Words and Music (1929 film)

Words and Music
Words and Music
Directed by	James Tinling
Written by	Frederick Hazlitt Brennan (story); Jack McEdwards (story); Andrew Bennison
Produced by	William Fox
Starring	Lois Moran; David Percy; Helen Twelvetrees; Frank Albertson; Duke Morrison
Cinematography	Don Anderson; Charles G. Clarke; Charles Van Enger
Edited by	Ralph Dixon
Music by	Con Conrad; Archie Gottler; Sidney D. Mitchell; Dave Stamper
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	August 18, 1929;
Running time	72 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Words and Music is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by James Tinling and starring Lois Moran, Helen Twelvetrees and Frank Albertson. It was written by Andrew Bennison, with the story by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Jack Edwards.

Released by Fox Film Corporation, the film is notable as the first in which John Wayne is credited as "Duke Morrison". Wayne was also credited as "Duke Morrison" as a property assistant in the Art Department. Ward Bond, Wayne's lifelong good friend, also had a bit part in the movie. Words and Music, which was also released as a silent film, is now considered lost.^[1]

Plot

Two young college students, Phil and Pete, compete for the love of a pretty girl named Mary, and also to win the $1500 prize in a song-writing contest to write the best show tune for the annual college revue. The two men each ask Mary to sing for them, but eventually, she chooses Phil as her beau, and it is he who also has the winning song.

Cast

Lois Moran as Mary Brown
David Percy as Phil
Helen Twelvetrees as Dorothy Blake
William Orlamond as Pop Evans
Elizabeth Patterson as Dean Crockett
John Wayne (credited as Duke Morrison) as Pete Donahue
Frank Albertson as Skeet Mulroy
Tom Patricola as Hannibal

Production

Although the film was largely devoid of much of a plot line, as was typical of musical revue pictures of the period, there is a great deal of singing and dancing. Many of Lois Moran's numbers were footage that was cut from the film, Fox Movietone Follies of 1929, to make that film shorter. This film was created to make use of the deleted scenes, so it was fashioned around Moran's singing talent. Songs include, "Too Wonderful for Words" (William Kernell, Dave Stamper, Paul Gerard Smith, Edmund Joseph), "Stepping Along" (Kernell), "Shadows" (Con Conrad, Sidney D. Mitchell, Archie Gottler).

References

^ Bradley, Edwin M. (1996). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927-1932. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Press. pp. 151–153. ISBN 978-0899509457.

External links

Words and Music at IMDb
Words and Music at AllMovie
Words and Music at the TCM Movie Database
Words and Music at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Words and Music details, tvguide.com
Film review, The New York Times ^{[dead link‍]}

This article related to an American film of the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Bradley, Edwin M. (1996). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927-1932. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Press. pp. 151–153. ISBN 978-0899509457.

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