(92 mins.) Released 1929-09-12
Director: James Cruze
Stars: Erich von Stroheim, Donald Douglas, Betty Compson, Marjorie Kane
Maurice L. Kusell ... dances arranged by, choreographer (uncredited)
originally posted 17 Oct 2017 18:02
Going back to the early days; decided to watch some public domain entries.
This is a surprisingly good musical, interwoven with the demented ventriloquist (Gabbo) story. The numbers are from the revue-style show in which Gabbo stars. Betty Compson and Donald Douglas are the romantic leads who also sing (and dance via body doubles, according to Richard Barrios' A Song in the Dark [book]; Barrios dismisses this as a musical).
I view the musical scenes as a completely separate collection of shorts with large numbers of dancers on a wide and deep stage, often filmed as a full proscenium. The precision of the chorus lines tells me lots of rehearsal went into the effort. The songs are forgettable, and all but the spider and fly number have no particular hook. But they look like they are recorded with live sound, not playback, so I feel treated to a "live" performance (between cuts) with scores of competent dancers.
The actual story of Gabbo is worth watching, although labored. Von Stroheim is mesmerizing, but the pacing can be slow. And the lack of underscore is deafening during the non-speaking, non-musical moments.
BTW, Marjorie Kane is one of many Helen Kane impersonators, according to this site:
The film's distributor, Sono Art-World Wide Pictures, was short-lived with 75 films from 1928-33, no production credits; they distributed 3 of Hitchcock's British films (Easy Virtue (1928), Manxman (1929) and Blackmail (1929)) in the US. The production company shared the same timeline, but with 16 films, none but this on my radar.
Update: the Kino release is not substantially better than the Millcreek/Treeline version. Also, a friend watched this and pointed out that the songs actually reflect the themes of the movie. Icky sticky lollipops and spider webs; I'm laughing(!).
Look at FAQ for this title: List: Ventriloquists who have disturbing relationships with their dummies. I think this is most similar to the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode with Claude Rains (#1.20; among the titles I remember seeing, which are few.)
James Cruze Productions, dir. Cruze; 7
