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Hold Everything (1930 film)
Encyclopedia
Hold Everything is a 1930
early all-talking film. It was the first musical comedy film to be released that was photographed entirely in early two-color Technicolor
. It was adapted from the DeSylva-Brown-Henderson Broadway
musical
of the same name that had served as a vehicle for Bert Lahr
and starred Winnie Lightner
and Joe E. Brown
as the comedy duo. The romantic subplot was played by Georges Carpentier
and Sally O'Neil
. Only one song from the stage show remained: "You're the Cream in My Coffee
". New songs were written for the film by Al Dubin
and Joe Burke
, including one that became a hit in 1930: "When The Little Red Roses Get The Blues For You". The songs in the film were played by Abe Lyman
and his orchestra.
movie palace specifically designed to showcase its then-revolutionary Vitaphone
sound films. The theatre later became a legitimate
Broadway
venue, the Mark Hellinger Theatre
, and is now the home of the Times Square Church
.
to the challenger -- a plan which goes awry when Gink switches the drinks. Meanwhile, Gink, who is fighting in a preliminary in advance of the big fight, actually wins. Things don't look so bright for Georges, who initially gets the worst of it in his encounter with Morgan, but who eventually comes out on top.
When the picture was released in 1930, Bert Lahr, who had created the role of Gink on Broadway, strongly criticized the fact that Joe E. Brown had copied many of Lahr's mannerisms in the film.
While the sound to the film, recorded on Vitaphone
disks, still survives, it seems as if all film elements have been lost.
1930 in film
-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
early all-talking film. It was the first musical comedy film to be released that was photographed entirely in early two-color 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...
. It was adapted from the DeSylva-Brown-Henderson Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
of the same name that had served as a vehicle for Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz, but was also well-known for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.-Early life:Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage...
and starred Winnie Lightner
Winnie Lightner
Winnie Lightner was an American motion picture actress. Perhaps her most famous role was as a gold-digger named Mabel, in Gold Diggers of Broadway...
and Joe E. Brown
Joe E. Brown (comedian)
Joseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville...
as the comedy duo. The romantic subplot was played by Georges Carpentier
Georges Carpentier
Georges Carpentier was a French boxer. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908-26. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and his fighting weight ranged from...
and Sally O'Neil
Sally O'Neil
Sally O'Neil was an American film actress of the 1920s. She was born as Virginia Louise Noonan, one of 11 children born to a judge in Bayonne, New Jersey. One of her sisters was actress Molly O'Day....
. Only one song from the stage show remained: "You're the Cream in My Coffee
You're the Cream in My Coffee
"You're the Cream in My Coffee" is a popular song. It was published in 1928.The song was recorded by Annette Hanshaw in 1928.The music was written by Ray Henderson, the lyrics by Buddy G...
". New songs were written for the film by Al Dubin
Al Dubin
Alexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...
and Joe Burke
Joe Burke (composer)
Joseph A. Burke was an American composer and pianist. He was born in Philadelphia and died in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and started as a pianist accompanying silent movies and an arranger in a music publishing firm. It was during this time...
, including one that became a hit in 1930: "When The Little Red Roses Get The Blues For You". The songs in the film were played by Abe Lyman
Abe Lyman
Abe Lyman was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade....
and his orchestra.
History
In 1930, this was the first film shown at the newly opened Warner Bros. Hollywood Theatre, a luxurious New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
movie palace specifically designed to showcase its then-revolutionary 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...
sound films. The theatre later became a legitimate
Legitimate theater
The term "legitimate theater" dates back to the Licensing Act of 1737, which restricted "serious" theatre performances to the two patent theatres licensed to perform "spoken drama" after the English Restoration in 1662...
Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
venue, the Mark Hellinger Theatre
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre is a generally used name of a former legitimate Broadway theater, located at 237 West 51st Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Since 1991, it has been known as the Times Square Church...
