''California or Bust'' is a 1927 American silent

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film, directed by

Phil Rosen Philip E. Rosen (May 8, 1888 – October 22, 1951) was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed more than 140 films between 1915 and 1949. He was born in Marienburg, German Empire (now, Malbork, Poland), grew up in Ma ...

. It stars George O'Hara, Helen Foster, and John Steppling, and was released on January 9, 1927.

Plot

Jeff Daggett is a mechanic in the fictional town of Rockett, Arizona. He owns a local garage, but he leaves the day-to-day operation of the garage to his assistant, the mechanic. Daggett spends all his time on developing a new car motor. While they are driving west to California, the president of a motor company, Holtwood, and his daughter Nadine are passing through Rockett when their car breaks down. When Daggett comes to service them, he begins talking about his new motor. When they get back to the garage, Holtwood contacts his chief engineer, Wade Rexton, to come out from California to take a look at the motor. When he arrives, Rexton realizes the potential of the engine, but as he watches the interaction between Daggett and Nadine, he sees Daggett as a competitor for Nadine's affections and becomes jealous. Instead of praising Daggett's motor, he denigrates it, and challenges Daggett to a race, with Rexton in a car with a Holtwood motor, and Daggett in a car using his own design. After the race starts, Rexton is waylayed on the highway by a robber. As Daggett reaches Rexton, they take off after the robber, and eventually catch him, retrieving the car. After they return to Rockett, Holtwood offers Daggett a job, which he accepts.

Cast list

* George O'Hara as Jeff Daggett * Helen Foster as Nadine Holtwood * John Steppling as President Holtwood * Johnny Fox as Mechanic *

Irving Bacon Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films. Early years Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Jose ...

as Wade Rexton

Production

In November 1926, Byron Morgan finished the screenplay for ''California or Bust'', which was to be a vehicle for George O'Hara. Initially, it was reported that the film was to be directed by

Alf Goulding Alfred John "Alf" Goulding (January 26, 1885 – April 25, 1972) was an Australian-born vaudevillian, who became an American film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 180 films between 1917 and 1959 and is credited with having H ...

. By late November the film was in production with Phil Rosen at the helm. In addition to O'Hara, Helen Foster, John Steppling, John Fox Jr., and Irving Bacon were announced to be in the cast. At the beginning of January it was revealed that Al Boasberg had been brought in to work on the titles. Portions of the film were shot on location in Southern California. Filming on the project was completed by the middle of December.

References

External links

* * * {{Phil Rosen 1927 films 1920s English-language films 1927 comedy-drama films Films directed by Phil Rosen American silent feature films American black-and-white films Film Booking Offices of America films 1920s American films Silent American comedy-drama films