Gold Dust Gertie

Last updated

Gold Dust Gertie
GoldDustGertie.jpg
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Written byScreenplay:
W.K. Wells
Ray Enright
Arthur Caesar
Play:
Len D. Hollister
Starring Winnie Lightner
Ole Olsen
Chic Johnson
Claude Gillingwater
Cinematography James Van Trees
Edited by Harold McLernon
Music by Leo F. Forbstein
Herbert Taylor
Cecil Copping
David Mendoza
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • June 27, 1931 (1931-06-27)
Running time
65 minutes
Language English

Gold Dust Gertie is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy produced and released by Warner Brothers. It was originally completed as a full musical. Due to the backlash against musicals, however, all the songs were cut from the film in all release prints in the United States. The film was originally known as Red Hot Sinners, but was released as Gold Dust Gertie after the musical numbers had been cut. The film was based on the play The Wife of the Party by Len D. Hollister. The film stars Winnie Lightner, Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson and Claude Gillingwater. [1]

Contents

Plot

Gertie Dale is a gold digger who marries men only to divorce them and collect alimony. She marries George Harlan in 1927, divorces him, and then marries his friend Elmer Guthrie and also divorces him. By 1930, both men have remarried but they continue paying alimony to Dale without the knowledge of their current wives. When they are both late with their payment, Dale shows up at their work. The men work at a firm that designs women's sportwear. Their boss, John Arnold, is very old fashioned and insists on designing women's bathing suits that are so modest that they end up resembling the models from twenty years ago. Because of this, the business is doing poorly and the men are low on cash at the moment. Dale, seeing that she currently has no chance of collecting from her ex-husbands at the moment, decides to vamp their boss. Dale eventually convinces Arnold to liberalize his views. Dale designs a new modern bathing suit which ends up winning an award. Arnold falls in love with Dale and proposes marriage and she accepts, but problems soon arise. As they are celebrating their engagement another ex-husband shows up and, taking pity on Arnold, he attempts to warn him. Furthermore, the minister who Arnold has chosen to officiate at their wedding knows all about Dale's ex-husbands and her gold digging schemes.

Cast

Preservation

Only the cut print released in the United States seems to have survived at the Library of Congress. [2] The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Prevost</span> Canadian actress. (1896–1937)

Marie Prevost was a Canadian-born film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chic Johnson</span> American comedian

Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson was the barrel-chested half of the American comedy team of Olsen and Johnson, known for his attitude.[https://archive.today/20120724080448/http://www.classicimages.com/past_issues/view/?x=/1998/october98/olsenandjohnson.html

<i>Tuck Everlasting</i> American childrens fantasy novel

Tuck Everlasting is an American children's novel about immortality written by Natalie Babbitt and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 1975. It has sold over 5 million copies and has been called a classic of modern children's literature.

<i>Gold Diggers of Broadway</i> Partially lost 1929 pre-Code American musical film

Gold Diggers of Broadway is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Winnie Lightner and Nick Lucas. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film is the second all-talking, all-Technicolor feature-length film.

<i>The Life of the Party</i> (1930 film) 1930 American film

The Life of the Party is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy filmed entirely in Technicolor. The musical numbers of this film were cut out before general release in the United States because the public had grown tired of musicals by late 1930. Only one song was left in the picture. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnie Lightner</span> American actress

Winnie Lightner was an American stage and motion picture actress.

<i>Sit Tight</i> 1931 film

Sit Tight is a 1931 American Pre-Code musical comedy film, directed by Lloyd Bacon, written by Rex Taylor, edited by James Gibbon, and produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It was originally intended as a full musical, but due to the backlash against musicals, all the songs were cut from the film except for one – sung by Winnie Lightner – in all release prints in the United States.

<i>Manhattan Parade</i> 1931 film

Manhattan Parade is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was originally intended to be released, in the United States, early in 1931, but was shelved due to public apathy towards musicals. Despite waiting a number of months, the public proved obstinate and the Warner Bros. reluctantly released the film in December 1931 after removing all the music. Since there was no such reaction to musicals outside the United States, the film was released there as a full musical comedy in 1931.

