''Lonesome'' is a 1928 American comedy drama

part-talkie A part-talkie is a partly, and most often primarily, silent film which includes one or more synchronous sound sequences with audible dialog or singing. During the silent portions, lines of dialog are presented as "titles"—printed text briefly ...

film directed by

Paul Fejös Pál Fejős (27 January 1897 – 23 April 1963), known professionally as Paul Fejos, was a Hungarian-American film director, director of feature films and documentaries who worked in a number of countries including the United States. He also stu ...

, and starring

Barbara Kent Barbara Kent ( Barbara Cloutman) December 16, 1907 – October 13, 2011) was a Canadian film actress, prominent from the silent film era to the early talkies of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1925, Barbara Kent won the Miss Hollywood Beauty Pageant. ...

and

Glenn Tryon Glenn Tryon (born Glenn Monroe Kunkel; August 2, 1898 – April 18, 1970) was an American film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1923 and 1951. Biography He was born as Glenn Monroe Kunke ...

. Its plot follows two working-class residents of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

over a 24-hour-period, during which they have a chance meeting at

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

during the Independence Day weekend and swiftly fall in love with one another. It was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. In 2010, it was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film was released on Blu-ray disc and DVD on August 28, 2012, as part of the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

. It was remade in 1935 as a comedy called ''

The Affair of Susan ''The Affair of Susan'' is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Zasu Pitts, Hugh O'Connell and Walter Catlett.Lowe p.1968 It is a remake of the 1928 silent film '' Lonesome''. Two lonely people meet at an amusemen ...

''.

Plot

, Mary is a telephone operator who lives alone and is lonely. Jim is a factory worker who also lives alone, and feels disconnected from the world. During the Independence Day weekend, both Mary and Jim decide to visit

alone after finishing their Saturday half-day work shifts. The two board the same bus, mutually catching the other's attention, and again encounter each other once they arrive at the beach. After the two spend some time together on the beach, Mary realizes she has lost the wedding ring she wears. Jim helps her locate it, but is disheartened, believing she is married. Mary reassures him after they find the ring that it is only her mother's wedding band. As night falls, Mary laments the fact that their day together is over, but Jim assures her it is not, and they continue to spend time together at the amusement park, visiting a

fortune teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...

and riding amusement park rides. The two ride the

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

rollercoaster, but after one of the cars crashes, a melee ensues among the parkgoers, during which Mary and Jim are separated. Only knowing each other's

first name First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

, and having only a small photo of each other, Jim and Mary are desperate to find each other. Jim attempts to locate Mary in the park, but a rainstorm causes further complications, sending the hundreds of park visitors scattering. A defeated Jim leaves Coney Island by train, as does Mary. Mary retreats to her apartment, where she begins to cry and beat her hands against the walls in despair. The noise catches the attention of Jim, who can hear it through the other wall—unbeknownst to either of them, the two are neighbors in their apartment building, but had never crossed paths prior. Jim opens the door to Mary's apartment and sees her standing before her bed. Shocked, but elated, the two embrace.

Cast

Production

''Lonesome'' was one of the first films to have sound and a few talking scenes. It was released in both silent and

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

versions. Some scenes in existing original prints of the film are colored with stencils.

Home media

In 2012,

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

released ''Lonesome'' on DVD and Blu-ray, with Fejos' 1929 films ''

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

'' and ''

The Last Performance ''The Last Performance'' is a 1929 American film directed by Paul Fejos and starring Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin. The film was made in two version: a silent version and Movietone version complete with music, talking sequences, and sound effe ...

'' as extra features.

References

External links

*''Lonesome'' essa

by Raquel Stecher on the

website * *
Still
at The Hollywood Revue

at silentsaregolden.com
''Lonesome: Great City, Great Solitude''
an essay by

Phillip Lopate Phillip Lopate (born 1943) is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate. Early life Phillip Lopate was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a BA degr ...

at the

*''Lonesome'' essay by Daniel Eagan In America's Film Legacy, 2009-2010: A Viewer's Guide To The 50 Landmark Movies Added To The National Film Registry In 2009-10, Bloomsbury Publishing Usa, 2011, Pages 31–3

{{Paul Fejos 1928 films 1920s romantic comedy-drama films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy-drama films American silent feature films Films directed by Paul Fejos Films set in Coney Island Films set in New York City Transitional sound comedy-drama films United States National Film Registry films Universal Pictures films 1928 comedy films 1928 drama films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films Silent romantic comedy-drama films Silent American comedy-drama films