Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many s... Read allStarting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.
- Al Jolson - Recreation of 'The Jazz Singer' Scene
- (as Mr. Al Jolson)
- Directors
- Irving Cummings
- Buster Keaton(uncredited)
- Malcolm St. Clair(silent film sequences) (uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough a Twentieth Century-Fox picture, this is one of the few Hollywood-made films in which one studio (Fox) acknowledges and names the existence of another (Warner Bros.) and credits them with the introduction of talking pictures. Don Ameche is actually shown watching a scene from Warner's The Jazz Singer (1927), probably the only instance in Hollywood history where one studio shows another studio's work within a film. (Additionally, many other actual studios are mentioned in the dialogue, including Pathe, Vitagraph, Famous Players [later Paramount], Metro [later MGM] and United Artists.) Another rarity is that the head of the studio (J. Edward Bromberg) is openly portrayed as being Jewish. In later years Bromberg was blacklisted and sadly died from a heart attack while performing in a stage play in London, where he sought to restart his career. Fans of W.C. Fields will recognize Russell Hicks--who plays the stone-hearted money-man Roberts in this film--as fast-talking con man J. Frothingham Waterbury, who sold Fields shares in the Beefstake Mine in the classic comedy The Bank Dick (1940).
- GoofsThis is another film that perpetuates the myth that studios abandoned silents almost immediately after "The Jazz Singer" opened. In fact, it WAS regarded as a fluke. It would be many months before studios realized that talkies weren't going away, and it wasn't until 1930 that production of silents finally ceased, save an occasional outlier like "City Lights" and "Tabu.
- Quotes
Dave Spingold: [to Molly] It'll be chiseled on my tombstone - Dave Spingold - Schlemiel.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Take It or Leave It (1944)
By accident, Buster flings a custard pie into Molly's lovely face, thus throwing off the rhythm of their primly choreographed love scene. Soon Molly, Buster, and the "villain" of their scene (George Givot) are covered in custard, and the laughing and applauding onlookers convince Mike he's discovered a new screen genre. He milks it for all it's worth, launching a series of slapstick comedies -- with pies, bathing beauties, and Keystone-style Kops -- all featuring Molly, who becomes a big star.
If "Hollywood Cavalcade" had continued in this same vein, it would probably have become a classic. Instead, about halfway through, Mike makes the decision to turn Molly into a dramatic actress, starring in serious photoplays and leaving her slapstick days behind.
The film's second half turns maudlin when Molly, whose love for Mike seems unrequited, marries her new costar Nicky (Alan Curtis). Having lost his biggest star, Mike slides into despair, his films regularly losing money. Then Nicky is killed in a traffic accident and Molly teams up with Mike again. They make a hit picture, and discover that they've loved each other all along.
"Hollywood Cavalcade" marked two firsts for Alice Faye: her first Technicolor film, and also the first in which she sings not a single note. But her performance was generally lauded by the film critics.
- eldorado@vcoms.net
- Sep 11, 2002
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Holivudska kavalkada
- Filming locations
- West First Street, Los Angeles, California, USA(Photographs)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1