The Show of Shows | |
---|---|
Directed by | John G. Adolfi |
Written by | Special material: Frank Fay J. Keirn Brennan |
Produced by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
Cinematography | Barney McGill |
Music by | Edward Ward |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 128 minutes 107 minutes (Technicolor) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $795,000 [2] |
Box office | $1,624,000 [2] |
The Show of Shows is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost almost $800,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor. [2]
The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' fifth color film; the first four were The Desert Song (1929), On with the Show! (1929), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929) and Paris (1929). ( Song of the West was actually completed by June 1929 but had its release delayed until March 1930). The Show of Shows featured most of the contemporary Warner Bros. film stars, including John Barrymore, Richard Barthelmess, Noah Beery Sr., Loretta Young, Dolores Costello, Bull Montana, Myrna Loy, Chester Conklin, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Tully Marshall, Nick Lucas, and Betty Compson.
The film was styled in the same format as the earlier Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Hollywood Revue of 1929 . The high budget of the film meant that although it performed well at the box office, it did not return as much profit as The Hollywood Revue of 1929. The Show of Shows was originally meant to be and advertised as being an all-color talking movie; however, twenty-one minutes were in black and white—17 minutes of the first part and the first four minutes of part two.
The film features nearly all the stars then working under contract at Warner Bros. Virtually all the performers shown would vanish from the studio by 1931, after tastes had shifted owing to the effects of the Great Depression, which began to be felt late in 1930.
The Show of Shows features many of the performers who were popular in silent movies mixed in with hand-picked stage stars and novelty acts. The emcee of the film was Frank Fay, who performed in the style of barbed sarcasm. In an era of almost naive optimism, he stands out as a witty devil's advocate. [3]
Performer | Segment |
---|---|
Frank Fay | Master of ceremonies |
Harry Akst | Onscreen pianist |
Armida Vendrell | "Meet My Sister" and "Lady Luck" finale |
Johnny Arthur | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Mary Astor | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
William Bakewell | "Bicycle Built for Two" |
John Barrymore | "Henry VI Part III" |
Richard Barthelmess | Introduces "Meet My Sister" |
Noah Beery | "Motion Picture Pirates", "Mexican Moonshine" |
Sally Blane | "Meet My Sister" |
Monte Blue | "Mexican Moonshine" |
Irène Bordoni | Singing "One Hour of Love" |
Hobart Bosworth | Prologue (executioner) |
Jack Buchanan | |
Harriet Byron | "Meet My Sister", "Bicycle Built for Two" |
Marion Byron | "Meet My Sister" |
Georges Carpentier | "If I Could Learn to Love (As Well as I Fight)" |
Ethlyne Clair | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Betty Compson | "Lady Luck" (Finale) |
Chester Conklin | "Bicycle Built for Two" |
Dolores Costello | "Meet My Sister" |
Helene Costello | "Meet My Sister" |
William Courtenay | "Bicycle Built for Two" |
Viola Dana | "Meet My Sister", "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Alice Day | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys", "Meet My Sister" |
Marceline Day | "Meet My Sister" |
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. | "Bicycle Built for Two" |
Louise Fazenda | "Recitations" |
Albert Gran | "Singin' in the Bathtub" |
Alexander Gray | "Lady Luck" (Finale) |
Lloyd Hamilton | "Florodora", "Recitations", "Mexican Moonshine" |
Lupino Lane | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys" |
Lila Lee | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys" |
Ted Lewis and his Orchestra | |
Winnie Lightner | "Pingo Pongo", "Singin' in the Bathtub" |
Jacqueline Logan | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Lola | "Meet My Sister", "Lady Luck" (Finale) |
Myrna Loy | "Florodora Boys", "Believe Me" and "Chinese Fantasy" |
Nick Lucas | "The Only Song I Know", "Chinese Fantasy" and "Lady Luck" (Finale) |
Tully Marshall | "Motion Picture Pirates", "Mexican Moonshine" |
Shirley Mason | "Meet My Sister" |
Patsy Ruth Miller | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys", "If I Could Learn to Love" |
Bull Montana | "Singin' in the Bathtub" |
Lee Moran | "Singin' in the Bathtub" |
Chester Morris | "$20 Bet", "Bicycle Built for Two" |
Jack Mulhall | "$20 Bet" |
Edna Murphy | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Carmel Myers | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Marian Nixon | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys" |
Molly O'Day | "Meet My Sister" |
Sally O'Neil | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys", "Meet My Sister" |
