Oh Sailor Behave
Encyclopedia
Oh Sailor Behave is a musical comedy produced and released by Warner Brothers, and based on the play See Naples and Die, written by Elmer Rice
. The film was originally intended to be entirely in Technicolor
and was advertised as such in movie trade journals. Due to the backlash against musicals, it was apparently released in black-and-white only.
), whom she does not love. After being rebuked by Nanette, the prince hires a Romanian general (Noah Beery) to kidnap her. Charlie, thinking she has eloped, consoles himself with a local siren named Kunegundi (Vivien Oakland
) until he realizes that she has been kidnapped and sets out to rescue her.
Ole Olsen
and Chic Johnson
provide comic relief that is completely unrelated to the main story. They play the part of two American sailors stationed in Naples who find a wooden-legged thief who has robbed the navy storehouse in Venice.
, and is in the Turner Classic Movies
film library. The complete soundtrack also survives on Vitaphone
disks.
Elmer Rice
Elmer Rice was an American playwright. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his 1929 play, Street Scene.-Early years:...
. The film was originally intended to be entirely in 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...
and was advertised as such in movie trade journals. Due to the backlash against musicals, it was apparently released in black-and-white only.
Plot
An American newspaper reporter named Charlie Carroll (Charles King) falls for a young heiress named Nanette Dodge (Irene Delroy), who is engaged to be married to a Prince Kasloff (Lowell ShermanLowell Sherman
Lowell Sherman was an American actor and film director....
), whom she does not love. After being rebuked by Nanette, the prince hires a Romanian general (Noah Beery) to kidnap her. Charlie, thinking she has eloped, consoles himself with a local siren named Kunegundi (Vivien Oakland
Vivien Oakland
Vivien Oakland , was an American actress best known for her work in comedies in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably with the Hal Roach Studios...
) until he realizes that she has been kidnapped and sets out to rescue her.
Ole Olsen
Ole Olsen (comedian)
John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen was an American vaudevillian and comedian.Born in Peru, Indiana, he graduated from Northwestern University in 1912 with a degree in music and hit the Vaudeville circuit...
and Chic Johnson
Chic Johnson
Chic Johnson was the barrel-chested half of the Swedish-American comedy team of Olsen and Johnson, known for his strangely infectious, high-pitched laugh.-Background:...
provide comic relief that is completely unrelated to the main story. They play the part of two American sailors stationed in Naples who find a wooden-legged thief who has robbed the navy storehouse in Venice.
Music
- "When Love Comes In The Moonlight"
- "Leave A Little Smile"
- "Highway to Heaven"
- "The Laughing Song"
- "Tell Us Which One Do You Love"
Production background
- Charles King recorded three songs for the film for Brunswick RecordsBrunswick RecordsBrunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
: Brunswick 4840 (Highway to Heaven/When Love Comes in the Moonlight); Brunswick 4849 (Leave A Little Smile). The other side of Brunswick 4849 featured a song from the aborted MGMMetro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
revue The March of Time (1930). - This was to be Charles King's last musical movie. He went back to the Broadway stage, since movie audiences had grown tired of musicals, and never returned to the screen.
- Due to the public apathy towards musicals, Warner Bros. did not debut this film in the usual prestigious movie theaters. The film was immediately placed in general release with no fan-fare.
- Comedians Olsen and Johnson were added to the film because of the growing public apathy towards serious stage actors such as King and Delroy. The movie was marketed as a comedy filmComedy filmComedy 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...
with these comics billed as "America's funniest clowns."
Preservation
The version of the film released in the United States, late in 1930, survives intact. A print is at the Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, and is in the Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
film library. The complete soundtrack also survives on Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
disks.