Kiss Me Again (1931 film)

Last updated

Kiss Me Again
Kissmeagain.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by William A. Seiter
Written by Julien Josephson
Paul Perez
Based on Mlle. Modiste
1905 operetta
by Victor Herbert
Henry Martyn Blossom
Starring Bernice Claire
Walter Pidgeon
Edward Everett Horton
Frank McHugh
June Collyer
Cinematography Lee Garmes
Alfred Gilks (Technicolor)
Edited by Alexander Hall
Music by Victor Herbert
Color process Technicolor
Distributed by First National Pictures: A Subsidiary of Warner Bros.
Release date
  • February 21, 1931 (1931-02-21)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Kiss Me Again is a 1931 American pre-Code musical operetta film filmed entirely in Technicolor. It was originally released in the United States as Toast of the Legion late in 1930, but was quickly withdrawn when Warner Bros. realized that the public had grown weary of musicals. The Warner Bros. believed that this attitude would only last for a few months, but, when the public proved obstinate, they reluctantly re-released the film early in 1931 after making a few cuts to the film. [1] [2]

Contents

Like the 1926 silent First National film Mademoiselle Modiste , Kiss Me Again is based on a popular 1905 operetta on Broadway, Mlle. Modiste , by Victor Herbert and Henry Martyn Blossom. [3] [4] [5]

Plot

A French shopgirl (Bernice Claire) obeys her parents by leaving her lover to become an opera star.

Cast

Music

When the film was re-released in 1931, most of Walter Pidgeon's songs were cut from the film. Only a small abbreviated version of one of his songs is heard on the existing print.

Songs

Preservation

Only a black-and-white copy of the cut print released in 1931 in the United States seems to have survived. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States under the title of Toast of the Legion where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Pidgeon</span> Canadian-American actor (1897–1984)

Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in Mrs. Miniver (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Pidgeon also starred in many films such as How Green Was My Valley (1941), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Forbidden Planet (1956), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961), Advise & Consent (1962), Funny Girl (1968), and Harry in Your Pocket (1973).

<i>Naughty Marietta</i> (operetta) 1910 comic opera by Rida Johnson Young and Victor Herbert

Naughty Marietta is an operetta in two acts, with libretto by Rida Johnson Young and music by Victor Herbert. Set in New Orleans in 1780, it tells how Captain Richard Warrington is commissioned to unmask and capture a notorious French pirate calling himself "Bras Pique" – and how he is helped and hindered by a high-spirited runaway, Contessa Marietta. The score includes many well-known songs, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life".

<i>Mlle. Modiste</i>

Mlle. Modiste is an operetta in two acts composed by Victor Herbert with a libretto by Henry Blossom. It concerns hat shop girl Fifi, who longs to be an opera singer, but who is such a good hat seller that her employer, Mme. Cecil, discourages her in her ambitions and exploits her commercial talents. Also, Fifi loves Etienne de Bouvray, who returns her love, but his uncle, Count Henri, opposes their union. The operetta features the song "Kiss Me Again".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritzi Scheff</span> American actress

Fritzi Scheff was an American actress and singer.

<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.

Henry Martyn Blossom, Jr. was an American writer, playwright, novelist, opera librettist, and lyricist. He first gained wide attention for his second novel, Checkers: A Hard Luck Story (1896), which was successfully adapted by Blossom into a 1903 Broadway play, Checkers. It was Blossom's first stage work and his first critical success in the theatre. The play in turn was adapted by others creatives into two silent films, one in 1913 and the other in 1919, and the play was the basis for the 1920 Broadway musical Honey Girl. Checkers was soon followed by Blossom's first critical success as a lyricist, the comic opera The Yankee Consul (1903), on which he collaborated with fellow Saint Louis resident and composer Alfred G. Robyn. This work was also adapted into a silent film in 1921. He later collaborated with Robyn again; writing the book and lyrics for their 1912 musical All for the Ladies.

<i>Song of the Flame</i> (film) 1930 American musical film

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.

