Simple Sis is a 1927 American silent comedy-melodrama directed by Herman C. Raymaker and starring Louise Fazenda as a poor, plain laundress hoping for romance, supported by Clyde Cook as a shy suitor and Myrna Loy as a cruel beauty.
| Simple Sis | |
|---|---|
 Film still | |
| Directed by | Herman C. Raymaker |
| Screenplay by | Albert Kenyon |
| Story by | Melville Crossman[a] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Frank Kesson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
| Budget | $57,000[3] |
| Box office | $185,000[3] |
No copies of Simple Sis are known to exist; it is presumed lost.[4][5]
Plot
editSis, a laundress, is neither beautiful nor clever, but she still wishes to attract a boyfriend. When attractive Edith Van inadvertently hides her love-letter in the wrong pocket, Sis finds it and, thinking it is for her, goes to meet the lover. The mistake is soon exposed and Edith ridicules Sis. Sis meets truck driver Jerry when he rescues her from a purse-snatcher. Because of his extreme shyness, she thinks he has no interest in her. After taking in the orphaned Buddy, Sis loses her job. Although she saves Buddy from a fire, welfare workers remove him from her care. In the end, Sis, Jerry, and Buddy are united as a family.[2]
Cast
edit- Louise Fazenda as Sis
- Clyde Cook as Jerry O'Grady
- Myrna Loy as Edith Van
- William Demarest as Oscar
- Billy Kent Schaefer as Buddy
- Cathleen Calhoun as Mrs. Brown, Buddy's Mother
Release
editSimple Sis was released June 11, 1927, the second of four Warner Bros. feature films released that month.[6]
Variety summed up the production as "colorless" and "of negligible entertainment or box office value".[7] The reviewer for Motion Picture News called it "hokum" and thought it came across as depressing rather than comedic.[8] In the brief Photoplay review, audiences were warned of boredom and Fazenda was deemed "worthy of better stories".[9]
Box office
editAccording to Warner Bros records, the film earned $136,000 domestically and $49,000 foreign.[3]
References
edit- Notes
- ^ One of three pseudonyms used by Darryl F. Zanuck while he was writing for Warner Bros.[1]
- Citations
- ^ Room, Adrian (2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (5th ed.). McFarland. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-7864-5763-2.
- ^ a b "Simple Sis". Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute.
- ^ a b c Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 5 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- ^ Andersen, Arne. "Lost Film Files – The Lost Films of Warner Brothers Pictures" – via Silents Are Golden.
- ^ Pierce, David (March 7, 2016). "Simple Sis/Herman C Raymaker". American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog. The Library of Congress.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Releasing Four Films in June". Motion Picture News. XXXV (23): 2270. June 10, 1927 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Simple Sis". Variety. LXXXVII (8): 17. June 8, 1927 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Flavin, Harold (June 17, 1927). "Simple Sis: Hokum Story; Okay for the Small Houses". Motion Picture News. XXXV (24): 2369 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Simple Sis—Warner Bros". The Shadow Stage. Photoplay. August 1927. p. 104 – via Internet Archive.
External links
edit- Simple Sis at IMDb
- Still from Simple Sis, at Getty Images