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Song of the West (film)
Encyclopedia
Song of the West is a musical operetta film photographed entirely in Technicolor
. It was based on the 1928 musical play Rainbow by Oscar Hammerstein II
and Laurence Stallings
and was the first all-color all-talking feature to be filmed entirely outdoors. The film starred John Boles
, Joe E. Brown
and Vivienne Segal
.
, opens a gambling hall in San Francisco, and falls in love with Virginia, the daughter of his former commander, played by Vivienne Segal. Some members of the military eventually find him, leading Boles to make a hard decision. Joe E. Brown, in the part of Hasty, Boles' doomed sidekick, provided the comedy for the film.
(1929). The film was finished in June 1929. Following a number of dismal previews, however, Warner Bros.
shortened the film by two reels, removing some of the musical content in the process. In spite of being delayed for almost a year before release, the film had a worldwide gross of $920,000 and the featured songs were quite popular, leading RCA Victor to hire Boles, who was then at the height of his popularity, to record two songs from the movie.
. The complete soundtrack survives on Vitaphone
disks.
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 based on the 1928 musical play Rainbow by Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
and Laurence Stallings
Laurence Stallings
Laurence Tucker Stallings was an American playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, literary critic, journalist, novelist, and photographer...
and was the first all-color all-talking feature to be filmed entirely outdoors. The film starred John Boles
John Boles (actor)
-Early life:Boles was born in Greenville, Texas, into a middle-class family. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 1917 and married Marielite Dobbs in that same year. His parents wanted him to be a doctor and Boles studied and finally got his B.A. degree, but the stage called...
, 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...
and Vivienne Segal
Vivienne Segal
Vivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.Segal was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's Pal Joey and introduced the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"...
.
Plot
The story takes place in 1849. John Boles plays Captain Stanton, a young Army scout who kills an officer in self-defense and escapes. He heads out West to California as part of the Gold RushGold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
, opens a gambling hall in San Francisco, and falls in love with Virginia, the daughter of his former commander, played by Vivienne Segal. Some members of the military eventually find him, leading Boles to make a hard decision. Joe E. Brown, in the part of Hasty, Boles' doomed sidekick, provided the comedy for the film.
Production
This was Boles's follow-up to his successful role in The Desert SongThe Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
(1929). The film was finished in June 1929. Following a number of dismal previews, however, Warner Bros.
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,...
shortened the film by two reels, removing some of the musical content in the process. In spite of being delayed for almost a year before release, the film had a worldwide gross of $920,000 and the featured songs were quite popular, leading RCA Victor to hire Boles, who was then at the height of his popularity, to record two songs from the movie.
Songs
- "West Wind" (Sung by John Boles)
- "The One Girl" (Sung by John Boles)
- "I Like You As You Are" (Sung by John Boles)
- "Come Back to Me" (Sung by John Boles and Vivienne Segal)
- "The Bride Was Dressed in White" (Sung by Joe E. Brown)
- "Kingdom Coming" (Sung by Chorus)
Cast (in credits order)
- John BolesJohn Boles (actor)-Early life:Boles was born in Greenville, Texas, into a middle-class family. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 1917 and married Marielite Dobbs in that same year. His parents wanted him to be a doctor and Boles studied and finally got his B.A. degree, but the stage called...
as Captain Stanton - Vivienne SegalVivienne SegalVivienne Sonia Segal was an American actress and singer.Segal was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best remembered for creating the role of Vera Simpson in Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's Pal Joey and introduced the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"...
as Virginia - 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 Hasty - Marie Wells as Lotta
- Sam Hardy as Davolo
- Marion ByronMarion ByronMarion "Peanuts" Byron was a petite, plucky American movie comedienne.She was born in Dayton, Ohio. After following her sister into a short stage career as a singer/dancer, she was given her first movie role as Buster Keaton's leading lady in the film Steamboat Bill Jr. in 1928...
as Penny - Eddie GribbonEddie GribbonEddie Gribbon was an American film actor. He appeared in 184 films between 1916 and 1951.He was born in New York, New York and died in Hollywood, California from cancer...
as Sergeant Major - Edward MartindelEdward MartindelEdward Martindel was an American stage and film actor. He appeared on Broadway and in 89 films between 1915 and 1946....
as Colonel - Rudolph Cameron as Lt. Singleton
Preservation
No copies of the film are known to existLost 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...
. 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.