Broadway Babies: Difference between revisions

Broadway Babies
Broadway Babies
	Official poster
Directed by	Mervyn LeRoy
Screenplay by	Monte M. Katterjohn; Humphrey Pearson;
Based on	"Broadway Musketeers"; by Jay Gelzer
Produced by	Robert North
Starring	Alice White
Cinematography	Sol Polito
Edited by	Frank Ware
Music by	Leo F. Forbstein
Production; company	First National Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release dates	June 30, 1929 (sound); July 28, 1929 (silent);
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

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Broadway Babies, aka Broadway Daddies (UK) and Ragazze d'America (Italy), is a 1929 all-talking Pre-Code black and white American musical film produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. The film was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starred Alice White and Charles Delaney. This was White's first sound film with dialogue. As a copyright renewed work from 1929, the film will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025.^[a]

Plot

Chorus girl Delight "Dee" Foster (Alice White) is in love with stage manager Billy Buvanny (Charles Delaney) and he also loves her. They plan to marry until bootlegger Perc Gessant (Fred Kohler) steps in. Dee is led to believe that Billy is in love with another girl, so she agrees to play around with Gessant when he becomes interested in her. When Gessant proposes marriage, Dee accepts. As they are about to be married, rival gangsters shoot Gessant and he ends up dying. Dee is reconciled with Billy and they become engaged.

Cast

Alice White as Delight "Dee" Foster
Marion Byron as Florine Chanler
Sally Eilers as Navarre King
Charles Delaney as Billy Buvanny
Tom Dugan as Scotty
Bodil Rosing as Sarah Durgan
Maurice Black as Nick Stepanos
Fred Kohler as Perc Gessant
Louis Natheaux as August 'Gus' Brand
Lew Harvey as Joe, one of the poker players (uncredited)
Aggie Herring as Landlady (uncredited)
Al Hill as One of Perc's henchmen (uncredited)
Armand Kaliz as Tony Ginetti, the nightclub manager (uncredited)

Production

Broadway Babies was one of the many movie musicals with a Broadway setting that were made at the dawn of the "talkie" era. Such films were called "backstagers", a vogue that evolved during the emergence of sound pictures and from the success of The Jazz Singer (1927) and The Singing Fool (1928), both also Warner Bros.' films.^[2] Broadway Babies was also one of a number of similar vehicles created for Alice White; it was White's first all-sound as well as her most successful picture.^[3] The film was adapted from "Broadway Musketeers", a story by Jay Gelzer.^[4]

Songs

Three songs were written for White to perform in Broadway Babies: "Wishing and Waiting for Love" with lyrics by Grant Clarke and music by Harry Akst; "Jig, Jig, Jigaloo", lyrics by Al Bryan, music by George W. Meyer; and "Broadway Baby Dolls", also by Bryan and Meyer.^[5] Incidental music included "Give My Regards to Broadway" (George M. Cohan), "Vesti La Giubba" (Ruggero Leoncavallo), and "Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)" (Richard Wagner).

Preservation

As was common in the era, a silent version was also prepared for theatres not yet equipped for talkies. Only the sound version survives, as a 16mm reduction positive in the Library of Congress collection, although it has been preserved and is shown occasionally on Turner Classic Movies. The film's trailer also survives incomplete.^[6]^[7]^[8] The film was released on DVD by Warner Archive in 2017.

References

^ "Broadway Babies". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
^ Furia, Philip; Patterson, Laurie (2010). The Songs of Hollywood. Oxford University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-19-979266-5.
^ Barrios, Richard (1995). A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film. Oxford University Press. pp. 191, 207–211. ISBN 978-0-19-508811-3.
^ "Trianon now Sound Theatre; opens with 'Broadway Babies'". The Birmingham News. September 15, 1929. p. 63. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
^ Bradley, Edwin M. (2004). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932. McFarland. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-7864-2029-2.
^ Bennett, Carl (ed.). "Broadway Babies". Progressive Silent Film List. Retrieved September 12, 2015 – via SilentEra.com.
^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress p.22 c.1978 by The American Film Institute
^ Broadway Babies - Trailer - 1929 - Alice White

^ Under R182904

External links

Broadway Babies at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Broadway Babies at IMDb
Broadway Babies at the TCM Movie Database
‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› Broadway Babies at AllMovie
Broadway Babies at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}

[AFI-1] "Broadway Babies". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved September 11, 2015.

