Kismet | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Directed by | John Francis Dillon |
Written by | Howard Estabrook |
Based on | Kismet 1911 play by Edward Knoblock |
Produced by | Robert North |
Starring | Otis Skinner Loretta Young David Manners Sidney Blackmer |
Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
Edited by | Alexander Hall |
Music by | Leon Rosebrook Edward Ward |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $611,000 [1] |
Box office | $462,000 [1] |
Kismet is a 1930 American pre-Code costume drama film photographed entirely in an early widescreen process using 65mm film that Warner Bros. called Vitascope. The film, now considered lost, [2] was based on Edward Knoblock's play Kismet , and was previously filmed as a silent film in 1920 which also starred Otis Skinner.
Hajj, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself.
Warner Bros. spared no expense in making this picture. They spent $600,000 in producing it, and the extravagance of the film was noted by every reviewer. The film played in ten cities across the United States in the wide-screen Vitascope (65mm) version, while the rest of the country (which did not yet have theaters capable of playing widescreen films) were provided with standard 35mm prints. [3] Otis Skinner was 73 years old while lead actress Loretta Young was 17 years old.
According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $315,000 domestic and $147,000 foreign. [1]
The enormous amount of pre-Code content (especially in the sequences in the harem) has probably contributed to the film's "lost" status.
Two remakes, both in color, were made of the film, one in 1944 and the other in 1955. The 1955 version was an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical based on the play. Some sources claim that the original 1930 film featured Technicolor sequences. The film is considered lost, while the complete soundtrack of the film survives on Vitaphone disks. [4] An outtake of the production does exist and can be seen. [5]
One foreign-language version of the 1930 version of Kismet was made. The German version, also titled Kismet, was directed by William Dieterle, and was released in 1931. [6]
Billy the Kid is a 1930 American pre-Code Western film directed in widescreen by King Vidor about the relationship between frontier outlaw Billy the Kid and lawman Pat Garrett. In February 2020, the film was shown at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.
The Show of Shows is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost almost $800,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor.
Sally is a 1929 American Pre-Code film. It is the fourth all-sound, all-color feature film made, and it was photographed in the Technicolor process. It was the sixth feature film to contain color that had been released by Warner Bros.; the first five were The Desert Song (1929), On with the Show! (1929), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), Paris (1929) and The Show of Shows (1929).. Although exhibited in a few theaters in December 1929, Sally entered general release on January 12, 1930.
The Last Flight is a 1931 American pre-Code ensemble cast film, starring Richard Barthelmess, David Manners, John Mack Brown and Helen Chandler. It was directed by German filmmaker William Dieterle in his debut as an English-language film director.
Taxi! is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney and Loretta Young.
Song of the Flame is a 1930 American pre-Code musical film photographed entirely in Technicolor. Based on the 1925 operetta of the same name, the film features a screenplay by Gordon Rigby adapted from the musical book written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto A. Harbach for the operetta. The movies also features many of the songs from the operetta which used lyrics by Hammerstein and Orbach and music by George Gershwin and Herbert Stothart. The film was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. It was the first color film to feature a widescreen sequence, using a process called Vitascope, the trademark name for Warner Bros.' widescreen process. The film, based on the 1925 Broadway musical of the same name, was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording. It is part of the tradition of operetta films, popular at the time.
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.
Bright Lights, later retitled Adventures in Africa, is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. It premiered in Los Angeles in July 1930 but was edited and rereleased in early 1931. Although it was photographed entirely in Technicolor, the only surviving print is in black and white. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Frank Fay, Noah Beery and Frank McHugh. It also features the screen debut of John Carradine, who appears in a small, uncredited role.
Showgirl in Hollywood is a 1930 American pre-Code all-talking musical film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche Sweet. It was adapted from the 1929 novel Hollywood Girl by J.P. McEvoy.
Going Wild is a 1930 Warner Brothers pre-Code comedy film based on the 1910 play The Aviator by James Montgomery and directed by William A. Seiter. The film stars many musical stars along with Joe E. Brown, Frank McHugh and Johnny Arthur.
Life Begins is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film starring Loretta Young, Eric Linden, Aline MacMahon, and Glenda Farrell. The film was adapted from the 1932 play of the same name by Mary M. Axelson. It was released by Warner Bros. on September 10, 1932. The film was praised for its honest portrayal of a maternity ward.
The Bat Whispers is a 1930 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Roland West, produced by Joseph M. Schenck, and released by United Artists. The film is based on the 1920 mystery play The Bat, written by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, and is the second film version by the same director, previously adapted in 1926. An early talkie and one of the first widescreen films, West financed the cinematography, which required two cameramen and several techniques. It was considered a lost film for many years, but was restored from duplicate filmstock in 1988.
Kismet is an American silent film version of the 1911 play Kismet by Edward Knoblock, starring Otis Skinner and Elinor Fair, and directed by Louis J. Gasnier.
A Soldier's Plaything is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy-drama film with songs directed by Michael Curtiz. Warner Bros. filmed it simultaneously in 35mm and in a widescreen process called Vitascope, but it is uncertain whether the Vitascope version was ever released. The film was planned as a full-scale musical comedy, but most of the musical numbers were cut out before general release in the United States, because the public had grown tired of musicals by late 1930. This accounts for the short length of the film. The complete film was released intact in other countries where audiences still appreciated musicals. It is unknown whether a copy of the full version still exists.
Kismet is a three-act play written in 1911 by Edward Knoblauch. The title means Fate or Destiny in Turkish and Urdu. The play ran for 330 performances in London and later opened in the United States. It was subsequently revived, and the story was later filmed several times and adapted for the 1953 musical.
Loose Ankles is a 1930 pre-Code romantic comedy with songs, produced and released by First National Pictures, which had become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film was directed by Ted Wilde and stars Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Louise Fazenda and Edward Nugent. It was a remake of the 1926 silent film titled Ladies at Play, which had been produced by First National Pictures. Both versions were adapted by Gene Towne from the 1926 play Loose Ankles by Sam Janney. Sam Janney was to direct the film but died in a car crash during production.
The Lash is a 1930 American pre-Code Western film produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. It had an alternate title of Adios. The film was directed by Frank Lloyd and stars Richard Barthelmess, Mary Astor, James Rennie and Marian Nixon. The film was issued in two formats: Warner Bros. 65mm Vitascope wide screen and regular 35mm. The Vitaphone sound system was used for recording. Exteriors were filmed at the current Westlake Village, California and Russell Ranch of Thousand Oaks, California areas near Los Angeles. It was adapted for the screen by Bradley King from a story Adios by Fred Bartlett and Virginia Stivers Bartlett.
The Second Floor Mystery is a 1930 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth. It was based on the 1916 novel The Agony Column by Earl Derr Biggers. The film stars Grant Withers, Loretta Young, H. B. Warner and John Loder.
Kismet may refer to: