Manhattan Parade (film)

Infobox Film
name = Manhattan Parade (1931)


producer =
director = Lloyd Bacon
writer = Houston Branch, Robert Lord
based on the play by Samuel Shipman.
starring = Winnie Lightner, Charles Butterworth, Joe Smith, Charles Dale
music = Harold Arlen, Harry Ruby
cinematography = Devereaux Jennings "(Technicolor)"
editing = William Holmes
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = December 24, 1931
runtime = 78 min.
language = English
country = USA
imdb_id = 0022120|

"Manhattan Parade " is a 1931 musical comedy film photographed entirely in Technicolor. [Variety; Film Reviews; December 29, 1931] It was originally intended to be released, in the United States, early in 1931, but was shelved due to public apathy towards musicals. Despite waiting a number of months, the public proved obstinate and the Warner Bros. reluctantly released the film in December 1931 after removing all the music. The film was released outside the United States (since there was no backlash against musicals outside the United States) as a full musical comedy in 1931.

Production

The film was the first Warner Bros. film to be filmed in the improved Technicolor process which removed grain and improved both the color and clarity of the film. This improved process had first been used on "The Runaround" (1931) and resulted in an attempt at a color revival by the studios late in 1931. [Los Angeles Times, June 7, 1931, Page C9; The Washington Post, September 11, 1931, Page 12; Los Angeles Times, July 9, 1931, Page A9] "Variety" praised the color work in this film, stating that "the coloring is easy on the eye and never harsh or confusing as the early color pictures were." [Variety; Film Reviews; December 29, 1931]

Pre-Code Sequences

*Bobby Watson plays the part of a gay fashion designer named Paisley.
*In one sequence, Paisley protests that "I can cheapen myself and prostitute my art for just so long" when his boss Doris Roberts (Winnie Lightner) insists that he follow a customer's directions.
*Herbert (Charles Butterworth) says to Paisley: "What were we talking about, Madam?"
*John Roberts (Walter Miller), who is married to Doris, has an affair with a seventeen year old named Charlotte Evans (Greta Granstedt).
*Doris orders a large quantity of tin pie pans over the phone, explaining to the seller "We use them for brassieres..........what do we use the brassieres for?????.......to bake pies in!!!"

Music

Three songs were written for the film by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler:
*"I Love a Parade" (Production Number sung by Chorus)
*"Temporarily Blue" (Sung by Winnie Lightner)
*"I'm Happy When You're Jealous" (Sung by Winnie Lightner)

Trivia

*It will seem odd, to modern audiences, that when Charlotte Evans (the seventeen year old girl) finds out that John Roberts is cheating on her, that she threatens him with a "breach of contract" suit and not with the fact that she is seventeen. Relationships such as these were common in those days and apparently not viewed with the disdain that they are today. For example, the 26 year old movie star Grant Withers married the 17 year old Loretta Young in 1930.
*"I'm Happy When You're Jealous" was recorded by Isham Jones and his Orchestra for Brunswick Records (Record Number 6204). [http://redhotjazz.com/Songs/ishamjones/imhappywhenyoure.ram]
*This was the first of two films which the comedy team of "Smith and Dale" starred in for Warner Bros. (the second being "The Heart of New York"). The team failed to be the success which Warner Bros. had hoped for and their contract was not renewed.
*The film pokes fun at Al Jolson, who had reached a downturn in his career due to the public aversion to musical pictures. He had been released from his contract to Warner Bros. late in 1930.

Preservation

Only a black and white copy of the cut print released in 1931 in the United States seems to have survived. The complete film was released intact in countries outside the United States where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

References