Fine Manners
Encyclopedia
Fine Manners is a 1926
American
black-and-white
silent
comedy film
directed initially by Lewis Milestone
and completed by Richard Rosson
for Famous Players-Lasky
/Paramount Pictures
. After an argument with actress Gloria Swanson
, director Milestone walked off the project, causing the film to be completed by Rosson, who had picked up directorial tricks while working as an assistant director
to Allan Dwan
. The success of the film, being Rosson's first directorial effort since he co-directed Her Father's Keeper in 1917 with his brother Arthur Rosson
, won him a long-term contract with Famous Players-Lasky.
After Fine Manners, Gloria Swanson ended her association with Paramount. In 1926, she turned down a million-dollar-a-year contract with Paramount to join the (then) newly created United Artists
so as to have more control over her projects.
She did not return to Paramount until 24 years later, in 1950 for her role as Norma Desmond in the film Sunset Blvd.
chorus girl
Orchid Murphy (Gloria Swanson
) attracts the attention of wealthy Brian Alden (Eugene O'Brien), who is posing as a writer while "slumming" in the city. Finding her manner quite refreshing compared to the women he usually meets in his circle, he falls in love with her and confesses his wealth. After she agrees to marriage, he leaves for a six-month tour of South America, and Orchid takes a course in "fine manners" to better prepare herself for Brian's world. She becomes too polished, however, and when asked by Brian to marry him upon his return, is happy to become herself again.
wote that Fine Manners stands head and shoulders above anythng Gloria has done for the past year," and note that the story was written specifically for her. They wrote that the film "will prove to be the star's most popular vehicle."
Conversely, The New York Times
noted that Fine Maners was reminiscent of George Bernard Shaw
's play, Pygmalion
, writing "The photoplay has been constructed with meticulous attention to the edicts of the movie school of conventionalities; true characterization, intrigue and subtlety are conspicuously absent. Still, the idea of introducing a chorus girl from a burlesque show and having her try valiantly to grasp the ways of a less demonstrative society, does bring to mind Shaw's cockney heroine." They noted that writers underscore the differences between the societal ranks of the two protagonists by emphasizing Orchid's ignorance of social amenities and by her being assigned a common name. While granting that there are scenes in which the cinematography is clever, they made note that the story itself is not very absorbing.
, and January 1928 in Finland
.
in 1976, Disney
director Don Chaffey
remade the Australian
town of Chiltern
to make it into the bush town of Barambogie for the film. As the project was a period piece
set in 1927, designers used a local cinema that had closed in 1970 and created a period film theater called the Crystal Palace which advertised on its marquee Gloria Swanson in Fine Manners as its current attraction.
1926 in film
-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
black-and-white
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...
silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed initially by Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone was a Russian-American motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front , both of which received Academy Awards for Best Director...
and completed by Richard Rosson
Richard Rosson (filmmaker)
Richard Rosson was an American film director and actor. As an actor, he was known for the nearly 100 films he was in during the silent era...
for Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
/Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. After an argument with actress Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
, director Milestone walked off the project, causing the film to be completed by Rosson, who had picked up directorial tricks while working as an assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
to Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
. The success of the film, being Rosson's first directorial effort since he co-directed Her Father's Keeper in 1917 with his brother Arthur Rosson
Arthur Rosson
Arthur Rosson was an English film director. He directed 61 films between 1917 and 1948.He was born in London and died in Los Angeles, California. Rosson came from a film-making family. His brother, Harold Rosson, was an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer and several other family members were...
, won him a long-term contract with Famous Players-Lasky.
After Fine Manners, Gloria Swanson ended her association with Paramount. In 1926, she turned down a million-dollar-a-year contract with Paramount to join the (then) newly created United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
so as to have more control over her projects.
She did not return to Paramount until 24 years later, in 1950 for her role as Norma Desmond in the film Sunset Blvd.
Plot
BurlesqueBurlesque
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...
chorus girl
Chorus line
A chorus line is a substantial group of dancers who together perform synchronized routines, usually in musical theatre. Sometimes, singing is also performed. Chorus line dancers in Broadway musicals and revues have been referred to by slang terms such as ponies, gypsies and twirlies...
