Going Wild

Going Wild (1930)
Directed by	William A. Seiter
Written by	Henry McCarty, Humphrey Pearson based on the play by James Montgomery
Starring	Joe E. Brown Lawrence Gray Ona Munson Walter Pidgeon Laura Lee Frank McHugh May Boley Johnny Arthur
Cinematography	Sol Polito
Edited by	Peter Fritch
Music by	Erno Rapee David Mendoza
Distributed by	First National Pictures: A Subsidiary of Warner Bros.
Release dates	December 21, 1930
Running time	68 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Going Wild is musical comedy film released in 1930 by Warner Bros.. It starred a cast of musical stars in addition to to three comic stars, Joe E. Brown, Frank McHugh and Johnny Arthur.

Production

File:GoingWild2.jpg

Lawrence Gray and Ona Munson setting up the cue for a love song that never comes.

The film was completed as a full musical. Due to the backlash against musicals, however, the Warner Bros. were forced to make many cuts to the film for release in the United States and all of the original music was cut except for one song. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

Plot

Rollo and Lane just happen to be tossed off the train at White Beach where Robert Story -Air ace and writer- is supposed to stop. It is a case of mistaken identity as no one knows what Story looks like. So they get free room and meals at the Palm Inn and everything is going well until they want Story to fly in the race on Saturday. Rollo has never even be up in a plane, never mind fly one, so he must figure a way out. But the girls have everything bet on his winning the race.

Music

• "My Hero" (Sung by Joe E. Brown and Laura Lee)

Preservation

• The film survives only in the cut version which was released in late 1930 by Warner Brothers. Due to the backlash against musicals, the Warner Bros. were forced to cut most of the musical sequences before releasing the film.

• The film was released as a full musical outside of the United States, where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a print of this longer version still exists.

Trivia

• Lawrence Gray, Ona Munson, Walter Pidgeon, Laura Lee and May Boley were all musical stars, who were given contracts by Warner Bros. for their musical talents. Many reviewers noted how strange it was for all this musical talent to be in this picture and yet only one song (sung by Joe E. Brown and Laura Lee) is sung. Reviewers noted how the press sheet for the film did not even mention this song.
• Due to the backlash against musicals, all of the musical talent mentioned above were released from their contracts by Warner Bros. in 1931.

Pre-Code Sequences

• Johnny Arthur plays a gay character.
• When Lawrence Gray tells Joe E. Brown about his new girlfriend, Brown declares "I love you too. I'm mad about you. Kiss me" while he puckers up for Gray.
• Although the hotel is full, an attractive woman asks the hotel manager (Frank McHugh) that she desperately needs a room and he tells the front boy to set up a cot in his office and winks at her.