''My Lips Betray'' is a 1933 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the 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 censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
musical comedy 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 ...
directed by
John G. Blystone and starring
Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...
,
John Boles and
El Brendel
Elmer Goodfellow "El" Brendel (March 25, 1890 – April 9, 1964) was an American vaudeville comedian turned movie star, best remembered for his dialect routine as a Swedish immigrant. His biggest role was as "Single-0" in the sci-fi musical ' ...
.
[Solomon p. 343] The film's sets were designed by the
art director Joseph C. Wright.
Plot
In a make-believe, middle-european kingdom, a vivacious but dim nation young lady works as a singer in a beer garden for her lease cash. In the mean time, the Ruler is confronting bankruptcy for his small country, unless he weds a wealthy but undesirable Ruler of another Middle-European territory.
Eventually he takes in the struggling young singer, and they fall in love, despite possible bankruptcy and ruin.
Cast
*
Lilian Harvey
Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongr ...
as Lili Wieler
*
John Boles as King Rupert aka Captain von Linden
*
El Brendel
Elmer Goodfellow "El" Brendel (March 25, 1890 – April 9, 1964) was an American vaudeville comedian turned movie star, best remembered for his dialect routine as a Swedish immigrant. His biggest role was as "Single-0" in the sci-fi musical ' ...
as Oswald Stigmat, Chauffeur
*
Irene Browne
Irene Browne (29 June 1896 – 24 July 1965) was an English stage and film actress and singer who appeared in plays and musicals including ''No, No, Nanette''. Later in her career, she became particularly associated with the works of Noël Cowar ...
as Queen Mother Therese
*
Maude Eburne
Maude Eburne (born Maud Eburne Riggs, November 10, 1875 – October 15, 1960) was a Canadian character actress of stage and screen, known for playing eccentric roles.
Early years
Eburne was born the daughter of John and Mary Riggs, in Bront ...
as Mamma Watscheck
*
Henry Stephenson
Henry Stephenson (born Harry Stephenson Garraway; 16 April 1871 – 24 April 1956) was a British actor. He portrayed friendly and wise gentlemen in many films of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his roles were Sir Joseph Banks in ''Mutiny on the Bou ...
as De Conti
*
Herman Bing
Herman Bing (March 30, 1889 – January 9, 1947) was a German-American character actor. He acted in more than 120 films and many of his parts were uncredited.
Biography
Bing was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was son of the opera ...
as Weininger
*
Frank Atkinson as Baptiste, Royal Valet
*
Robert Barrat
Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.
Early years
Barratt was born on July 10, 1891, in New York City and was educated in the public schools there. He ...
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
*
Tyler Brooke
Tyler Brooke (born Victor Hugo de Bierre, June 6, 1886 – March 2, 1943) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1915 and 1943. He was born in New York, New York and died in Los Angeles, California by committi ...
as Radio Announcer (uncredited)
*
Albert Conti
Albert De Conti Cadassamare (29 January 1887 – 18 January 1967), professionally billed as Albert Conti, was an Austrian-Hungarian-born Italian-American film actor.
Life
Born in the village of Gorizia (now, part of Italy), Conti achieved mode ...
as Auto Salesman (uncredited)
*
Wild Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott (born Gordon Nance, October 16, 1904 – November 26, 1965) was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B Westerns, particularly the Red Ryder series of films.
Early life
Elliott was born Gor ...
as Auto Showroom Spectator (uncredited)
*
Bess Flowers
Bess Flowers (November 23, 1898 – July 28, 1984) was an American actress best known for her work as an extra in hundreds of films. She was known as "The Queen of the Hollywood Extras," appearing in more than 350 feature films and numerou ...
as Dressmaker (uncredited)
*
Vera Lewis
Vera Lewis (June 10, 1873 – February 8, 1956) was an American film and stage actress, beginning in the silent film era. She appeared in more than 180 films between 1915 and 1947. She was married to actor Ralph Lewis.
Biography
She was b ...
as Gossipy Woman in Curlers (uncredited)
*
Bull Montana
Lewis Montagna (born Luigi Montagna; May 16, 1887 – January 24, 1950), better known as Bull Montana, was an Italian-American professional wrestler, boxer and actor.
Biography
Born in Voghera, Italy, into a poor country family — and at a ti ...
as Hamlet (uncredited)
*
Paul Panzer
Paul Wolfgang Panzerbeiter (November 3, 1872 – August 16, 1958), known professionally as Paul Panzer, was a German-American silent film actor. He appeared in more than 330 films between 1905 and 1952.
Biography
Panzer was born in Würzburg. ...
as Beer Garden Patron (uncredited)
*
Dewey Robinson
Dewey Robinson (August 17, 1898 – December 11, 1950) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 250 films made between 1931 and 1952.
Career
Dewey Robinson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1898, and made his Br ...
as Joseph Stein, Theatrical Agent (uncredited)
*
Dorothy Vernon
Dorothy Vernon (1544 – 24 June 1584), the younger daughter of Sir George Vernon and Margaret ''nee'' Talbois (or Tailboys), was the heiress of Haddon Hall, an English country house in Derbyshire with its origins in the 12th century. She marr ...
as Beer Garden Patron (uncredited)
Preservation
A Restored version was shown at the 2019 UCLA Festival of Preservation.
References
Bibliography
* Solomon, Aubrey. ''The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935. A History and Filmography''. McFarland & Co, 2011.
External links
*
1933 films
1933 musical comedy films
American musical comedy films
Films directed by John G. Blystone
Fox Film films
Films set in Europe
American black-and-white films
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
{{musical-comedy-film-stub