Orchid Murphy (Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
) attracts the attention of wealthy Brian Alden (Eugene O'Brien), who is posing as a writer while "slumming" in the city. Finding her manner quite refreshing compared to the women he usually meets in his circle, he falls in love with her and confesses his wealth. After she agrees to marriage, he leaves for a six-month tour of South America, and Orchid takes a course in "fine manners" to better prepare herself for Brian's world. She becomes too polished, however, and when asked by Brian to marry him upon his return, is happy to become herself again.
Cast
- Gloria SwansonGloria SwansonGloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...
as Orchid Murphy - Eugene O'Brien as Brian Alden
- Helen DunbarHelen DunbarHelen Dunbar was an American theatrical performer and silent film actress.-Career:Born Katheryn Burke Lackey in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she first appeared with the Weber & Fields Stock Company, when it began its career on the New York stage...
as Aunt Agatha - Roland DrewRoland DrewRoland Drew or Walter Goss was an American actor, primarily worked in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. He would later retire from acting and became a dressmaker.Drew was born in Elmhurst, New York and died Santa Monica, California....
as Buddy Murphy - John Miltern as Courtney Adams
- Jack La RueJack La RueJack La Rue was an American film and stage actor.Born as Gaspere Biondolillo, he worked on the New York stage from 1923 to 1931. He moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in numerous films...
as New Year's Eve Celebrant - Ivan LebedeffIvan LebedeffIvan Lebedeff was a Russian film actor. He appeared in 66 films between 1926 and 1953.He was born in Ushpol , Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, on June 18, 1894, and died in Los Angeles, California, from a heart attack.He migrated to the United States in 1925 and in 1930 was recorded at...
as Prince
Critical reception
Berkeley Daily Gazette wrote that in her first time in the role of a burlesque chorus girl, Gloria Swanson is "better than ever" and has added "added another interesting screen portrayal to her long list of successes." Miami News called the film "a most laughable comedy" and reported "Critics say this is Gloria's triumph". St. Petersburg TimesSt. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
wote that Fine Manners stands head and shoulders above anythng Gloria has done for the past year," and note that the story was written specifically for her. They wrote that the film "will prove to be the star's most popular vehicle."
Conversely, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
noted that Fine Maners was reminiscent of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
's play, Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, writing "The photoplay has been constructed with meticulous attention to the edicts of the movie school of conventionalities; true characterization, intrigue and subtlety are conspicuously absent. Still, the idea of introducing a chorus girl from a burlesque show and having her try valiantly to grasp the ways of a less demonstrative society, does bring to mind Shaw's cockney heroine." They noted that writers underscore the differences between the societal ranks of the two protagonists by emphasizing Orchid's ignorance of social amenities and by her being assigned a common name. While granting that there are scenes in which the cinematography is clever, they made note that the story itself is not very absorbing.
Release
Fine Manners was released August 1926 in the United States, November 1927 in PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, and January 1928 in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
In other films
When preparing for the filming of Ride a Wild PonyRide a Wild Pony
Ride a Wild Pony, also known as Born to Run, is a 1975 Walt Disney Productions film directed by Don Chaffey adapted from the James Aldridge novel A Sporting Proposition.-Plot:...
in 1976, Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
director Don Chaffey
Don Chaffey
Donald Chaffey was a British film director, writer, producer, and art director.Chaffey's film career began as an art director in 1947, and his directorial debut was in 1953. He remained active in the industry until his death in 1990 from heart failure...
remade the Australian
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
town of Chiltern
Chiltern, Victoria
Chiltern is a town in Victoria, Australia, located in the north east of the state between Wangaratta and Wodonga, in the Shire of Indigo. At the 2006 census, Chiltern had a population of 1063. The town is close to the Chiltern-Mount Pilot National Park...
to make it into the bush town of Barambogie for the film. As the project was a period piece
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
set in 1927, designers used a local cinema that had closed in 1970 and created a period film theater called the Crystal Palace which advertised on its marquee Gloria Swanson in Fine Manners as its current attraction.
External links
- Fine Manners at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Fine Manners at RoviRoviIvor Parry was a Welsh magician. He was a Gold Star Medalist of the Inner Magic Circle, and was called 'a British legend' by Opus Magazine. Parry was born in Caernarfon.-References:...