[Furia-3] Furia, Philip; Patterson, Laurie (2010). The Songs of Hollywood. Oxford University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-19-979266-5.

[Barrios-4] Barrios, Richard (1995). A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film. Oxford University Press. pp. 191, 207–211. ISBN 978-0-19-508811-3.

[5] "Trianon now Sound Theatre; opens with 'Broadway Babies'". The Birmingham News. September 15, 1929. p. 63. Retrieved September 15, 2020.

[Bradley-6] Bradley, Edwin M. (2004). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932. McFarland. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-7864-2029-2.

[silentera-7] Bennett, Carl (ed.). "Broadway Babies". Progressive Silent Film List. Retrieved September 12, 2015 – via SilentEra.com.

[8] Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress p.22 c.1978 by The American Film Institute

[9] Broadway Babies - Trailer - 1929 - Alice White

[2] Under R182904

[1]

[a]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|1929 film}}
-{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2015}}
+{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
 {{Infobox film
-| name = Broadway Babies
+| name           = Broadway Babies
-| image = 1929_-_Broadway_Babies_poster.jpg
+| image          = 1929_-_Broadway_Babies_poster.jpg
-| caption = Official poster
+| caption        = Official poster
-| director = [[Mervyn LeRoy]]
+| director       = [[Mervyn LeRoy]]
-| producer = [[Robert North]]
+| producer       = [[Robert North (producer)|Robert North]]
+| story          =
-| based on = {{based on|"Broadway Musketeers"|Jay Gelzer}}
+| based_on       = {{Based on|"Broadway Musketeers"|[[Jay Gelzer]]}}
-| screenplay = {{plainlist|*[[Monte M. Katterjohn]]
+| writer         =
+| screenplay     = {{plainlist|*[[Monte M. Katterjohn]]
 *[[Humphrey Pearson]]}}
-| starring = [[Alice White]]
+| starring       = [[Alice White]]
+| narrator       =
-| music = [[Leo F. Forbstein]]
+| music          = [[Leo F. Forbstein]]
-| editing = [rank Ware
+| editing        = Frank Ware
 | cinematography = [[Sol Polito]]
-| studio = [[First National Pictures]]
+| studio         = [[First National Pictures]]
-| distributor = [[Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.]]
+| distributor    = [[Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.]]
-| released = {{Film date|1929|06|30|''sound''|1929|07|28|''silent''}}
+| released       = {{Film date|1929|06|30|''sound''|1929|07|28|''silent''}}
-| runtime = 89 minutes<ref name=AFI/>
+| runtime        = 86 minutes<ref name=AFI/>
-| country = United States
+| country        = United States
-| language = English
+| language       = English
-| budget =
+| budget         =
-| gross =
+| gross          =
 }}
+[[File:"Broadway Babies" ad in The Film Daily, Jan-Jun 1929 (page 1330 crop).jpg|thumb|349x349px|"Broadway Babies" ad in [[The Film Daily]], 1929]]
-'''''Broadway Babies''''', aka ''Broadway Daddies'' (UK) and ''Ragazze d'America'' (Italy), is a 1929 [[talkie|all-talking]] [[Pre-Code Hollywood|pre-code]] black and white American musical film produced and distributed by [[First National Pictures]], a subsidiary of [[Warner Brothers]]. The film was directed by [[Mervyn LeRoy]] and starred [[Alice White]] and [[Charles Delaney]].  This was White's first sound film with dialogue.
+'''''Broadway Babies''''', aka ''Broadway Daddies'' (UK) and ''Ragazze d'America'' (Italy), is a 1929 [[talkie|all-talking]] [[Pre-Code Hollywood|Pre-Code]] black and white American musical film produced and distributed by [[First National Pictures]], a subsidiary of [[Warner Brothers]]. The film was directed by [[Mervyn LeRoy]] and starred [[Alice White]] and [[Charles Delaney]].  This was White's first sound film with dialogue. As a copyright renewed work from 1929, the film will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025.{{Efn|1=Under [https://archive.org/details/catalogofcopyrig3101213li/page/114/mode/1up?q=broadway R182904]}}
 ==Plot==
@@ Line 33: / Line 37: @@
 * [[Sally Eilers]] as Navarre King
 * [[Charles Delaney]] as Billy Buvanny
-* [[Tom Dugan]] as Scotty
+* [[Tom Dugan (actor, born 1889)|Tom Dugan]] as Scotty
 * [[Bodil Rosing]] as Sarah Durgan
 * [[Maurice Black]] as Nick Stepanos
 * [[Fred Kohler]] as Perc Gessant
 * [[Louis Natheaux]] as August 'Gus' Brand
-* [ocelyn Lee as Blossom Royal
 * [[Lew Harvey]] as Joe, one of the poker players ''(uncredited)''
 * [[Aggie Herring]] as Landlady ''(uncredited)''
@@ Line 45: / Line 48: @@
 ==Production==
-''Broadway Babies'' was one of the many movie musicals with a Broadway setting that were made at the dawn of the "[[talkie]]" era.  Such films were called "backstagers", a vogue that evolved during the emergence of sound pictures and from the success of ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' (1927) and ''[[The Singing Fool]]'' (1928), both also Warner Bros.' films.<ref name=Furia/>  ''Broadway Babies'' was also one of a number of similar vehicles created for Alice White; it was White's first all-sound as well as her most successful picture.<ref name=Barrios/>
