Remote Control

Name: Remote Control
Director: Edward Sedgwick
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 1930
Duration: 1 h 5 min
Cast: William Haines, Mary Doran, John Miljan, Polly Moran, J. C. Nugent

1930 Comedy Drama 65 minutes Directed by Edward Sedgwick

About Remote Control

William J. Brennan practices radio announcing into a dummy microphone at Smedley’s music shop, flirts with customer Marion Ferguson, and is fired for chasing her into the street. He follows her to the station run by her brother Sam, an old friend, and talks his way into helping revive it. An advertisement brings Dr. Kruger, leader of the Ghost Gang, who hides robbery orders inside a clairvoyant broadcast. Kruger has Brennan kidnapped and marked to be killed during a bank job. Brennan tips off the police and his friends with newspaper headlines and is pulled free in a chase.

Cast & crew

More about Remote Control

The script adapts the play Remote Control by Clyde North, Albert C. Fuller, and Jack T. Nelson, which opened in New York on 10 September 1929. Sylvia Thalberg and Frank Butler wrote the screenplay; F. Hugh Herbert and Robert E. Hopkins wrote the dialogue. Motion Picture News reported in October 1930 that Edward Sedgwick was the last of four directors on the picture; Variety and Film Daily credited Malcolm St. Clair and Nick Grinde, and the copyright entry lists Sedgwick as producer.

Themes

A music-shop clerk talking his way onto the air
Robbery orders hidden in a clairvoyant broadcast
A kidnapping timed to a bank job
Newspaper headlines used as a signal
radio station
Ghost Gang
fake clairvoyant
music shop
kidnapping
bank robbery
newspaper headlines
William J. Brennan

Look

Merritt B. Gerstad was director of photography.

Technique

Douglas Shearer recorded the Movietone track.

Music

The score includes “Just a Little Closer,” words by Howard Johnson and music by Joseph Meyer.

Preservation

A circulating copy runs about 65 minutes. AFI’s catalog length is 5,958 feet.

Notes

AFI lists the release print at 62 minutes, 5,958 feet, in seven reels.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp. copyrighted the film on 12 November 1930 (LP1725).
Cedric Gibbons was art director. Harry Reynolds edited.
Polly Moran plays Polly. J. C. Nugent plays Smedley, the music-shop boss. Edward Brophy plays Al.
The sound system is Movietone, with Douglas Shearer as recording engineer.

Scenes

Brennan rehearses into a dummy microphone and is fired from the music shop.
Dr. Kruger’s clairvoyant program carries the Ghost Gang’s orders.
Brennan signals with newspaper headlines while the gang holds him, then a chase ends the job.