My Man (1928 film)
My Man | |
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![]() Lobby card | |
Directed by | Archie Mayo |
Written by | Robert Lord (scenario) Joseph Jackson (dialogue & titles) James A. Starr (titles) |
Story by | Mark Canfield (Darryl F. Zanuck) |
Produced by | Edward Small[1] |
Starring | Fanny Brice |
Cinematography | Frank Kesson |
Edited by | Owen Marks |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | Sound (Part-Talkie) English intertitles |
Budget | $192,000[3] |
Box office | $1,218,000[3] |
My Man is a 1928 black and white sound part-talkie American comedy-drama musical film directed by Archie Mayo starring Fanny Brice and featuring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. In addition to sequences with audible dialogue or talking sequences, the film features a synchronized musical score and sound effects along with English intertitles. The soundtrack was recorded using the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system.
This film was Brice's feature film debut at the age of 37. She was a star in the Ziegfeld Follies before she started acting in motion pictures.[4] Warner Bros. had completely stopped making silent movies by 1928 and had switched exclusively to sound pictures by the end of the year, producing synchronized, part-talkies or full all-talking pictures. In 1929, Warner Bros. would lead the way in making sound movies in color.[4]
Plot
[edit]Fannie Brand (Fanny Brice), an industrious girl who supports her brother and sister by working in a theatrical costume house, falls in love with Joe Halsey (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), a young fellow who earns a precarious living demonstrating an elastic exerciser in a drugstore window. Fannie and Joe set a date to be married, but the wedding is called off when Fannie finds Joe making love[clarification needed] to her unprincipled sister, Edna (Edna Murphy). Fannie auditions for Landau (Andrés De Segurola), a theatrical producer, and goes on the Broadway stage. Fannie is a great success, and she and Joe soon find their way back into each other's arms.
Cast
[edit]- Fanny Brice as Fannie Brand (credited as Fannie Brice)
- Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Joe Halsey
- Edna Murphy as Edna Brand
- Andrés De Segurola as Landau
- Richard Tucker as Waldo
- Billy Seay as Sammy
- Arthur Hoyt as Thorne
- Ann Brody as Mrs. Schultz
- Clarissa Selwynne as Forelady
Reception
[edit]According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $1,099,000 in the U.S. and $119,000 elsewhere.[3]
Songs
[edit]- "I'd Rather Be Blue Over You" – Fred Fisher and Billy Rose
- "My Man" – music by Maurice Yvain, lyrics by Channing Pollock
- "Second Hand Rose" – music by James F. Hanley, lyrics by Grant Clarke
- "If You Want the Rainbow, You Must Have the Rain" – music by Oscar Levant, lyrics by Mort Dixon and Billy Rose
- "I'm an Indian" – music by Leo Edwards, lyrics by Blanche Merrill
- "I Was a Florodora Baby" – music by Harry Carroll, lyrics by Ballard MacDonald
All songs sung by Fanny Brice.
Premiere Vitaphone short subjects
[edit]My Man premiered at the Warners' Theatre in Manhattan on December 21, 1928.[4]
Title | Year |
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Val Harris and Ann Howe in "The Wild Westerner" | 1928 |
Irene Franklin, the American Comedienne, with Jerry Jarnagin (piano) | 1928 |
Ann Codee and Frank Orth in "Zwei and Furtzich" | 1928 |
Film preservation
[edit]An incomplete version of this film reportedly survives.[4] In addition to this incomplete copy, the full synchronized soundtrack survives on Vitaphone discs, as well as the soundtrack for the theatrical trailer.
See also
[edit]- List of lost films
- List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
- List of early Warner Bros. talking features
References
[edit]- ^ Staff (March 11, 1928), Actor Life Reads Like Alger Tale: Deno, Featured Dancer at Hillstreet, Italian Immigrant Years Ago" Los Angeles Times p. C28
- ^ My Man at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- ^ a b c Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 7 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- ^ a b c d Progressive Silent Film List: My Man at silentera.com
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- My Man at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- My Man at IMDb
- Synopsis at AllMovie
- New York Times feature
- My Man Soundtrack at Internet Archive
- My Man Soundtrack Trailer at SoundCloud
- 1928 films
- Films directed by Archie Mayo
- Transitional sound comedy-drama films
- Lost American comedy-drama films
- Lost American musical comedy films
- Lost American musical drama films
- Films produced by Edward Small
- American black-and-white films
- Warner Bros. films
- 1920s musical comedy-drama films
- American musical comedy-drama films
- 1928 lost films
- 1928 comedy films
- 1928 drama films
- 1920s American films
- 1920s English-language films
- Part-talkie films
- English-language musical comedy-drama films