This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2015) |
Broadway | |
---|---|
Directed by | Paul Fejos |
Screenplay by |
|
Based on | Broadway by Jed Harris, Philip Dunning and George Abbott |
Produced by | Carl Laemmle Jr. |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Hal Mohr |
Edited by | |
Music by | Howard Jackson (uncredited) |
Distributed by | Universal Studios |
Release date |
|
Running time | 107 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Broadway is a 1929 film directed by Paul Fejos from the 1926 play of the same name by George Abbott and Philip Dunning. It stars Glenn Tryon, Evelyn Brent, Paul Porcasi, Robert Ellis, Merna Kennedy and Thomas E. Jackson.[1]
This was Universal's first talking picture with Technicolor sequences. The film was released by the Criterion Collection on Blu-ray and DVD in 2012, with Paul Fejo's Lonesome.
Plot
Roy Lane and Billie Moore, entertainers at the Paradise Nightclub, are in love and are rehearsing an act together. Late to work one evening, Billie is saved from dismissal by Nick Verdis, the club proprietor, through the intervention of Steve Crandall, a bootlegger, who desires a liaison with the girl. "Scar" Edwards, robbed of a truckload of contraband liquor by Steve's gang, arrives at the club for a showdown with Steve and is shot in the back. Steve gives Billie a bracelet to forget that she has seen him helping a "drunk" from the club. Though Roy is arrested by Dan McCorn, he is later released on Billie's testimony. Nick is murdered by Steve. Billie witnesses the killing, but keeps quiet about the dirty business until she finds out Steve's next target is Roy. Billie is determined to tell her story to the police before Roy winds up dead, but Steve is not about to let that happen and kidnaps her. Steve, in his car, is fired at from a taxi, and overheard by Pearl, he confesses to killing Edwards. Pearl confronts Steve in Nick's office and kills him; and McCorn, finding Steve's body, insists that he committed suicide, exonerating Pearl and leaving Roy and Billie to the success of their act.
Cast
- Glenn Tryon as Roy Lane
- Evelyn Brent as Pearl
- Merna Kennedy as Billie Moore
- Thomas E. Jackson as Dan McCorn
- Robert Ellis as Steve Crandall
- Otis Harlan as 'Porky' Thompson
- Paul Porcasi as Nick Verdis
- Marion Lord as Lil Rice
- Fritz Feld as Mose Levett
- Leslie Fenton as 'Scar' Edwards
- Arthur Housman as Dolphin
- George Davis as Joe
- Betty Francisco as Mazie
- Edythe Flynn as Ruby
- Florence Dudley as Ann
Production
Director Fejos designed the camera crane specifically for use on this film, allowing unusually fluid movement and access to nearly every conceivable angle. It could travel at 600 ft (180 m) per minute. It enlivened the visual style of this film and others that followed.[citation needed]
Preservation status
Both the silent version and the talking version of Broadway are extant, but the surviving talking version is incomplete. The color sequence at the end survives in color and in sound but the sound survives separately from the picture. The surviving color footage is from the silent version and has been synchronized to the surviving disc audio.
Home media
In 2012, the sound version of Broadway was reconstructed by The Criterion Collection and included as an extra feature on the DVD and Blu-ray release of Paul Fejos' 1928 film, Lonesome.[2]
References
- ^ a b "Broadway". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ "Lonesome". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
External links
- 1929 films
- 1929 musical films
- 1920s color films
- American black-and-white films
- Films about theatre
- American films based on plays
- Films directed by Paul Fejos
- Films set in New York City
- Transitional sound films
- Universal Pictures films
- American musical films
- 1920s English-language films
- 1920s American films
- Films scored by Howard Jackson (composer)
- English-language musical films