Tenderloin (film)

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Tenderloin
Tenderloin poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Written by Edward T. Lowe Jr.
(scenario, adaptation, dialogue & titles)
Joseph Jackson
(dialogue & titles)
Story by"Melvin Crossman"
(Darryl Zanuck)
Starring Dolores Costello
Cinematography Hal Mohr
Edited by Ralph Dawson
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • March 14, 1928 (1928-03-14)(NYC)
  • March 28, 1928 (1928-03-28)(US)
[1]
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Part-Talkie)
English intertitles
Budget$188,000 [2]
Box office$985,000 [2]

Tenderloin is a 1928 American sound part-talkie crime film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Dolores Costello. [3] In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects, along with English intertitles. According to the film review in Variety, about 15 minutes of the total running time featured dialogue. [4] The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. [5] It was produced and released by Warner Bros. Tenderloin is considered a lost film, with no prints currently known to exist. [6] [7] [1]

Contents

Plot

Rose Shannon (Dolores Costello), a cabaret dancer, is in love with Chuck White (Conrad Nagel), the stylish “Beau Brummel” of the Tenderloin district. One evening, she invites him to her apartment, only to discover his true nature. Terrified, she flees and stumbles upon a satchel thrown from a passing car. It bears the tag of a night-and-day bank—and seems to be filled with money.

Seizing the chance to escape her grim life and forget Chuck, Rose takes the bag. However, a policeman observes her suspicious behavior and brings her to the station. When opened, the satchel is found to contain only blank paper and iron slugs. With no evidence against her, Rose is released.

Unbeknownst to her, the satchel had been ditched by Chuck’s gangster associates—Sparrow (George E. Stone), Lefty (Dan Wolheim), and the Mug (Pat Hartigan)—all under the leadership of the Professor (Mitchell Lewis). They had botched a robbery and discarded what they believed was the loot. Seeing Rose pick it up, they assume she now has the real take.

To retrieve it, the gang devises a plan. Chuck, seeking forgiveness, invites Rose to his Aunt Molly’s (Dorothy Vernon) home in the country. Weeks go by without word. The gang suspects betrayal and heads to the country hideout. A fight erupts—Chuck is beaten and tied up. The Professor convinces Rose that Chuck used her only to find the stolen loot. Crushed, she flees.

At the train station, Rose overhears Sparrow say that Chuck truly loves her. Lefty and the Mug vow revenge. Desperate to warn Chuck, Rose braves a storm to find him.

She tracks down the Professor’s hideout, where the gang is holding Chuck along with a man who turns out to be the bank’s cashier—a co-conspirator who has double-crossed the gang. Chaos erupts when the police raid the hideout. Gunfire is exchanged. The gang surrenders. Rose and Chuck are rescued by police.

Cast

Premiere Vitaphone short subjects

Tenderloin premiered at the Warners' Theatre in New York City on March 14, 1928.

TitleYear
Orpheus in the Underworld Overture1927
Beniamino Gigli & Giuseppe de Luca in Duet from Act 1 of "The Pearl Fishers" (Les pêcheurs de perles)1927
Abe Lyman and His Orchestra1928
Xavier Cugat and His Gigolos ("A Spanish Ensemble”)1928
Adele Rowland in "Stories in Song"1928

Production

Tenderloin was the second Vitaphone feature with talking sequences that Warner Bros. released, five months after The Jazz Singer . The film contained 15 minutes of spoken dialog, and Warners promoted it as the first film in which actors actually spoke their roles. Reportedly, at the film's premiere, the feature was met with derisive laughter as a result of the film's stilted dialogue, resulting in two of the four talking sequences being eliminated during the first week of the film's premiere run. [8] Critic Harriette Underhill wrote that the "screen talking devices give the characters a certain lisp, slightly detracts from the serious effect." [9]

Censorship

After the opening in New York City, the New York Censor Board objected to the scene in the farmhouse bedroom and requested that the dialog be removed. The sound was removed for the scene in next day's showing. [10]

Box Office

According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $889,000 domestically and $96,000 foreign. [2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Tenderloin at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. 1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 6 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  3. ↑ "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Tenderloin". memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
  4. ↑ Variety 8 May 1928 p. 18 https://archive.org/details/variety90-1928-03/page/n145/mode/1up
  5. ↑ Progressive Silent Film List: Tenderloin at silentera.com
  6. ↑ American Film Institute (1971) The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30
  7. ↑ "Lost Film Files - Warner". www.silentsaregolden.com.
  8. ↑ "Tenderloin (1928) - Notes - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
  9. ↑ (26 March 1928). Cinema: The New Pictures, Time
  10. ↑ "Censor Orders Cuts in Talker". Variety . New York City. March 21, 1928. p. 5. Retrieved February 25, 2024.

Bibliography

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