Glorifying the American Girl
Encyclopedia
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 (which was filmed in early Technicolor
) is basically a Follies production, with cameo appearance
s by Rudy Vallee
, Helen Morgan
and Eddie Cantor
.
The script for the film was written by J.P. McEvoy
and Millard Webb
and directed by John W. Harkrider and Millard Webb
. The songs were written by Irving Berlin
, Walter Donaldson
, Rudolf Friml
, James E. Hanley, Larry Spier and Dave Stamper
. The film is in the public domain, and many prints exhibited on television are in black-and-white only, and do not include pre-Code material, such as nudity.
The plot involves a young woman (Mary Eaton
) who wants to be in the Follies, but in the meantime is making ends meet by working at a department store
's sheet music
department, where she sings the latest hits. She is accompanied on piano
by her childhood boyfriend (Edward Crandall), who is in love with her, despite her single-minded interest in her career. When a vaudeville
performer (Dan Healy) asks her to join him as his new partner, she sees it as an opportunity to make her dream come true. Upon arriving in New York City, our heroine finds out that her new partner is only interested in sleeping with her and makes this a condition of making her a star. Soon, however, she is discovered by a representative of Ziegfeld.
The black-and-white prints currently shown on television, with a cut-down running time of 87 minutes, were made in the 1950s and have a number of sequences cut due to their Pre-Code content, i.e. nudity, etc. The film was restored, to the length of 96 minutes, with the original Technicolor
sequences, by the UCLA Film and Television Archive
.
, Billie Burke
, Charles B. Dillingham
, Texas Guinan
, Otto Kahn, Ring Lardner
and Mayor of New York City Jimmy Walker
as themselves. There is also an uncredited, non-speaking scene with Johnny Weissmuller
wearing nothing but a fig leaf. The greater part of the final half of the film is a revue given over to a re-creation of a Follies production, replete with musical solos by Rudy Vallee
and Helen Morgan
and a comedy sketch with Eddie Cantor
and Louis Sorin
as a pair of Jewish tailors.
1929 in film
-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
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...
produced by Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...
that highlights Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
performers. The last third of the film (which was filmed in early Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
) is basically a Follies production, with cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s by Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
, 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...
and Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
.
The script for the film was written by J.P. McEvoy
J.P. McEvoy
Joseph Patrick McEvoy , also sometimes credited as John P. McEvoy or Joseph P. McEvoy, was an American writer whose stories were published during the 1920s and 1930s in popular magazines such as Liberty, The Saturday Evening Post and Cosmopolitan...
and Millard Webb
Millard Webb
Millard Webb , was an American screenwriter and director. He directed 20 films between 1920 and 1933. His best known film is the 1926 silent John Barrymore adventure The Sea Beast costarring Dolores Costello...
and directed by John W. Harkrider and Millard Webb
Millard Webb
Millard Webb , was an American screenwriter and director. He directed 20 films between 1920 and 1933. His best known film is the 1926 silent John Barrymore adventure The Sea Beast costarring Dolores Costello...
. The songs were written by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
, Walter Donaldson
Walter Donaldson
Walter Donaldson was a prolific United States popular songwriter, composing many hit songs of the 1910s and 1920s.-History:...
, Rudolf Friml
Rudolf Friml
Rudolf Friml was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, Friml moved to the United States, where he became a composer...
, James E. Hanley, Larry Spier and Dave Stamper
Dave Stamper
Dave Stamper was an American songwriter of the Tin Pan Alley and vaudeville eras, a contributor to twenty-one editions of the Ziegfeld Follies, writer for the Fox Film Corporation, and composer of more than one thousand songs, in spite of never learning to read or write traditional music notation...
. The film is in the public domain, and many prints exhibited on television are in black-and-white only, and do not include pre-Code material, such as nudity.
Plot
Mary Eaton
Mary Eaton was a leading stage actress, singer, and dancer in the 1910s and 1920s. A professional performer since childhood, she enjoyed success in stage productions such as the Ziegfeld Follies and early sound films such as Glorifying the American Girl and The Cocoanuts, but found her career in...
) who wants to be in the Follies, but in the meantime is making ends meet by working at a department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
's sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
department, where she sings the latest hits. She is accompanied on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
by her childhood boyfriend (Edward Crandall), who is in love with her, despite her single-minded interest in her career. When a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performer (Dan Healy) asks her to join him as his new partner, she sees it as an opportunity to make her dream come true. Upon arriving in New York City, our heroine finds out that her new partner is only interested in sleeping with her and makes this a condition of making her a star. Soon, however, she is discovered by a representative of Ziegfeld.
