Applause (film)
Encyclopedia
Applause is a 1929 black-and-white
backstage musical
film, shot during the early years of sound film
s. It is very notable as one of the few films of its time to break free from the restrictions of sound technology. Based on a novel by Beth Brown
, the film was staged and directed by Rouben Mamoulian
.
The film stars Helen Morgan
, Joan Peers and Fuller Mellish, Jr. Mae West
was originally considered for the part of Kitty Darling, but the studio decided Morgan's glamorous stage presence would undercut the tackier aspects of the storyline.
The National Board of Review named Applause one of the 10 best films of 1929.
In 2006, Applause was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
), a burlesque
star, who sends her young daughter to a convent
to get her away from the sleazy burlesque environment she is involved in.
Many years later, Kitty is not doing so well and her best days are behind her. She's now an alcoholic
who lives in the past. She lives with a burlesque comic
named Hitch (Fuller Mellish Jr.). Hitch cheats on her and only cares about spending what little money she has. When he finds out she has been paying for her daughter's convent education for over a decade, he pushes her into bringing April back home.
Her grown daughter April (Joan Peers) returns. Kitty is embarrassed by her condition and marries Hitch so that April will not be ashamed of her.
When April arrives, she is disgusted with her mother and her sad life. Hitch tries to force her into show business and repeatedly gropes her, at one point forcing a kiss on her.
April roams the city and meets a lonely young sailor named Tony (Henry Wadsworth). They fall in love and agree to marry and April will move to his home in Wisconsin
. When April goes to tell her mother about their plans she overhears Hitch belittling Kitty, calling her a "has-been."
April is upset and calls off her wedding. She decides to join the chorus line of a burlesque show. She says a reluctant goodbye to Tony at the subway. Meanwhile, Kitty takes poison. She goes downstairs to the show and collapses on a couch. Knowing Kitty cannot perform in the show, the producer berates her. April, over Kitty's objections, says she will take Kitty's place. She tells Kitty she will take care of her now, like Kitty always did for April. As April goes onstage, Kitty passes away, her head hanging over the edge of the couch.
April is disgusted at herself and cannot complete the show. As she runs off the stage, none other than Tony is there to greet her. He says he had a feeling she did not mean what she was saying. She hugs him close and says she wants to go far away. Not realizing Kitty is dead, she says they will need to take care of her mother too, and Tony agrees.
The final shot is a close-up of the Kitty Darling poster on the wall, behind Tony and April.
April's father does not die before her birth, instead serving a life sentence in Sing Sing
. Kitty and April visit him for a special musical performance staged by the prisoners.
Censors in Ohio
, British Columbia
, and Worcester, Massachusetts
banned the film outright. Many cuts were made for showings in cities such as Chicago, Illinois, Providence, Rhode Island
, and St. Louis, Missouri
.
Critic Mordaunt Hall, writing for the New York Times, liked the acting but was troubled by some of Rouben Mamoulian's direction. He said, "The opening chapters are none too interesting and subsequently one anticipates pretty much what's going to happen...however, Mr. Mamoulian commits the unpardonable sin of being far too extravagant. He becomes tedious in his scenes of the convent and there is nothing but viciousness in his stage passages."
The Library of Congress
says the following about the film:
A recent review by Manuel Cintra Ferreira highlights the innovative direction and influence on the productions to come:
". A combination of mixed reviews, misleading advertising (the publicity focused on glamour shots of Helen Morgan, not what she looked like in the film), downbeat subject matter, and the Stock Market Crash
caused the movie to taper off significantly as soon as it left the Criterion.
nearly remade the film with Marlene Dietrich
. Applause was rediscovered in the early 1960s, and there was talk of a stage musical with Judy Garland
as Kitty and Liza Minnelli
as April. The musical Applause
, based on the 1950 movie All About Eve
, opened on March 30, 1970 starring Lauren Bacall
.
The film was released on DVD in 2003 through Kino Video (under license from current rightsholders Universal Studios
). Special features included comments Rouben Mamoulian made for the 1986 50th anniversary of the Directors Guild of America
, censorship notes, a 1929 interview with Mamoulian, rare photos and promotional materials, 1933 newsreel footage of Helen Morgan and her second husband, a clip of Morgan singing What Wouldn't I Do For That Man? in the 1929 musical Glorifying the American Girl
, excerpts from the Beth Brown novel, and essays on Morgan and the film, written by Christopher S. Connelly.
