Fox Movietone Follies of 1929

1929 film

May 26, 1929 (1929-05-26)

Running time

80 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, also known as Movietone Follies of 1929 and The William Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, is an American black-and-white and color pre-Code musical film released by Fox Film Corporation.

Plot

George Shelby, a boy from the Southern United States, comes to the city to dissuade Lila, his sweetheart, from embarking on a stage career and finally buys out the controlling interest in the revue so that he can fire her. On the opening night, however, she goes onstage when the prima donna of the show becomes temperamental, and she proves to be a big hit. At this development, George is able to sell the show back to the producer, who had previously lacked confidence in his investment and planned to take advantage of the youth's inexperience.

Cast

John Breeden as George Shelby
Lola Lane as Lila Beaumont
DeWitt Jennings as Jay Darrell
Sharon Lynn as Ann Foster
Arthur Stone as Al Leaton
Stepin Fetchit as Swifty
Warren Hymer as Martin
Archie Gottler as Stage Manager
Arthur Kay as Orchestra leader
Mario Dominici as Le Maire
Bobby Burns – unspecified performer (in "Song and Dance Numbers")^[1]
Sue Carol – unspecified performer (in "Song and Dance Numbers")^[1]
Dixie Lee – unspecified performer (in "Song and Dance Numbers")^[1]
Carolynne Snowden – unspecified performer (in "Song and Dance Numbers")^[2]^[1]
The Four Covans (uncredited)^[3]
Cee Pee Johnson (uncredited)^[4]^[2]

Soundtrack

Annette Hanshaw, "Big City Blues" from Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 (recorded April 5, 1929)

All songs were written by Con Conrad, Archie Gottler and Sidney D. Mitchell.

"Walking With Susie"
"Why Can't I Be Like You?"
"Legs"
"Breakaway"
"That's You Baby"
"Look What You've Done To Me"
"Big City Blues"
"Pearl of Old Japan"

Production

Filming locations for Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 included Havana, New York City, and Palm Beach, Florida.

Preservation status

The film had Multicolor sequences in its original release, as well as being filmed in the experimental Grandeur wide-screen process. It is now considered a lost film,^[5] as all film prints known to exist were destroyed in fires at the Fox storage facility in New Jersey in 1937. The sequel, New Movietone Follies of 1930, also has Multicolor sequences and exists in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.^[5]

Some audio elements of the 1929 film still survive, however. Specifically, "Movietone Sound-on-Disc" audio for reels 6 and 7 still survive, offering the only record of dialogue and music taken directly from the movie.^[6]

In addition, several songs from the film were recorded for record release.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Film Reviews: Fox Movietone Follies (of 1929)". Variety. May 29, 1929. Page 14. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Fox Movietone Gives Nation First Audible Screen Follies". The Dothan Eagle. May 23, 1929. Page 2. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
^ "The Most Intimate Follies Ever Seen Or Heard". The Akron Beacon-Journal. June 6, 1929. Page 33. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
^ "Fox Coronado: On the Stage". Las Vegas Daily Optic. July 12, 1933. Page 7. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Bradley, Edwin M. (2004). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932. McFarland. pp. 42–43. ISBN 0-7864-2029-4.
^ Fox Movietone Follies of 1929 (Movietone Sound On Disc Reel 6 & 7), Youtube.com, August 19, 2016; accessed August 19, 2019