+''Broadway Babies'' was one of the many movie musicals with a Broadway setting that were made at the dawn of the "[[talkie]]" era.  Such films were called "backstagers", a vogue that evolved during the emergence of sound pictures and from the success of ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' (1927) and ''[[The Singing Fool]]'' (1928), both also Warner Bros.' films.<ref name=Furia/>  ''Broadway Babies'' was also one of a number of similar vehicles created for Alice White; it was White's first all-sound as well as her most successful picture.<ref name=Barrios/> The film was adapted from "Broadway Musketeers", a story by [[Jay Gelzer]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 15, 1929|title=Trianon now Sound Theatre; opens with 'Broadway Babies'|pages=63|work=The Birmingham News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59323040/trianon-now-sound-theatre-opens-with/|access-date=September 15, 2020}}</ref>
 ===Songs===
@@ Line 51: / Line 54: @@
 ==Preservation==
-''Broadway Babies'' survives as a 16mm reduction positive in the Library of Congress collection. The film's trailer also survives incomplete.<ref name=silentera/><ref>''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' p.22  c.1978 by The American Film Institute</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgVW-RXksoc  Broadway Babies - Trailer - 1929 - Alice White]</ref>
+As was common in the era, a silent version was also prepared for theatres not yet equipped for talkies. Only the sound version survives, as a 16mm reduction positive in the Library of Congress collection, although it has been preserved and is shown occasionally on [[Turner Classic Movies]]. The film's trailer also survives incomplete.<ref name=silentera/><ref>''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' p.22  c.1978 by The American Film Institute</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgVW-RXksoc  Broadway Babies - Trailer - 1929 - Alice White]</ref> The film was released on DVD by Warner Archive in 2017.
+==See also==
+* [[List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)]]
 ==References==
 {{reflist|refs=
-<ref name=AFI>{{cite web |title=Broadway Babies |work=Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=3050 |accessdate=2015-09-11}}</ref>
+<ref name=AFI>{{cite web |title=Broadway Babies |work=Catalog of Feature Films |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=3050 |accessdate=September 11, 2015}}</ref>
-<ref name=Furia>{{cite book |last1=Furia |first1=Philip |authorlink1=Philip Furia |last2=Patterson |first2=Laurie |title=The Songs of Hollywood |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NVcYC2cHk4C&pg=PA36 |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-979266-5 |page=36}}</ref>
+<ref name=Furia>{{cite book |last1=Furia |first1=Philip |authorlink1=Philip Furia |last2=Patterson |first2=Laurie |title=The Songs of Hollywood |url=https://archive.org/details/songsofhollywood0000furi |url-access=registration |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-979266-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/songsofhollywood0000furi/page/36 36]}}</ref>
 <ref name=Bradley>{{cite book |last=Bradley |first=Edwin M. |title=The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rg-UBJaPD-sC&pg=PA47 |year=2004 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-2029-2 |pages=47–48}}</ref>
-<ref name=Barrios>{{cite book |last=Barrios |first=Richard |title=A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_C3AmDL314C&pg=PA191 |year=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-508811-3 |pages=191; 207–211}}</ref>
+<ref name=Barrios>{{cite book |last=Barrios |first=Richard |title=A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film |url=https://archive.org/details/songindarkbirtho00barr |url-access=registration |year=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-508811-3 |pages=191; 207–211}}</ref>
-<ref name=silentera>{{cite web |editor-last=Bennett |editor-first=Carl |title=Broadway Babies |work=Progressive Silent Film List |via=SilentEra.com |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BroadwayBabies1929.html |accessdate=2015-09-12}}</ref>
+<ref name=silentera>{{cite web |editor-last=Bennett |editor-first=Carl |title=Broadway Babies |work=Progressive Silent Film List |via=SilentEra.com |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BroadwayBabies1929.html |accessdate=September 12, 2015}}</ref>
 }}
+{{notelist}}
 ==External links==
-{{commons category|Broadway Babies}}
+{{Commons category|Broadway Babies}}
-*{{AFI film|3050}}
+*{{AFI film}}
-*{{IMDb title|0019726}}
+*{{IMDb title}}
-*{{TCMdb title|1536}}
+*{{TCMDb title}}
-*{{Allmovie title|86033}}
+*{{AllMovie title}}
+*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180909112433/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a67881a ''Broadway Babies''] at the [[British Film Institute]]{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
-*''[http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/27782 Broadway Babies]'' at the [[British Film Institute|BFI]]
+{{Authority control}}
+{{Mervyn LeRoy}}
 [[Category:1929 films]]
-[[Category:Films made before the MPAA Production Code]]
+[[Category:1929 musical films]]
-[[Category:English-language films]]
+[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
-[[Category:American films]]
+[[Category:American musical films]]
+[[Category:1920s English-language films]]
+[[Category:Films about entertainers]]
+[[Category:Films based on short fiction]]
+[[Category:Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy]]
+[[Category:Films produced by Robert North]]
+[[Category:Films set in New York City]]
 [[Category:First National Pictures films]]
 [[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
-[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
+[[Category:1920s American films]]
+[[Category:English-language musical films]]