Cast
- Mary EatonMary EatonMary Eaton was a leading stage actress, singer, and dancer in the 1910s and 1920s. A professional performer since childhood, she enjoyed success in stage productions such as the Ziegfeld Follies and early sound films such as Glorifying the American Girl and The Cocoanuts, but found her career in...
as Gloria Hughes - Dan Healy as Danny Miller
- Kaye Renard as Mooney, Danny's Partner
- Edward Crandall as Buddy Moore
- Gloria Shea as Barbara, Heimer's Dept. Store Clerk
- Sarah Edwards as Mrs. Hughs, Gloria's Mom
Cameo appearances
- Noah Beery
- Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
- Norman Brokenshire
- Billie BurkeBillie BurkeMary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
- Eddie CantorEddie CantorEddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
- Desha DelteilDesha DelteilDesha Delteil was an American dancer and artists' model.She was born in Yugoslavia and studied under Michel Fokine, eventually becoming first dancer in his company...
- Charles B. DillinghamCharles B. DillinghamCharles Bancroft Dillingham was a Broadway producer. He started his career as a theater reviewer for the New York Evening Post, then became a manager for such actors as Julia Marlowe....
- Texas GuinanTexas GuinanMary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan was an American saloon keeper, actress, and entrepreneur.-Early life:...
- Otto Kahn
- Nancy KellyNancy KellyNancy Kelly was an American actress, who was a movie leading lady in the 1930s, making 36 movies between 1926 and 1977, including portraying Tyrone Power's love interest in the classic Jesse James , which also featured Henry Fonda, and playing opposite Spencer Tracy in Stanley and Livingstone...
- Ring LardnerRing LardnerRinggold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
- Bull MontanaBull MontanaBull Montana , was a professional wrestler and American actor.Lewis Montagna came to the U.S. as a child. The hulking, plug-ugly Montagna became a professional wrestler under the name of Bull Montana...
- 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...
- Tony SansoneTony Sansone-Background:Anthony Joseph Sansone was born September 19, 1905 in New York City. His parents were both Sicilian immigrants: Ignazio Sansone and Paolina Giardina...
- Louis SorinLouis SorinLouis Sorin was an American actor.Louis Sorin was born and died in New York, New York. He appeared in 15 films between 1929 and 1961. He was also a prolific theatre actor, notably appearing on Broadway in more than 20 productions between 1923 and 1952Sorin is perhaps best known to modern...
- Rudy ValleeRudy ValléeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
- Jimmy WalkerJimmy WalkerJames John Walker, often known as Jimmy Walker and colloquially as Beau James , was the mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932...
- Johnny WeissmullerJohnny WeissmullerJohnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
- Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
- Adolph ZukorAdolph ZukorAdolph Zukor , born Adolph Cukor, was a film mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures.-Early life:...
- Lew Hearn
Production
- This Pre-CodePre-CodePre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously...
movie is notable for being the first talkie to use the word "damn." The word is used on at least one occasion by Sarah Edwards as well as twice in the skit involving Eddie Cantor, Louis Sorin and Lew Hearn. - The revue sequence contains virtual nudity and revealing costumes.
- Both Paramount and EMKAEMKA, Ltd.EMKA, Ltd. is an in-name-only division of Universal Studios' television unit whose sole function is overseeing Paramount Pictures' pre-1950 sound feature film library. EMKA was formed by MCA in 1957 .In the aftermath of the landmark 1948 United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc...
failed to renew the copyright and the film is now in the public domain. EMKA's successor, Universal StudiosUniversal StudiosUniversal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, continues to hold the original film elements; though technically the EMKA library is part of NBC Universal Television, successor to Universal Television and MCA Television (EMKA was a subsidiary of MCA).
Preservation
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
sequences, by the UCLA Film and Television Archive
UCLA Film and Television Archive
The UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...
.
Miscellany
The movie contains brief shots of Noah Beery, Irving BerlinIrving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
, Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
, Charles B. Dillingham
Charles B. Dillingham
Charles Bancroft Dillingham was a Broadway producer. He started his career as a theater reviewer for the New York Evening Post, then became a manager for such actors as Julia Marlowe....
, Texas Guinan
Texas Guinan
Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan was an American saloon keeper, actress, and entrepreneur.-Early life:...
, Otto Kahn, Ring Lardner
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
and Mayor of New York City Jimmy Walker
Jimmy Walker
James John Walker, often known as Jimmy Walker and colloquially as Beau James , was the mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932...
as themselves. There is also an uncredited, non-speaking scene with Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
wearing nothing but a fig leaf. The greater part of the final half of the film is a revue given over to a re-creation of a Follies production, replete with musical solos by Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
and 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...
and a comedy sketch with Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
and Louis Sorin
Louis Sorin
Louis Sorin was an American actor.Louis Sorin was born and died in New York, New York. He appeared in 15 films between 1929 and 1961. He was also a prolific theatre actor, notably appearing on Broadway in more than 20 productions between 1923 and 1952Sorin is perhaps best known to modern...
as a pair of Jewish tailors.