Gertrude Olmstead | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Kalla Pasha | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Anders Randolf | "Motion Picture Pirates" |
Rin Tin Tin | Introduces "An Oriental Fantasy" |
Bert Roach | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys" |
Sid Silvers | Introduces "Black and White Girls" |
Sōjin Kamiyama | "$20 Bet" |
Ben Turpin | "What's Become of the Florodora Boys" |
Eddie Ward | |
H.B. Warner | Prologue |
Alice White | "If I Could Learn To Love" |
Lois Wilson | "Bicycle Built for Two" |
Grant Withers | "Bicycle Built for Two" |
Loretta Young | "Meet My Sister" |
According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $1,259,000 domestically and $336,000 internationally. [2]
Three specialty acts were filmed for the feature-length revue but deleted from the final release print. Each was released separately in 1930 as a Vitaphone short subject:
The Show of Shows [8] still survives in a black-and-white 1958 print from an Associated Artists Productions.
Certain segments in color of the film have been recovered. [9] As of June 2018, these are as follows (in the order of their presentation in the film):
1. "Meet My Sister" – Sequence was shown publicly at the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival. [10]
2. "Chinese Fantasy" – Entire sequence is present in commercially available copies of the film.
3. "Frank Fay With Sid Silvers" – An announcement was made in July 2017 by the Vitaphone Project that portions of this sequence have been recovered, and preservation is ongoing.
4. "A Bicycle Built For Two" – An announcement was made in July 2017 by the Vitaphone Project that portions of this sequence have also been recovered, and preservation is ongoing.
5. "If Your Best Friend Won't Tell You" – An announcement was made in July 2017 by the Vitaphone Project that portions of this sequence have also been recovered, and preservation is ongoing.
6. "King Richard III" – At least one Technicolor specimen frame is known to exist. This sequence should not be confused with a color test John Barrymore made for RKO in 1933; that test involved a recitation from "Hamlet." [11]
7. "Finale" – A six-minute segment of this sequence was shown publicly in Australia ca. 1978; this particular print is believed to have been destroyed in the late 1980s. The British Film Archive has extracts from this scene along with snippets from other early film musicals. [12] At least one Technicolor specimen frame from this sequence is known to exist.
8. "Curtain of Stars" – A four-second segment of this sequence was restored by the George Eastman House. [13]
The Library of Congress maintains a copy (since the 1970s) of the black/white version. [14]
In 2022, an unofficial reconstructed Colorized version was uploaded online. It appears to be colorization by artificial intelligence, and does not display the real Technicolor footage. [15]
The Hollywood Revue of 1929, or simply The Hollywood Revue, is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest sound films. Produced by Harry Rapf and Irving Thalberg and directed by Charles Reisner, it features nearly all of MGM's stars in a two-hour revue that includes three segments in Technicolor. The masters of ceremonies are Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny.
The Broadway Melody, also known as The Broadway Melody of 1929, is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the early musicals to feature a Technicolor sequence, which sparked the trend of color being used in a flurry of musicals that would hit the screens in 1929–1930. Today, the Technicolor sequence survives only in black and white. The film was the first musical released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was Hollywood's first all-talking musical.
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech. Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and effectively marked the end of the silent film era with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson. Based on the 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson, the plot was adapted from his short story "The Day of Atonement".
Alexander Dubin was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.
Henry William George Lupino professionally Lupino Lane, was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family, which eventually included his niece, the screenwriter/director/actress Ida Lupino. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall and film performances. Increasingly celebrated for his silent comedy short subjects, he is best known in the United Kingdom for playing Bill Snibson in the play and film Me and My Girl, which popularized the song and dance routine "The Lambeth Walk".
Gold Diggers of Broadway is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Winnie Lightner and Nick Lucas. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film is the second all-talking, all-Technicolor feature-length film.
