Ramona
About Ramona
In nineteenth-century California, Ramona, who is partly Native American, meets Alessandro. They marry against the people around them. Their child dies on a journey in the mountains. A white settler kills Alessandro. Dolores del Río plays Ramona. Warner Baxter plays Alessandro. Edwin Carewe directed from Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel. There is no spoken dialogue. A recorded score and effects were issued with the picture.
Cast & crew
More about Ramona
Finis Fox wrote the adaptation. Robert Kurrle photographed it. Hugo Riesenfeld wrote the synchronized score. United Artists released it. English Wikipedia calls it the first United Artists film issued with a recorded soundtrack, on both sound-on-disc and sound-on-film. Wikidata times it at 80 minutes. Griffith had filmed the novel in 1910 with Mary Pickford. A 1916 version starred Adda Gleason. Henry King remade it in 1936 with Loretta Young.
Themes
Making
Carewe’s company made a silent performance and United Artists shipped a recorded track with it, the first time that company did so.
Look
Robert Kurrle shot del Río and Baxter in the California story, with the soundtrack added as a separate recording.
Technique
United Artists released it with both a sound-on-disc track and a sound-on-film track. Wikipedia calls it the company’s first film with a recorded soundtrack.
Music
Hugo Riesenfeld wrote the synchronized score and effects. The film has no spoken dialogue.
Preservation
A print is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Roland Drew, Vera Lewis, Michael Visaroff, Mathilde Comont, and John T. Prince are in the cast listings.
- The sound is music and effects. The actors do not speak.
- Del Río’s Ramona is the 1928 casting. Pickford’s is the 1910 Biograph reel.
- A Commons file is titled Ramona (1928).
Scenes
- Ramona and Alessandro marry against the household.
- Their child dies during the mountain journey.
- A white settler kills Alessandro.
Influenced by
- Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel Ramona (1884)
- D. W. Griffith’s Ramona (1910)
Influenced
- Ramona (1936)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Ramona (1928).webm)
