''On Your Back'' is a 1930 American

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 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Guthrie McClintic Guthrie McClintic (August 6, 1893 – October 29, 1961) was an American theatre director, film director, and producer based in New York. Life and career McClintic was born in Seattle, attended Washington University and New York's American Academ ...

and written by Howard J. Green. The film stars

Irene Rich Irene Rich (born Irene Frances Luther; October 13, 1891 – April 22, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both silent films and talkies, as well as radio. Early life Rich was born in Buffalo, New York. At age 17, she wed Elvo Elc ...

Raymond Hackett Raymond Hackett (July 15, 1902 – July 7, 1958) was a stage and screen actor. He had been a child actor on the Broadway stage and was the brother of Albert Hackett. He was born in New York City the son of Maurice Hackett and Florence Hackett (né ...

H. B. Warner Henry Byron Warner (born Henry Byron Lickfold, 26 October 1876 – 21 December 1958) was an English film and theatre actor. He was popular during the silent era and played Jesus Christ in '' The King of Kings''. In later years, he successfu ...

Wheeler Oakman Wheeler Oakman (born Vivian Eichelberger; February 21, 1890 – March 19, 1949) was an American film actor. Early years Oakman was born as Vivian Eichelberger in Washington, D.C., and educated in that city's schools. He grew up in Fairfax, Virg ...

Marion Shilling Marion Helen Schilling (December 3, 1910 – November 6, 2004) was an American stage and film actress. She was one of the most famous " B" leading ladies of the 1930s. Biography Marion Helen Schilling was born in Denver, Colorado in 1910. He ...

and

Ilka Chase Ilka Chase (April 8, 1905 – February 15, 1978) was an American actress, radio host, and novelist. Biography Born in New York City and educated at convent and boarding schools in the United States, England, and France, Chase was the only child ...

. The film was released on September 14, 1930, by

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...

. A trailer exists in the Library of Congress collection. Actress Marion Shilling was frustrated when it became obvious that the studio was more interested in promoting Irene Rich than featuring an actress on loan. At a preview of the film, it was clear that Shilling was the standout, so cuts and re-shots were ordered. "For instance, the climactic scene of the film was one in which I, Irene's victim, at last had a chance to tell her off. My speech, to which I gave all the power I was capable of, covered an entire page of script. In the final version, how was the scene presented? Throughout the speech I was shown with my back to camera in a long shot. At frequent intervals, during my outpouring, the camera cut from my back to a huge idealized close-up of Irene."

Plot

Putting a son through college, Julianne, owner of a

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

dress shop in

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 ...

, is persuaded to supplement her income by providing loans to struggling showgirls. The plan backfires when her son Harvey falls for her business partner's lover Jeanne Burke, who blackmails Julianne. One contemporary review provided both a detailed synopsis and documentation of the screenplay's source: "Irene Rich is seen as a brilliant Fifth Avenue modiste who tells the lovely ladies she meets to wear their brains on their backs. The story is a Fox movietone production of Rita Weiman’s intriguing character analysis which appeared earlier this season in magazine form. It deals with the skyrocket like rise to fame of an ambitious dressmaker who rose to success through the vanity of her customers. ‘Wear Your Brains on Your Back’ is adapted early in her career as an enticement for girls of the chorus, and actresses, to pay more than they can afford for her fashionable creations. Lavish gowns and fragile, delicate negligees are the bait with which she lures them into her establishment. Credit extended freely is still further inducement for the girls to wear her expensive finery, although payment is invariably extracted for them. The dressmaker soon learns that many men are anxious to meet their customers. What better way than to have them meet casually over tea in her shop? This becomes her policy and she soon finds that men will quickly pay the bills if they are only informed their friends are in debt. But her mistake comes when she induces her son’s sweetheart to accept valuable dresses for which she cannot pay and then expects her to get the money from a wealthy man who also admires her. The outcome of this tangle in which ambition clashes with mother love is forcefully portrayed by an excellent cast.”“The Talking Screen: Liberty Presents ‘On Your Back' in Conjunction with Style Show.” Sedalia (MO) Democrat, 23 September 1930.

Cast

as Julianne *

as Harvey *

as Raymond Pryor *

as 'Lucky' Jim Seymour *

as Jeanne Burke *

as Dixie Mason *

Charlotte Henry Charlotte Virginia Henry (March 3, 1914 – April 11, 1980) was an American actress who is best remembered for her roles in '' Alice in Wonderland'' (1933) and '' Babes in Toyland'' (1934). She also starred in the Frank Buck serial ''Jun ...

as Belle *

Rose Dione Claudine Rosalie Gras (1 January 1877 – 1 January 1936), professionally known as Rose Dione, was a French-American actress who appeared in numerous silent era and pre-code films. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1910 and 1 ...

as Mrs. Dupinnet *

Arthur Hoyt Arthur Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films. Career Born in Georgetown, Colorado, in 1874, Hoyt ma ...

as Victor

References

External links

* * {{allmovie, 132379, synopsis 1930 films 1930s English-language films Fox Film films American drama films 1930 drama films American black-and-white films 1930s American films