<i>Oh Sailor Behave</i> 1930 film

Oh, Sailor, Behave! is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and released by Warner Brothers, and based on the play See Naples and Die, written by Elmer Rice. The film was originally intended to be entirely in Technicolor and was advertised as such in movie trade journals. Due to the backlash against musicals, it was apparently released in black-and-white only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olsen and Johnson</span> American comedy duo

John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen and Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson were American comedians of vaudeville, radio, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television. Their shows were noted for their crazy blackout gags and orchestrated mayhem. Their most famous production was the stage musical Hellzapoppin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude Gillingwater</span> American actor (1870–1939)

Claude Benton Gillingwater was an American stage and screen actor. He first appeared on the stage then in more than 90 films between 1918 and 1939, including the Academy Award-nominated A Tale of Two Cities (1935) and Conquest (1937). He appeared in several films starring Shirley Temple, beginning with Poor Little Rich Girl (1936).

<i>Divorce American Style</i> 1967 film by Bud Yorkin

Divorce American Style is a 1967 American satirical comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin and starring Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, Jason Robards, Jean Simmons, and Van Johnson. Norman Lear produced the film and wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Robert Kaufman. It focuses on a married couple who opt for divorce when counseling fails to help them resolve their various problems, and the problems presented to divorced people by alimony. The title is an homage to Divorce Italian Style (1961).

<i>Hellzapoppin</i> (film) 1941 American musical comedy film

Hellzapoppin' is a 1941 American musical comedy film, and an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name that ran on Broadway from 1938 to 1941. The film was directed by H. C. Potter and distributed by Universal Pictures. Although the entire Broadway cast was initially slated to feature in the film, the only performers from the stage production to appear in the film were lead actors Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, Katherine Johnson, and the specialty act Whitey's Lindy Hoppers.

<i>She Had to Say Yes</i> 1933 film by Busby Berkeley, George Amy

She Had To Say Yes is a 1933 American pre-Code film directed by George Amy and Busby Berkeley. It was Berkley's directorial debut. Loretta Young stars as a secretary who receives unwanted sexual advances when she is sent out on dates with her employer's clients. The film was promoted with the teaser "We apologize to the men for the many frank revelations made by this picture, but we just had to show it as it was filmed. The true story of the working girl."

<i>Children of Dreams</i> 1931 film

Children of Dreams is a 1931 American pre-Code musical operetta drama film photographed entirely in Part Technicolor and produced and distributed by Warner Bros.

Wings of Youth is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Emmett J. Flynn and written by Bernard McConville. The film stars Ethel Clayton, Madge Bellamy, Charles Farrell, Freeman Wood, Robert Cain, and Katherine Perry. The film was released on May 21, 1925, by Fox Film Corporation.

<i>See My Lawyer</i> 1945 film directed by Edward F. Cline

See My Lawyer is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and written by Edmund Hartmann and Stanley Davis. It is based on the 1939 musical See My Lawyer by Richard Maibaum and Harry Clork. The film stars Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, Alan Curtis, Grace McDonald, Noah Beery Jr., Franklin Pangborn and Edward Brophy. The film was released on March 9, 1945, by Universal Pictures.

<i>Silk Stockings</i> (1927 film) 1927 film

Silk Stockings is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Wesley Ruggles and written by Beatrice Van and Albert DeMond. It is based on the 1914 play A Pair of Silk Stockings by Cyril Harcourt. The film stars Laura La Plante, John Harron, Otis Harlan, William Austin, Marcella Daly, and Heinie Conklin. The film was released on October 2, 1927, by Universal Pictures.

<i>For Alimony Only</i> 1926 film

For Alimony Only is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by William C. deMille and starring Leatrice Joy, Clive Brook, and Lilyan Tashman.

<i>Unknown Blonde</i> 1934 film

Unknown Blonde is a 1934 American pre-Code crime drama film directed by Hobart Henley and starring Edward Arnold, Barbara Barondess and Dorothy Revier. It was released by the independent Majestic Pictures. It was based on the 1932 novel Collusion by Theodore D. Irwin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ralph Oberg.

References

  1. The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993: Gold Dust Gertie, afi.com; accessed August 10, 2015.
  2. Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress page 69 c.1978 The American Film Institute