Men of the Sky
Encyclopedia
Men of the Sky is a 1931 all-talking musical drama film which was produced by Warner Bros.
in 1930 and released in 1931. Filming began in July 1930 and concluded in mid-September. The film is now considered a lost film
since no film elements are known to survive. No copies of the film are known to exist. However, the complete soundtrack survives on Vitaphone
disks.
. The film 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 June 1931 after making some cuts. The film was released outside the United States (since there was no backlash against musicals outside the United States) as a full musical early in 1931. The film was originally intended to be photographed entirely in Technicolor
, but this was dropped midway into production when the studio realized the public was growing sour on musicals. The film was originally titled: "Call of the East" but was retitled before release. This was to have been the first of three of musicals to be written by Otto A. Harbach and Jerome Kern
for Warner Bros. Due to the public apathy for musicals, however, Warner Bros. bought out their contract and the team returned to Broadway. Warner Bros. did not debut this film in the usual prestigious movie theaters. The film was immediately placed in general release with no fanfare.
) and a French spy named Madeleine Aubert (Irene Delroy) is chronicled. Madeleine leaves her American boyfriend to join her father (John Sainpolis), another agent, as a spy for France at an estate in Germany. She is supposed to seduce a German officer (Bramwell Flecther) in order to gain information on a set of secret plans that another spy will steal after landing on the grounds. That spy turns out to be Jack. Madeleine is supposed to signal her compatriot to advance by playing a certain style of song on the piano, but the Germans have found out about the scheme, and Jack is exposed. In the tragic ending, the pair of lovers are led out to a firing squad.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
in 1930 and released in 1931. Filming began in July 1930 and concluded in mid-September. The film is now considered a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
since no film elements are known to survive. No copies of the film are known to exist. However, the complete soundtrack survives 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.
Production
The original story and music were written by Otto A. Harbach and Jerome KernJerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
. The film 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 June 1931 after making some cuts. The film was released outside the United States (since there was no backlash against musicals outside the United States) as a full musical early in 1931. The film was originally intended to be photographed entirely in 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...
, but this was dropped midway into production when the studio realized the public was growing sour on musicals. The film was originally titled: "Call of the East" but was retitled before release. This was to have been the first of three of musicals to be written by Otto A. Harbach and Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
for Warner Bros. Due to the public apathy for musicals, however, Warner Bros. bought out their contract and the team returned to Broadway. Warner Bros. did not debut this film in the usual prestigious movie theaters. The film was immediately placed in general release with no fanfare.
Synopsis
In this drama, the love affair between an American pilot named Jack Ames (Jack WhitingJack Whiting
John George Benjamin 'Jack' Whiting was an English cricketer. Whiting's batting style is unknown, but he was a right-arm fast bowler. He was born in Stoke Goldington, Buckinghamshire....
) and a French spy named Madeleine Aubert (Irene Delroy) is chronicled. Madeleine leaves her American boyfriend to join her father (John Sainpolis), another agent, as a spy for France at an estate in Germany. She is supposed to seduce a German officer (Bramwell Flecther) in order to gain information on a set of secret plans that another spy will steal after landing on the grounds. That spy turns out to be Jack. Madeleine is supposed to signal her compatriot to advance by playing a certain style of song on the piano, but the Germans have found out about the scheme, and Jack is exposed. In the tragic ending, the pair of lovers are led out to a firing squad.
Songs
- "Every Little While"
- "Boys March"
- "Stolen Dreams"
- "You Ought to See Sweet Marguerite"
- "All's Well with the World"