Kiss Me Again may refer to:

<i>Viennese Nights</i> 1930 film

Viennese Nights is a 1930 American all-talking pre-Code musical operetta film directed by Alan Crosland and starring Alexander Gray, Vivienne Segal, Walter Pidgeon, Jean Hersholt, Bela Lugosi and Louise Fazenda. It was photographed entirely in Technicolor and released by Warner Brothers. Viennese Nights was the first original operetta written especially for the screen by Oscar Hammerstein II and Sigmund Romberg. It was filmed in March and April 1930, before anyone realized the extent of the economic hardships that would arrive with the Great Depression, which had begun in the autumn of the previous year. Although not a box office hit in the United States, the film had long box office runs in Britain and Australia. It is one of the earliest sound films to have a short pre-credit sequence.

<i>Men of the Sky</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Men of the Sky is a 1931 all-talking American pre-Code musical drama film, directed by Albert E. Green which was produced by Warner Bros. in 1930 and released in 1931. Men of the Sky stars Irene Delroy and Jack Whiting. Although aircraft were seen in the film, Men of the Sky was more of a spy drama.

<i>Top Speed</i> (film) 1930 film

Top Speed is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical comedy film released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. It was based on a 1929 stage musical of the same name by Harry Ruby, Guy Bolton and Bert Kalmar. The film stars Joe E. Brown, Bernice Claire, Jack Whiting, Laura Lee, and Frank McHugh.

<i>Going Wild</i> 1930 film

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernice Claire</span> American singer and actress (1906–2003)

Bernice Claire was an American singer and actress. She appeared in 13 films between 1930 and 1938.

<i>Operetta for the Theatre Organ</i> 1957 studio album by Leonard MacClain

Operetta for the Theatre Organ is an album released by Leonard MacClain in 1957 on Epic Records LP record LN 3372. On release, J. Albert Fracht reviewed the album as "full of good playing." The album features music from Victor Herbert's "Red Mill", "The Fortune Teller" and "Mlle Modiste." Also featured are songs from Sigmund Romberg's "The Desert Song" and "The New Moon". Rudolf Friml is represented by songs from "The Firefly", and "Rose Marie".

<i>Mademoiselle Modiste</i> (film) 1926 film

Mademoiselle Modiste is a 1926 silent romance produced by and starring Corinne Griffith and distributed by First National Pictures. Robert Z. Leonard directed Griffith in a story based on a popular 1905 Victor Herbert operetta on Broadway, Mlle. Modiste, with a libretto by Henry Martyn Blossom, which was similar to the MGM film The Merry Widow. It is now considered a lost film.

<i>Big Boy</i> (film) 1930 film

Big Boy is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical comedy film produced by Warner Bros. The film was directed by Alan Crosland and stars Al Jolson, Claudia Dell, Louise Closser Hale, and Noah Beery. The film is based on the 1925 Broadway hit show of the same name in which Jolson also starred.

<i>Spring Is Here</i> (film) 1930 film

Spring Is Here is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical comedy film produced by First National Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. It was adapted by James A. Starr from the 1929 musical play, of the same name, by Owen Davis, with music by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. The film stars Lawrence Gray, Alexander Gray, and Bernice Claire.

<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.

<i>The Hot Heiress</i> 1931 film

The Hot Heiress is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and written by Herbert Fields, with three songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. The film stars Ben Lyon, Ona Munson, Walter Pidgeon, Tom Dugan, Holmes Herbert and Inez Courtney. The film was released by Warner Bros. on March 28, 1931.

<i>Sons O Guns</i> 1936 film by Lloyd Bacon

Sons O' Guns is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Jerry Wald and Julius J. Epstein. It stars Joe E. Brown, and features Joan Blondell, with Beverly Roberts, Eric Blore, Craig Reynolds and Wini Shaw. It was released by Warner Bros. on May 30, 1936.

References

  1. The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1931-40 by The American Film Institute, c. 1993
  2. The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993:Kiss Me Again
  3. Brennan, Sandra. "Kiss Me Again (1931), AllMovie, accessed November 8, 2015
  4. Mlle. Modiste, on Broadway, Internet Broadway Database, accessed November 8, 2015
  5. Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History, p. 351. Psychology Press, 2003 ISBN   0-415-96641-8