Mother Knows Best (film)

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Mother Knows Best
Mother Knows Best (1928 film).jpg
Directed by John G. Blystone
Charles Judels
Written by Edna Ferber
Produced by William Fox
Starring Madge Bellamy
Cinematography Gilbert Warrenton
Edited by Margaret Clancey
Music byWilliam Kernell
Production
company
Distributed by Fox Film Corporation
Release date
  • September 16, 1928 (1928-09-16)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Part-Talkie)
English (Intertitles)

Mother Knows Best is a lost 1928 American sound part-talkie film directed by John G. Blystone, based on a novel by Edna Ferber, fictionalizing the life of vaudevillian Elsie Janis. The film was Fox's first part talkie, using the Movietone sound system which had primarily been used for synchronised music scores and effects tracks in Fox features beforehand, although as early as Mother Machree (1928), a single synchronous singing sequence was included in the film. The talking sequences in Mother Knows Best were directed by actor Charles Judels, [1] [2] while the synchronized sequences were directed by John G. Blystone. The film starred Madge Bellamy, with Louise Dresser as her domineering mother, Barry Norton, and Albert Gran. [3]

Contents

Plot

Ma Quail (Louise Dresser), a domineering and ambitious woman in a small Midwestern town, is determined to make her daughter a star. From childhood, Sally Quail (Annette De Kirby as a child, Madge Bellamy as an adult) is pushed into the world of show business. Ma takes money from the family drugstore run by Pa Quail (Lucien Littlefield) to pay for Sally's dance and singing lessons, grooming her for the stage.

Sally performs in vaudeville as a mimic and impersonator, dazzling audiences with celebrity imitations and numbers like “I Just Can’t Make My Eyes Behave,” "My Mammy" and "She's Ma Daisy." Despite her growing fame, Ma continues to exert full control over her daughter’s life and career, refusing to let her develop independence or personal relationships.

When Sally falls in love with a gentle young composer (Barry Norton), Ma forbids the relationship. The young man leaves, heartbroken. Sally, devastated by her mother's constant interference, breaks down under the emotional strain and becomes seriously ill.

A doctor confronts Ma, warning her that Sally’s collapse is the result of years of psychological pressure and sacrifice. Ma, shaken, begins to realize the damage she has done. She seeks out the composer and invites him back into their lives. He returns, and Ma welcomes him with open arms, leading him into the room where Sally lies near death.

The young man’s presence revives Sally’s will to live. As she recovers, Sally prepares to take the Broadway stage under her own name, finally free from her mother’s control. The film closes with Sally triumphant in her own right, performing before an adoring crowd as Ma watches from the wings.

Music

The film featured a theme song entitled "Sally Of My Dreams" which was composed by William Kernell. In addition, Madge Bellamy sings three songs in the film. Dressed in kilts and carrying a crooked cane, she imitates Harry Lauder and sings "She's Ma Daisy" (Harry Lauder & J.D. Harper). Then, in blackface, she imitates Al Jolson and sings "My Mammy" (Walter Donaldson & Joe Young), and finally imitating Anna Held, while wearing an old-fashioned Victorian type long dress, she sings "I Just Can't Make My Eyes Behave" (Will D. Cobb and Gus Edwards).

Cast

Unbilled

Mother Knows Best (SAYRE 14106).jpg

See also

References

  1. ↑ Donald Crafton The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926–1931 1999 0520221281 "MOTHER KNOWS BEST (Fox, 1928) lobby card Judels also directed the talking sequences of Mother Knows Best (1928, codirected with John Blystone), a stage-mother story by Edna Ferber transparently based on the life ..."Fox's advertising emphasized that fans of Ferber's novel could "Hear and See the players talk their parts on Fox Movietone." In fact ... Mother Knows Best received backhanded praise: " "Several sequences of Movietone dialogue lift a very good production into something better".
  2. ↑ Hervé Dumont, Jonathan Kaplansky Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic 2006 0786440988 p.145 "In July 1927, the company had made a sensation by releasing the first sound news reels, “Fox Movietone Newsreel,” ... On September 15, 1928, Fox's first part-talkie full length feature was released: Mother Knows Best (John Blystone)."
  3. ↑ Michael G. Ankerich Broken silence: conversations with 23 silent film stars 1993 p.52 "After her contract was up in 1924, she was immediately signed to a four-year contract with Fox Pictures, ... Madge made her talkie debut as the star of Fox's first real dialogue picture, Mother Knows Best (1928), based on the life of vaudevillian Elsie Janis. It is considered by some to be Madge's greatest picture. Madge played Sally Quail, a budding actress who is dominated by a stage mother, played by Louise Dresser"


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