Kismet (1930 film)

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Kismet
Kismet1930.jpg
Directed by John Francis Dillon
Written by Howard Estabrook
Based onKismet
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
  • October 30, 1930 (1930-10-30)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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.

Contents

Plot

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.

Cast

Production

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.

Box office

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $315,000 domestic and $147,000 foreign. [1]

Preservation status

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]

Foreign-language versions

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]

See also

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<i>The Lash</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

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.

<i>The Second Floor Mystery</i> 1930 film

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Kismet may refer to:

References

  1. 1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 11 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  2. "Kismet". Deutsche Kinemathek . Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  3. David Coles, "Magnified Grandeur, Widescreen 1926-1931"
  4. Complete Works of Guido Deiro. Mel Bay Publications. 2008. p. 6. ISBN   978-0-7866-7825-9.
  5. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "HOME MOVIES ON THE SET OF - "KISMET" - 1930 - THE LOST FILM". YouTube .
  6. Kismet at the American Film Institute Catalog 1893-1993