The Hollywood Revue of 1929
About The Hollywood Revue of 1929
There is no story. Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny host a two-hour bill of MGM contract players. Joan Crawford sings. Bessie Love dances and sings. Marie Dressler and Polly Moran clown. Laurel and Hardy botch a magic act. Buster Keaton does an underwater dance. John Gilbert and Norma Shearer play the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, first in Shakespeare's lines and then in slang, with Lionel Barrymore as the director. Cliff Edwards introduces "Singin' in the Rain," and the company reprises it in color at the end.
Cast & crew
More about The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Charles Reisner directed. Harry Rapf produced it; Irving Thalberg is also credited as a producer. Al Boasberg, Robert E. Hopkins, and Joseph W. Farnham wrote the material. John Arnold, Max Fabian, Irving G. Ries, and John M. Nickolaus photographed it. William S. Gray edited it. The roadshow version runs 130 minutes. A circulating print runs 118 minutes. It premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on June 20, 1929. The budget was $426,000. Worldwide rentals were $2,421,000, and the studio recorded a profit of about $1,100,000. "Singin' in the Rain," by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, was added on June 10, ten days before the premiere.
Themes
Background
Studios in 1929 were proving that recorded dialogue could carry a feature. MGM's answer was not one plot but a nightclub bill with three color numbers.
In film history
"Singin' in the Rain" was first heard here, sung by Cliff Edwards, ten days after it was dropped into the cut. The 1952 film takes its title number from this revue.
Making
MGM put nearly the whole contract list on one stage to show that its silent stars could be heard. The balcony scene is the test case: Gilbert and Shearer speak Shakespeare, then junk it for slang.
Reviews
Mordaunt Hall, in The New York Times, called it brimming over with good fun and catchy music. Variety said that if the booths gave it an even break, nothing could stop it. John Mosher, in The New Yorker, called it the most extravagant musical comedy the talkies had presented, and a complete evening's entertainment. Walter R. Greene singled out Bessie Love as starring material for film musicals.
Look
John Arnold, Max Fabian, Irving G. Ries, and John M. Nickolaus shared the camera. Three numbers, including the balcony scene and the finale, were photographed in two-color Technicolor.
Technique
An early MGM all-talking feature, with three two-color Technicolor sequences kept in the surviving 118-minute print.
Music
Songs include "Singin' in the Rain" and "You Were Meant for Me" by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, with other numbers by Gus Edwards. The hosts are Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny.
Preservation
An 118-minute version survives, including the three Technicolor sequences. The film entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2025.
Notes
- Three sequences were shot in two-color Technicolor: the balcony scene, "Orange Blossom Time," and the "Singin' in the Rain" finale.
- Charles King sings "Orange Blossom Time" to Myrtle McLaughlin while the Albertina Rasch ballet dances. The Brox Sisters appear with Edwards on "Singin' in the Rain.
- Nagel's singing voice in "You Were Meant for Me," played to Anita Page, is dubbed by Charles King.
- Gus Edwards sings "Lon Chaney's Gonna Get You If You Don't Watch Out." Marion Davies sings "Tommy Atkins on Parade.
- It was nominated for Best Picture at the 2nd Academy Awards and lost to another MGM film, The Broadway Melody.
- As a 1929 publication it entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2025.
- Warner Archive issued a DVD in 2009. MGM/UA had released a laserdisc in the 1990s.
Scenes
- Gilbert and Shearer play the balcony scene straight, then play it again in contemporary slang while Lionel Barrymore directs.
- Laurel and Hardy wreck a magic act.
- The full company sings "Singin' in the Rain" in Technicolor to close the show.
Influenced
- Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Also available
- Warner Archive Collection DVD (2009)
