A growing source of silent era film information. This listing is from The Progressive Silent Film List by Carl Bennett. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

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	Norma Shearer and John Gilbert. Frame enlargement: Silent Era image collection.

Cast: Conrad Nagel [himself, the interlocutor], Jack Benny [himself, master of ceremonies], Renée Adorée, Nils Asther, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Marion Davies, Marie Dressler, Ukelele Ike (Cliff Edwards), Gus Edwards, John Gilbert, William Haines, Oliver Hardy, Buster Keaton, Charles King, Stan Laurel, Gwen Lee, Bessie Love, Polly Moran, Anita Page, Norma Shearer, Dane and Arthur (Karl Dane and George K. Arthur), the Brox Sisters, the Albertina Rasch Ballet, Natacha Natova and Company, the Rounders; Beth Laemmele, Ernest Belcher’s Dancing Tots, the Biltmore Hotel Orchestra

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corporation production; distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation [A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture]. / Produced by Harry Rapf. Dialogue by Al Boasberg and Robert Hopkins (Robert E. Hopkins). Skits by Joe Farnham. Settings (art direction) by Cedric Gibbons and Richard Day. Costume design by David Cox and Erté. Music and lyrics by Gus Edwards and Joe Goodwin. Interpolations by Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed, Dave Snell, Jessie Greer, Ray Klages, Martin Broones, Fred Fisher and Andy Rice + [Louis Alter, Jo Trent and Ballard MacDonald]. Orchestra and musical arrangment under personal supervision of Arthur Lange. Dances and ensemble (choreography) by Sammy Lee, assisted by George Cunningham. Photography (cinematography) by John Arnold, Irving G. Ries and Maximilian Fabian + [John M. Nickolaus]. Sound recording engineer, Douglas Shearer. Sound technician, Russell Franks. Film editor, William Gray (William S. Gray) + [Cameron K. Wood]. Presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. / © 23 September 1929 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corporation [LP800]. Premiered 15 June 1929 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Limited release in Los Angeles in June 1929 and in New York in August 1929. General release, 23 November 1929. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. Technicolor two-strip color process sequences. Western electric synchronized sound system. / Reshot German language version entitled Wir Schalten um auf Hollywood (1929). / Full-sound film.

All-star revue.

Synopsis: Hosted by Nagel and Benny; Gilbert and Shearer play Romeo and Juliet; Dressler sings with Moran; Nagel sings; Keaton dances; Davies sings and dances; Cliff Edwards sings; Laemmele dances; Laurel and Hardy comedy routine; King sings; Cliff Edwards, King and Gus Edwards sing; Dressler, Moran and Love sing together; Crawford sings and dances.

Survival status: Print exists [16mm reduction positive].

Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].

Keywords: Color cinematography - Synchronized sound film

Listing updated: 22 September 2024.

References: Film credits, film viewing : Bardèche-History p. 318; Basten-Technicolor p. 170; Bohn-Light p. 184; Dardis-Keaton pp. 176, 294; Kerr-Silent p. 336; Limbacher-Feature p. 111; Quirk-Crawford pp. 16, 70, 115; Shipman-Cinema pp. 104-105; Skretvedt-Magic pp. 168-170, 171; Taylor-Hitchcock p. 103; Vermilye-Twenties p. 225; Weaver-Twenty pp. 28, 143 : ClasIm-221 p. 16.

Home video: DVD.