The Runaround (1931 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Runaround (1931)


producer =
director = William James Craft
writer = Alfred Jackson
Barney A. Sarecky Based on the story by Zandah Owen.
starring = Mary Brian
Geoffrey Kerr
Marie Prevost
Johnny Hines
music = Max Steiner
cinematography = Ray Ranahan "(Technicolor)"
editing = George Marsh
distributor = Radio Pictures
released = August 21, 1931
runtime = 82 Minutes
language = English
country = USA
imdb_id = 0022332|

"The Runaround" (1931) is an All-Talking comedy drama that was photographed entirely in Technicolor. The film is important as the first to be filmed in a new Technicolor process which removed grain and resulted in a much improved color. It was first released with some music, early in 1931, as "Waiting for the Bride" or "Waiting at the Church" (with the length of 82 minutes) but was withdrawn from release because of the publics' apathy towards musicals in the United States. It was re-released in the United States late in 1931 (with the length of 64 minutes) with all of the music removed.

Trivia

*The musical sequences originally in the film were recycled from an aborted Technicolor revue, which was to have been titled "Radio Revels of 1930".
*As a result of the quality of the color work in this film, Radio Pictures decided to produce three more pictures in the new process. [Los Angeles Times; September 13, 1931; Page B13.] The first of these, "Fanny Foley Herself" (1931), was the only one to be completed and released in Technicolor. The titles of the two other features were "Marcheta" and "Bird of Paradise". While "Marcheta" seems to have been abandoned, "Bird of Paradise" became a black-and-white production starring Dolores Del Rio and released in 1932.
*Mary Brian was borrowed from Paramount Pictures, to whom she was under contract, to make this picture. Noel Francis and Jack Mulhall were originally cast to be in this film but were replaced. Mary Astor was originally cast in the part of Mary Brian.

Preservation

Only an incomplete 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 (under the title "Waiting for the Bride") where a backlash against musicals never occurred. It is unknown whether a copy of this full version still exists.

References