''Honky Tonk'' is a 1929

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

starring

Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...

in her film debut. The film was a flop when released and is now

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

, although the

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...

soundtrack for the film and for the trailer still exists. Tucker sings a number of songs in the movie, including her theme song "

Some of These Days "Some of These Days" is a popular song, written and composed by Shelton Brooks, published in 1910, and associated with the performer Sophie Tucker. Background Shelton Brooks and "Some of These Days" was brought to Sophie Tucker's attention in 1 ...

", and "I'm the Last of the Red Hot Mamas", from which she took her billing as "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas".''The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30'' American Film Institute (1971)

Plot

Sophie Tucker plays Sophie Leonard, a singer in a nightclub who at great sacrifice sends her daughter Beth (

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...

) to Europe to be educated, keeping her work as an entertainer a secret from her. When the grown-up, expensively educated Beth returns to America, she is shocked to discover her mother's true profession and disowns her, breaking Sophie's heart.

Cast

as Sophie Leonard *

as Beth, Sophie daughter *

Wilbur Mack Wilbur Mack (born George Frear Runyon, July 29, 1873 – March 13, 1964) was an American film actor and early vaudeville performer from the 1920s through the 1960s. His film acting career began during the silent film era. Biography Mack w ...

as Stuttering valet * Audrey Ferris as Jean Gilmore * Tom Keene as Freddie Gilmore *

Mahlon Hamilton Mahlon Preston Hamilton, Jr. (June 15, 1880 – June 20, 1960), was an American stage and screen actor. He was the son of a bartender born in Baltimore, Maryland, the eldest of four children, with the rest of the siblings being girls. Census ...

as Jim Blaken *

John T. Murray John T. Murray (28 August 1886 – 12 February 1957) was an Australian stage and film actor.Leider p. 316 Biography Born in Melbourne in 1886, Murray was married to actress Vivien Oakland, who he had appeared with on the vaudeville stage.

as Cafe manager

Reception

According to Warner Bros the film earned $448,000 domestically and $202,000 foreign.

Musical numbers

* "I'm Doing What I'm Doing for Love" (

Milton Ager Milton Ager (October 6, 1893 – May 6, 1979) was an American composer, regarded as one of the top songwriters of the 1920s and 1930s. His most lasting compositions include "Ain't She Sweet?” and “Happy Days Are Here Again”. Biography Ag ...

Jack Yellen Jack Selig Yellen (Jacek Jeleń; July 6, 1892 – April 17, 1991) was an American lyricist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for writing the lyrics to the songs "Happy Days Are Here Again", which was used by Franklin Roosevelt as the theme ...

) * "He's a Good Man To Have Around" (Ager, Yellen) * "I'm Feathering a Nest (For a Little Blue Bird)" (Ager, Yellen) * "I'm the Last of the Red Hot Mamas" (Ager, Yellen) * "I Don't Want To Get Thin" (Ager, Yellen) * "

" (

Shelton Brooks Shelton Brooks (May 4, 1886September 6, 1975) was a Canadian-born African American composer of popular music and jazz. He was known for his ragtime and vaudeville style, and wrote some of the biggest hits of the first third of the 20th century. ...

)

References

External links