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
backstage musical
Backstage musical
A backstage musical is a genre of musical film with a plot set in a theatrical context that revolves around the production of a play or revue. The film's narrative trajectory often comes to a halt to allow a performance...
film, shot during the early years of sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
s. It is very notable as one of the few films of its time to break free from the restrictions of sound technology. Based on a novel by Beth Brown
Beth Brown
Beth Brown is an artist and author living in Richmond, Virginia.-Personal life:Between the ages of three and five, she witnessed the deaths of her paternal grandmother, maternal grandfather, and her father to cancer...
, the film was staged and directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Rouben Mamoulian
Rouben Mamoulian was an Armenian-American film and theatre director.-Biography:Born in Tbilisi, Georgia to an Armenian family, Rouben relocated to England and started directing plays in London in 1922...
.
The film stars Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s...
, Joan Peers and Fuller Mellish, Jr. Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
was originally considered for the part of Kitty Darling, but the studio decided Morgan's glamorous stage presence would undercut the tackier aspects of the storyline.
The National Board of Review named Applause one of the 10 best films of 1929.
In 2006, Applause was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
The film tells of Kitty Darling (Helen MorganHelen Morgan
Helen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s...
), a burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
star, who sends her young daughter to a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
to get her away from the sleazy burlesque environment she is involved in.
Many years later, Kitty is not doing so well and her best days are behind her. She's now an alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
who lives in the past. She lives with a burlesque comic
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
named Hitch (Fuller Mellish Jr.). Hitch cheats on her and only cares about spending what little money she has. When he finds out she has been paying for her daughter's convent education for over a decade, he pushes her into bringing April back home.
Her grown daughter April (Joan Peers) returns. Kitty is embarrassed by her condition and marries Hitch so that April will not be ashamed of her.
When April arrives, she is disgusted with her mother and her sad life. Hitch tries to force her into show business and repeatedly gropes her, at one point forcing a kiss on her.
April roams the city and meets a lonely young sailor named Tony (Henry Wadsworth). They fall in love and agree to marry and April will move to his home in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. When April goes to tell her mother about their plans she overhears Hitch belittling Kitty, calling her a "has-been."
April is upset and calls off her wedding. She decides to join the chorus line of a burlesque show. She says a reluctant goodbye to Tony at the subway. Meanwhile, Kitty takes poison. She goes downstairs to the show and collapses on a couch. Knowing Kitty cannot perform in the show, the producer berates her. April, over Kitty's objections, says she will take Kitty's place. She tells Kitty she will take care of her now, like Kitty always did for April. As April goes onstage, Kitty passes away, her head hanging over the edge of the couch.
April is disgusted at herself and cannot complete the show. As she runs off the stage, none other than Tony is there to greet her. He says he had a feeling she did not mean what she was saying. She hugs him close and says she wants to go far away. Not realizing Kitty is dead, she says they will need to take care of her mother too, and Tony agrees.
The final shot is a close-up of the Kitty Darling poster on the wall, behind Tony and April.
Differences between book and film
In the book, April only has a short relationship with Tony. She eventually falls in love with a wealthy socialite, Ronny Delacourt, who is not as nice as the sailor.April's father does not die before her birth, instead serving a life sentence in Sing Sing
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...
. Kitty and April visit him for a special musical performance staged by the prisoners.
Censors
The censor boards approved of the message and production values of the film, but were concerned about a scene in which Kitty told April that two of the chorus girls in the show were Catholic, "as good Catholics as anybody even if they do shake for a living." The line was changed to "Christians". The poison bottle Kitty used near the end of the film was blurred in case any fans decided to emulate her suicide.Censors in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, and Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
banned the film outright. Many cuts were made for showings in cities such as Chicago, Illinois, Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
Critical reception
The film opened to mixed reviews from film critics.Critic Mordaunt Hall, writing for the New York Times, liked the acting but was troubled by some of Rouben Mamoulian's direction. He said, "The opening chapters are none too interesting and subsequently one anticipates pretty much what's going to happen...however, Mr. Mamoulian commits the unpardonable sin of being far too extravagant. He becomes tedious in his scenes of the convent and there is nothing but viciousness in his stage passages."
The Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
says the following about the film:
- Many have compared Mamoulian’s debut to that of Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
' Citizen KaneCitizen KaneCitizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
because of his flamboyant use of cinematic innovation to test technical boundaries. The tear-jerking plot boasts top performances from Morgan as the fading burlesqueBurlesqueBurlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
queen, Fuller Mellish Jr. as her slimy paramour and Joan Peers as her cultured daughter. However, the film is remembered today chiefly for Mamoulian's audacious style. While most films of the era were static and stage-bound, Mamoulian's camera reinvigorated the melodramatic plot by prowling relentlessly through sordid backstage life.
A recent review by Manuel Cintra Ferreira highlights the innovative direction and influence on the productions to come:
- It is well-known that the arrival of sound brought a revolution in film-making. But (...) the early times were marked by disorientation on how to master the new technique. The cinematographic idiom, having reached a splendorous high by those years, was made to regress almost to its early stages by the demands of the complicated sound machinery, still cameras restricted to the recording of long dialogue declamations in tedious closeups, such that some commentators did not anticipate a sustained future for the “talkies”. Mamoulian’s role in inverting the slippage was profound, eventually making sound and talk an essential element of the narrative in cinema. Applause, his first work in Hollywood, is from the outset an inescapable witness of this process of change, exploring voice off and sound overlay, which, at the time, technicians considered impossible. (...) Applause became (...) the true “first great sound picture in the world”.
Box office reception
The film opened strongly on October 7, 1929 at New York City's Criterion Theatre. The theatre was celebrating its 35th anniversary and also on hand was a short film in which Charles K. Harris sang his classic song "After the BallAfter the Ball (song)
After the Ball is a popular song written in 1891 by Charles K. Harris. The song is a classic waltz in 3/4 time. In the song, an older man tells his niece why he has never married. He saw his sweetheart kissing another man at a ball, and he refused to listen to her explanation...
". A combination of mixed reviews, misleading advertising (the publicity focused on glamour shots of Helen Morgan, not what she looked like in the film), downbeat subject matter, and the Stock Market Crash
Stock market crash
A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors...
caused the movie to taper off significantly as soon as it left the Criterion.
Revival
In 1939, Henry HathawayHenry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
nearly remade the film with Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
. Applause was rediscovered in the early 1960s, and there was talk of a stage musical with Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
as Kitty and Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
as April. The musical Applause
Applause (musical)
Applause is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Lauren Bacall won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical....
, based on the 1950 movie All About Eve
All About Eve
All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve", by Mary Orr.The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star...
, opened on March 30, 1970 starring Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
.
The film was released on DVD in 2003 through Kino Video (under license from current rightsholders Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
). Special features included comments Rouben Mamoulian made for the 1986 50th anniversary of the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
, censorship notes, a 1929 interview with Mamoulian, rare photos and promotional materials, 1933 newsreel footage of Helen Morgan and her second husband, a clip of Morgan singing What Wouldn't I Do For That Man? in the 1929 musical Glorifying the American Girl
Glorifying the American Girl
Glorifying the American Girl is a 1929 musical comedy film produced by Florenz Ziegfeld that highlights Ziegfeld Follies performers. The last third of the film is basically a Follies production, with cameo appearances by Rudy Vallee, Helen Morgan and Eddie Cantor.The script for the film was...
, excerpts from the Beth Brown novel, and essays on Morgan and the film, written by Christopher S. Connelly.
Cast
- Helen MorganHelen MorganHelen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s...
as Kitty Darling - Joan Peers as April Darling
- Fuller Mellish Jr. as Hitch Nelson
- Jack CameronJack CameronJohn Stanley "Happy Jack" Cameron is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He batted .180 with 4 RBIs in 18 games for the Boston Beaneaters in ....
as Joe King - Henry Wadsworth as Tony
- Roy Hargrave as Slim Lamont
