On With the Show
Brief Synopsis
An inexperienced newcomer steps in for a musical comedy's ailing star.
Cast & Crew
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Alan Crosland
Director
Betty Compson
Nita
Louise Fazenda
Sarah
Sally O'neil
Kitty
Joe E. Brown
Ike
Purnell B. Pratt
Sam Bloom
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Adaptation
Comedy
Release Date
Jul
13,
1929
Premiere Information
New York premiere: 28 May 1929
Production Company
Warner Brothers Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play On With the Show by Humphrey Pearson (publication undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 43m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Color (2-strip Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
9,592ft
(12 reels)
Synopsis
Jerry, the manager of a Broadway musical revue trying out in Milbank, New Jersey, is plagued by staggering expenses and the complaints of unpaid workers: Harold, the juvenile, insists that his mother needs money; Bert complains that he hasn't had a square meal in a week; and Nita, the star, becomes temperamental over a matter of $400 back salary. As Willie Durant, the show's backer, has ceased to be a guarantor of capital, Jerry is only able to carry on with the help of Dad, the elderly stage doorman, who gives him his life savings. After the show opens, Sam Bloom threatens to have his men remove the scenery unless he is paid in 5 minutes, but he is distracted by Sarah, the soubrette of the revue. During the second act, the backstage is roused by the news that the boxoffice has been robbed. Kitty, who is loved by Jimmy, succeeds in bringing Durant to terms, but her effort causes a break with her sweetheart. Meanwhile, when Nita refuses to go onstage without her money, Kitty goes on in her place and greatly pleases the audience, assuring the play a successful run. It is later discovered that Dad has taken the receipts, and when the financial problems are cleared to the satisfaction of all, Kitty finds that she still has a future with Jimmy.
Director
Alan Crosland
Director
Cast
Betty Compson
Nita
Louise Fazenda
Sarah
Sally O'neil
Kitty
Joe E. Brown
Ike
Purnell B. Pratt
Sam Bloom
William Bakewell
Jimmy
Fairbanks Twins
Twins
Wheeler Oakman
Durant
Sam Hardy
Jerry
Thomas Jefferson
Dad
Lee Moran
Pete
Harry Gribbon
Joe
Arthur Lake
Harold
Josephine Houston
Harold's fiancée
Henry Fink
Father
Otto Hoffman
Bert
Ethel Waters
Herself
Harmony Four Quartette
Themselves
Four Covans
Themselves
Angelus Babe
Herself
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Adaptation
Comedy
Release Date
Jul
13,
1929
Premiere Information
New York premiere: 28 May 1929
Production Company
Warner Brothers Pictures
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the play On With the Show by Humphrey Pearson (publication undetermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 43m
Sound
Vitaphone
Color
Color (2-strip Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.33 : 1
Film Length
9,592ft
(12 reels)
Articles
On With the Show
This Betty Compson drama about the squabbles and triumphs of a group of scrappy Broadway actors just before opening night is amusing enough, but what makes this movie most remarkable is that is was the first motion picture formatted the way Hollywood creates movies today -- full-length, in color, with synchronized sound. The color film used was Process 2, or "two-strip" Technicolor, which uses film shot through red and green filters to approximate the full spectrum color of the world. The limitations of the technology rendered skin tones a little too rosy and "blue" skies a little sickly, but surviving two-strip films like The Toll of the Sea (1922) still sparkle with bright crimsons and rich emerald greens. Sadly, save for a very brief sequence discovered in 2005, there are no surviving color prints of On with the Show. The only way to see this prophetic picture today is in black and white, but at least Compson's very modern and magnetic performance remains to welcome the future of film.
On With the Show
This Betty Compson drama about the squabbles and triumphs of a group of scrappy Broadway actors just before opening night is amusing enough, but what makes this movie most remarkable is that is was the first motion picture formatted the way Hollywood creates movies today -- full-length, in color, with synchronized sound. The color film used was Process 2, or "two-strip" Technicolor, which uses film shot through red and green filters to approximate the full spectrum color of the world. The limitations of the technology rendered skin tones a little too rosy and "blue" skies a little sickly, but surviving two-strip films like The Toll of the Sea (1922) still sparkle with bright crimsons and rich emerald greens. Sadly, save for a very brief sequence discovered in 2005, there are no surviving color prints of On with the Show. The only way to see this prophetic picture today is in black and white, but at least Compson's very modern and magnetic performance remains to welcome the future of film.
Quotes
Trivia
The first full-length motion picture produced entirely in color.