, and is now the home of the Times Square Church
Times Square Church
Times Square Church is an inter-denominational church located at 237 West 51st Street in the Theatre District of Manhattan, New York City. A large number of people representing many nationalities gather to worship together every week...
.
Synopsis
Brown plays Gink Schiner, a third-rate fighter who is at the same training camp as Georges LaVerne (played by Georges Carpentier), a contender for the heavyweight championship. Although he needs to be concentrating all of his energies on the upcoming bout, Georges keeps getting distracted: Norine Lloyd, a society dame, has a distinct interest in him, but the interest is strictly one-sided. Georges prefers Sue, an old buddy and confidante. Gink has woman trouble of his own, as his flirtations do not sit at all well with Toots (played by Winnie Lightner), his erstwhile girlfriend. More trouble arrives when Larkin, manager of current heavyweight champ Bob Morgan, appears at the camp with the goal of fixing the fight. He is sent packing, after which he attempts to slip a Mickey FinnMickey Finn
Mickey Finn may refer to:* Mickey Finn , a drug-laced drink* Mickey Finn , a long-running comic strip* Micky Finn , a fictional character and pseudonym of the 19th century writer Ernest Jarrold...
to the challenger -- a plan which goes awry when Gink switches the drinks. Meanwhile, Gink, who is fighting in a preliminary in advance of the big fight, actually wins. Things don't look so bright for Georges, who initially gets the worst of it in his encounter with Morgan, but who eventually comes out on top.
When the picture was released in 1930, Bert Lahr, who had created the role of Gink on Broadway, strongly criticized the fact that Joe E. Brown had copied many of Lahr's mannerisms in the film.
While the sound to the film, recorded 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, still survives, it seems as if all film elements have been lost.
Cast (in credits order)
- Joe E. BrownJoe E. Brown (comedian)Joseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville...
as Gink Schiner - Winnie LightnerWinnie LightnerWinnie Lightner was an American motion picture actress. Perhaps her most famous role was as a gold-digger named Mabel, in Gold Diggers of Broadway...
as Toots Breen - Sally O'NeilSally O'NeilSally O'Neil was an American film actress of the 1920s. She was born as Virginia Louise Noonan, one of 11 children born to a judge in Bayonne, New Jersey. One of her sisters was actress Molly O'Day....
as Sue Burke - Georges CarpentierGeorges CarpentierGeorges Carpentier was a French boxer. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908-26. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and his fighting weight ranged from...
as Georges La Verne - Edmund BreeseEdmund BreeseEdmund Breese was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Long on the stage with a varied Broadway career before entering movies he appeared with James O'Neill in The Count of Monte Cristo , The Lion and the Mouse with Richard Bennett, The Third Degree with Helen Ware, The...
as Pop O'Keefe - Bert RoachBert RoachBert Roach was an American film actor. He appeared in 327 films between 1914 and 1951.He was born in Washington, D.C., and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Fatty's Magic Pants...
as Nosey Bartlett - Dorothy RevierDorothy RevierDorothy Revier was an American actress.She was educated in the public schools of Oakland before going to New York City to study classical dancing...
as Norine Lloyd - Jack CurtisJack Curtis (actor)Jack Curtis was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 157 films between 1915 and 1950. He was born in San Francisco, California and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* Graft...
as Murph Levy - Tony Stabenau as Bob Morgan
- Lew HarveyLew HarveyLew Harvey was an American film actor. He appeared in 145 films between 1918 and 1950.He was born in Wisconsin and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* The Oklahoma Kid...
as Dan Larkin - James QuinnJames QuinnJames Quinn may refer to:*Bob Quinn , born James Aloysius Robert Quinn, American executive in Major League Baseball*J. D. Quinn, James "J. D." Quinn, American football offensive guard*James J. Quinn, general in Irish Army and United Nations...
as The Kicker - Abe LymanAbe LymanAbe Lyman was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade....
as Orchestra Leader