The Fall of Eve | |
---|---|
Directed by | Frank R. Strayer |
Screenplay by | Gladys Lehman Frederic Hatton (dial.) Fannie Hatton (dial.) |
Story by | Anita Loos John Emerson |
Produced by | Harry Cohn |
Starring | Patsy Ruth Miller Ford Sterling Gertrude Astor |
Cinematography | Teddy Tetzlaff |
Edited by | Gene Havlick |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 6 reels |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Fall of Eve is a 1929 American comedy film directed by Frank R. Strayer, which stars Patsy Ruth Miller, Ford Sterling, and Gertrude Astor. The screenplay was written by Gladys Lehman, from a story by Anita Loos and John Emerson, and the film was released by Columbia Pictures on June 25, 1929.
Tom Ford Jr. is in love with Eve Grant, his father's secretary, and wants to marry her. When he asks his father's permission to marry, without revealing the object of his desire, the father refuses to allow him. Tom Jr. is crushed. Meanwhile, Tom Sr., a bathing suit manufacturer, is looking to close a large deal with an out of town buyer, Mr. Mack. Before Mack is willing to close the deal, he wants Ford Sr. to take him out on the town and show him a good time, as well as providing female companionship for the night. Tom Sr. does not know anyone who he can get to accompany them, so Eve volunteers. However, when they pick up Mack, Mack's wife decides that she wants to go out with them. To cover his intent, Ford Sr. introduces Eve as his new wife, Mrs. Ford.
The real Mrs. Ford is away from home, but when she hears on a radio program that a song is being requested by a Mr. & Mrs. Ford, she grows suspicious and heads back home. Ford Sr. and his party, meanwhile, have left the club and returned to the house, to continue the party there. When the genuine Mrs. Ford arrives and finds a stranger raiding her icebox, she calls the police. Before things get too out of hand, Tom Jr. arrives and lets everyone know that Eve is also a Mrs. Ford, but that she is married to him, as they had gotten wed secretly.
In the Spring 1928, it was announced that Columbia Pictures had obtained the rights to The Fall of Eve , a play by Anita Loos and John Emerson, the same team who had penned Gentlemen Prefer Blondes . The play had successful runs both in New York City and California. [2] [3] In April, it was announced that the play was to be part of Columbia's slate for 1928-29, a group of 36 films dubbed "The Perfect 36". [4]
In May it was revealed that The Fall of Eve would be one of ten "specials" on Columbia's slate, pictures chosen to be done with the new sound technology. [5] [6] In October 1928 Columbia announced that it had signed an agreement with Electrical Research Projects, a subsidiary of Western Electric, to handle the sound engineering for their upcoming films, including The Fall of Eve. [7] The film still had not been cast as of December 1928. [8]
In May 1929 Columbia announced that they had cast Patsy Ruth Miller and Arthur Rankin were cast in leading roles in the picture. Frank Strayer would be helming the film, and the musical accompaniment would be provided by Jackie Taylor and his oosevelt Hotel Orchestra. [9] It would Strayer's first picture for Columbia. [10] In early June it was revealed that Gladys Lehman would be handling the screenplay. [11]
While the American Film Institute's database has the premiere date of June 25, the June 24 issue of The Film Daily announced that the movie had premiered the prior week, on June 17. [1] [12] The Hollywood Filmograph also reported that film premiered on June 17 at the Embassy Theatre in New York City. [13]
Critics gave the picture mostly positive reviews. The Beatrice Daily Sun gave it a glowing review, saying, "Critical appraisal of both press and Broadway audiences unanimously declared the uproarious story of marital mix-ups one of the best talking productions ever made and the greatest laugh-maker of the season." They praised both the direction of Strayer and the acting of the entire cast. [14] The Tampa Times was also effusive in their praise of the film: "New York critics found themselves forgetting the gravity of life, and according to their reviews, laughed as heartily as the rest of the audiences—something unusual, ife [sic] we are to believe their own claims. Ford Sterling, they explained, is a 'scream', and the whole picture came very near filling the aisles with laughing customers unable to keep their seats or their decorum." They complimented the leads in the film, and were very complimentary towards the supporting comedic actors. [15] The Herald (Rock Hill, South Carolina) called it "a great talkie", saying that it had "great audience appeal", and that each of the "eight comedians, every one a star of repute enact roles with spirit." The also complimented the supporting cast, and praised the dialogue of Frederic and Fannie Hatton. [16] The Arizona Daily Star also enjoyed the film, "'The Fall of Eve' brings together ideal cast to give comedy farce of martial mix-ups with other fun producing situations." [17] Also giving good reviews were The Long Beach Sun , [18] The Atlanta Constitution , [19] The Santa Rosa Republican , [20] and the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record . [21]
Not all the reviews were complimentary, however. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle called it an "indifferent farce". They felt the jokes were stale, the plot commonplace, and the puns fell flat. They felt it was a "mechanical and rather crudely constructed farce". [22] Likewise, the Daily News called it a "two-star film, which is only fairly amusing." They also felt the humor was antiquated and trite, although they complimented the acting. [23]
Corinne Anita Loos was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put her on the payroll at Triangle Film Corporation. She is best known for her 1925 comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and her 1951 Broadway adaptation of Colette's novella Gigi.