On with the Show! is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film produced by Warner Bros. Filmed in two-color Technicolor, the film became the first all-talking, all-color feature-length film, and the second color film released by Warner Bros.; the first was the partly color musical The Desert Song (1929).
Sally is a 1929 American Pre-Code film. It is the fourth all-sound, all-color feature film made, and it was photographed in the Technicolor process. It was the sixth feature film to contain color that had been released by Warner Bros.; the first five were The Desert Song (1929), On with the Show! (1929), Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), Paris (1929) and The Show of Shows (1929).. Although exhibited in a few theaters in December 1929, Sally entered general release on January 12, 1930.
Bright Lights, later retitled Adventures in Africa, is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. It premiered in Los Angeles in July 1930 but was edited and rereleased in early 1931. Although it was photographed entirely in Technicolor, the only surviving print is in black and white. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Frank Fay, Noah Beery and Frank McHugh. It also features the screen debut of John Carradine, who appears in a small, uncredited role.
The Desert Song is a 1929 American pre-Code operetta film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring John Boles, Carlotta King, Louise Fazenda, and Myrna Loy. It was photographed partly in two-color Technicolor, the first film released by Warner Bros. to include footage in color. The film included a 10-minute intermission during which music was played.
Showgirl in Hollywood is a 1930 American pre-Code all-talking musical film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche Sweet. It was adapted from the 1929 novel Hollywood Girl by J.P. McEvoy.
Paris is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film, featuring Irène Bordoni. It was filmed with Technicolor sequences: four of the film's ten reels were originally photographed in Technicolor.
General Crack is a 1929 American pre-Code sound all-talking historical costume melodrama with Technicolor sequences which was directed by Alan Crosland and produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It was filmed and premiered in 1929, and released early in 1930. It stars John Barrymore in his first full-length talking feature. The film would prove to be Crosland and Barrymore's last historical epic together. It was based on the 1928 novel General Crack by the British writer Marjorie Bowen, published under the name George Preedy, one of her several pen names.
"Singing in the Bathtub" is a song written in 1929 by Michael H. Cleary, with lyrics by Herb Magidson and Ned Washington for the film The Show of Shows. The Show of Shows was Warner Bros.' answer to MGM's The Hollywood Revue of 1929, and "Singing in the Bathtub" spoofs Hollywood Revue's song "Singin' in the Rain". In Show of Shows, the number features an enormous bathtub and is performed by Winnie Lightner and a chorus of male performers wearing antiquated bathing suits.
Lord Byron of Broadway (1930), also known as What Price Melody?, is an American Pre-Code musical drama film, directed by Harry Beaumont and William Nigh. It was based on a best selling book by Nell Martin, which "was widely praised by critics as an extremely true and amusing romance of stage life." It was filmed in black and white with two-color Technicolor sequences.
Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.
My Man is a 1928 black and white sound part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
Hardboiled Rose is a 1929 American sound part-talkie romantic drama film directed by F. Harmon Weight and released by Warner Bros. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system. The film starred Myrna Loy, William Collier, Jr., and John Miljan.
Natural color was a term used in the beginning of film and later on in the 1920s, and early 1930s as a color film process that actually filmed color images, rather than a color tinted or colorized movie. The first natural color processes were in the 1900s and 1910s and were two color additive color processes or red and green missing primary color blue, one additive process of time was Kinemacolor. By the 1920s, subtractive color was mostly in use with such processes as Technicolor, Prizma and Multicolor, but Multicolor was mostly never in use in the late 1920s, Technicolor was mostly in use. The only one who cared to mess with Multicolor was William Fox, probably because Multicolor was more cheaper of a process and at the time in 1929 William Fox was in debt. The difference between additive color and subtractive color were that an additive color film required a special projector that could project two components of film at the same time, a green record and a red record. But additive color didn't required a special projector, the two pieces of film were chemically formed together and was projected in one strip of film.
Bubbles is a 1930 American Vitaphone Varieties short film released by Warner Bros. in Technicolor. It was filmed in December 1929 at the First National Pictures studio with Western Electric apparatus, an early sound-on-film system, Rel. No. 3898. Bubbles is one of the earliest surviving recordings of Judy Garland on film, at 8 years old.