v t e Films directed by Mervyn LeRoy
1920s	No Place to Go (1927) Flying Romeos (1928) Harold Teen (1928) Oh, Kay! (1928) Naughty Baby (1928) Hot Stuff (1929) Broadway Babies (1929) Little Johnny Jones (1929)
1930s	Playing Around (1930) Showgirl in Hollywood (1930) Numbered Men (1930) Top Speed (1930) Little Caesar (1931) Gentleman's Fate (1931) Too Young to Marry (1931) Broadminded (1931) Five Star Final (1931) Local Boy Makes Good (1931) Tonight or Never (1931) Big City Blues (1932) Two Seconds (1932) Three on a Match (1932) The Heart of New York (1932) I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) High Pressure (1932) Elmer, the Great (1933) Hard to Handle (1933) Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) Tugboat Annie (1933) The World Changes (1933) Heat Lightning (1934) Hi Nellie! (1934) Sweet Adeline (1934) Happiness Ahead (1934) Page Miss Glory (1935) I Found Stella Parish (1935) Oil for the Lamps of China (1935) Anthony Adverse (1936) Three Men on a Horse (1936) The King and the Chorus Girl (1937) They Won't Forget (1937, uncredited) Fools for Scandal (1938) The Wizard of Oz (1939, uncredited)
1940s	Waterloo Bridge (1940) Escape (1940) Blossoms in the Dust (1941) Unholy Partners (1941) Johnny Eager (1941) Random Harvest (1942) Madame Curie (1943) Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) The House I Live In (1945) Without Reservations (1946) Desire Me (1947) Homecoming (1948) Any Number Can Play (1949) East Side, West Side (1949) Little Women (1949)
1950s	Quo Vadis (1951) Lovely to Look At (1952) Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) Latin Lovers (1953) Rose Marie (1954) Mister Roberts (1955) Strange Lady in Town (1955) The Bad Seed (1956) Toward the Unknown (1956) No Time for Sergeants (1958) Home Before Dark (1958) The FBI Story (1959)
1960s	Wake Me When It's Over (1960) A Majority of One (1961) The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) Gypsy (1962) Mary, Mary (1963) Moment to Moment (1966) The Green Berets (1968)