Marguerita Maria "Mady" Christians was an Austrian actress who had a successful acting career in theatre and film in the United States until she was blacklisted during the McCarthy period.
Ford Sterling was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4', he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops.
Patsy Ruth Miller was an American film actress who played Esméralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) opposite Lon Chaney.
Gertrude Astor was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone in a woman's band.
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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Intimate Diary of a Professional Lady (1925) is a comic novel written by American author Anita Loos. The story follows the dalliances of a young blonde gold-digger named Lorelei Lee "in the bathtub-gin era of American history." Published the same year as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Carl Van Vechten's Firecrackers, the work is one of several famous 1925 American novels which focus upon the insouciant hedonism of the Jazz Age.
Camille: The Fate of a Coquette is a 1926 short film by Ralph Barton. Its development is described in Bruce Kellner's biography of Barton, The Last Dandy (1991).
Ruth Alice Taylor was an American actress in silent films and early talkies. Her son was the writer, comic, and actor Buck Henry.
John Emerson was an American stage actor, playwright, producer, and director of silent films. Emerson was married to Anita Loos from June 15, 1919 until his death, and prior to that the couple had worked together as a writing team for motion pictures. They would continue to be credited jointly, even as Loos pursued independent projects.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by Mal St. Clair, co-written by Anita Loos based on her 1925 novel, and released by Paramount Pictures. No copies are known to exist, and it is now considered to be a lost film. The Broadway version Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring Carol Channing as Lorelei Lee was mounted in 1949. It was remade into the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes with Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw and Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee in 1953.
Gertrude Olmstead was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 56 films between 1920 and 1929. Her last name was sometimes seen as Olmsted.
Shirley Grey was an American actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1930 and 1935.
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Lady Gangster is a 1942 Warner Bros. B picture crime film directed by Robert Florey, credited as "Florian Roberts". It is based on the play Gangstress, or Women in Prison by Dorothy Mackaye, who in 1928, as #440960, served less than ten months of a one- to three-year sentence in San Quentin State Prison. Lady Gangster is a remake of the pre-Code film, Ladies They Talk About (1933). Jackie Gleason plays a supporting role.
Stage Struck is a 1925 American silent comedy film starring Gloria Swanson, Lawrence Gray, Gertrude Astor, and Ford Sterling. The film was directed by Allan Dwan, and released by Paramount Pictures with the opening and ending sequences filmed in the early two-color Technicolor.
Lonely Wives is a 1931 American comedy film directed by Russell Mack and produced by E.B. Derr for Pathé Exchange, and was distributed by RKO Pictures after the merger of the two studios; it starred Edward Everett Horton, Esther Ralston, Laura La Plante, and Patsy Ruth Miller. The screenplay was written by Walter DeLeon, based upon a successful German vaudeville act entitled Tanzanwaltz, penned by Pordes Milo, Walter Schütt, and Dr. Eric Urban. The German production had been translated for the American stage by DeLeon and Mark Swan and, under the same title as the film.
Social Register is an American 1934 pre-Code comedy-drama musical film starring Colleen Moore. The film re-united her with her old friend and one of the first directors to give her film career a start, Marshall Neilan. The film was based on the 1931 play of the same name by Anita Loos and John Emerson.