On with the Show! (1929)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Alan Crosland

Writers:

Robert Lord (writer)
Humphrey Pearson (play)

Release Date:

13 July 1929 (USA)

Genre:

Musical

Plot Keywords:

New Jersey | Two Strip Technicolor | Backstage | Based On Play

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 28

6:45 AM

TCM

Cast

Arthur Lake	...	Harold Astor
Betty Compson	...	Nita French
Joe E. Brown	...	Joe Beaton
Sally O'Neil	...	Kitty (as Sally O'Neill)
William Bakewell	...	Jimmy
Louise Fazenda	...	Sarah Fogarty
Sam Hardy	...	Jerry
Harry Gribbon	...	Joe
Lee Moran	...	Pete, the Stage Manager
Wheeler Oakman	...	Bob Wallace
Marion Fairbanks	...	Dorsey Twin (as The Fairbanks Twins)
Madeline Fairbanks	...	Dorsey Twin (as The Fairbanks Twins)
Purnell Pratt	...	Sam Bloom (as Purnell B. Pratt)
Thomas Jefferson	...	Dad
Ethel Waters	...	Ethel Walters
Otto Hoffman	...	Bert
Harry Fink	...	Father in Show (as Henry Fink)
Josephine Huston	...	Harold's Fiancee in Show
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Angelus Babe	...	Herself (uncredited)
Mildred Carroll	...	Singer (uncredited)
Anita Garvin	...	Chorine (uncredited)
John William Sublett	...	Dancer, Birmingham Bertha Number (uncredited)
Marguerite Warner	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Alan Crosland

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Lord		writer
Humphrey Pearson		play "Shoestring"

Produced by
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	producer

Original Music by
Cecil Copping		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio

Film Editing by
Jack Killifer

Sound Department
Harvey Cunningham	....	sound engineer

Music Department
Louis Silvers	....	musical director

Other crew
Larry Ceballos	....	choreographer
Lewis Geib	....	technician
F.N. Murphy	....	technician
Max Parker	....	technician
Victor Vance	....	technician

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as The Vitaphone Corporation)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1929) (USA) (theatrical)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Vitaphone

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Ethel Waters' first film.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Broadway: The American Musical" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Am I Blue?

Charming Transition Talkie Musical

OK, so it's the old story about what goes on backstage in the production of a Broadway musical----even to the cliché of the star getting sick and the understudy taking her place and becoming a big star. Many critics see this as the inspiration for 42nd STREET, but this film has the period charm that only the transitional talkie musicals could have. Part of it is quite stagebound-----including musical numbers as you probably would have seen them on the Broadway stage in the 1920's, so if you don't care for very early musicals, you'd better pass on this one.

This was the film that introduced the song "Am I Blue" sung by a very young Ethel Waters, and followed by the even better "Birmingham Bertha" with black dancer John Bubbles. You should be warned that there are black dancers in the cast who wear some outrageous politically incorrect costumes---including one number where their costumes have watermelon stripes on them! And seeing Joe E. Brown as a mean comedian who constantly argues with Arthur Lake (better known as Dagwood Bumstead in the BLONDIE Series) will be something of a revelation to his fans. The film was made in the early two-strip Technicolor process, which unfortunately has yet to be found, but is still quite enjoyable in B & W. Remember, although this is a very charming transitional talkie musical, modern audiences will only see it as a horribly dated antique.