentions and eventually promises to marry her. Naturally, Nuitane (Warner Baxter), Aloma’s abandoned Polynesian boyfriend is jealous. The plot gets thicker when Templeton and Sylvia arrive on the island rather inexplicably. Templeton tries to force himself upon Aloma but is foiled by Holden. The jilted Nuitane decides to feed Holden to the sharks, but suddenly realizes that Templeton is the extra man in the love pentagon. As Templeton is devoured, Nuitane calmly observes: “Sharks not eat Nuitane—sharks like white meat.” Minus the evil interloper, the two couples fall happily into a race-appropriate (for that era) clinch.
The film premiered at Paramount's Rialto Theatre in New York City on May 16, 1926. [7] Grossing $3 million in the U.S. alone, this was the most successful film of 1926 and the fourth most successful film of the 1920s. [8]
The film is now considered to be a lost film, although some footage has resurfaced. [9] [10] [11]
The film was remade as Aloma of the South Seas (1941), starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall. The plot was completely reworked, leaving only the setting in common with the earlier film.
Warner Leroy Baxter was an American film actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. Baxter is known for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1928 film In Old Arizona, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 2nd Academy Awards. He frequently played womanizing, charismatic Latin bandit types in Westerns, and played the Cisco Kid or a similar character throughout the 1930s, but had a range of other roles throughout his career.
The following is an overview of 1926 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
Fleischer Studios was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of its films. In its prime, Fleischer Studios was a premier producer of animated cartoons for theaters, with Walt Disney Productions being its chief competitor in the 1930s.
The Fleischer Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated superhero short films released in Technicolor by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman, making them his first animated appearance.
Out of the Inkwell is an American animated film series of the silent era. It was produced by Max Fleischer from 1918 to 1929 and was called The Inkwell Imps at the end of that period.
Alfred Julius Eugster was an American animator, writer, and film director. He worked for a number of American animation studios, including Fleischer Studios, the Iwerks Studio, Walt Disney Productions, and Famous Studios/Paramount Cartoon Studios.
Gilda Gray was a Polish-American dancer and actress who popularized a dance called the "shimmy" which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.
Julanne Johnston was an American silent film actress.
Screen Songs are a series of animated cartoons produced at the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. Paramount brought back the sing-along cartoons in 1945, now in color, and released them regularly through 1951. Two of Paramount's one-shot cartoons quietly revived the format later: Candy Cabaret (1954) and Hobo's Holiday (1963).
The Great Gatsby is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Herbert Brenon. It was the first film adaptation of the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Warner Baxter portrayed Jay Gatsby and Lois Wilson portrayed Daisy Buchanan. The film was produced by Famous Players–Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The Great Gatsby is now considered lost. A vintage movie trailer displaying short clips of the film still exists.
Percy Marmont was an English film actor.
Aloma of the South Seas is a 1941 American romantic adventure drama film directed by Alfred Santell and starring Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall. The film was shot in Technicolor and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Fascinating Youth is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Sam Wood. It starred Charles "Buddy" Rogers, along with Thelma Todd and Josephine Dunn in supporting roles. Many well-known personalities made guest appearances in the film, judging a beauty contest in one scene, and Clara Bow makes a cameo appearance in her second film for Paramount Pictures.
Oh, Kay! is a 1928 silent film produced by John McCormick and distributed by First National Pictures. McCormick's wife Colleen Moore starred and Mervyn LeRoy directed the film. It is based on the 1926 musical Oh, Kay!, which had music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse.
The Lie is a 1918 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount. J. Searle Dawley directed and stage star Elsie Ferguson starred in a story based on a 1914 play by Henry Arthur Jones and starring Margaret Illington. The film is now lost.
Sea Horses is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Becky Gardiner, James Shelley Hamilton, and Francis Brett Young. The film stars Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, William Powell, George Bancroft, Mack Swain, Frank Campeau, and Allan Simpson. The film was released on February 22, 1926, by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the 1925 novel of the same title by British writer Francis Brett Young.
Joseph W. Smiley was an actor and director in the United States. His films include The Gray Horror (1915), The Other Sister (1915) and The Living Fear (1914), as well as many other films. He was married to the Scottish actress Lila Leslie. He died on December 2, 1945, in New York City, New York, USA.
Infatuation is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Corinne Griffith, Percy Marmont, and Warner Oland. It is an adaptation of the 1919 play Caesar's Wife by Somerset Maugham.
Events in 1946 in animation.
Harry Fischbeck (1879–1968) was a German-born cinematographer who emigrated to the United States where he worked in the American film industry. He was employed by a variety of different studios during his career including Universal, United Artists and Warner Brothers, but primarily for Paramount Pictures. One of his first credits was for the historical The Lincoln Cycle films directed by John M. Stahl.
aloma of the south seas.